One of the UK’s largest homecare providers claims is paying migrant care workers to sit at home, despite a national shortage of care staff, because the Home Office has not yet renewed its immigration permit.
Grosvenor Health and Social Care said it is paying reduced wages to 30 Zimbabwean workers and expects to do the same for a further 90 care workers in the coming months because of a tightening of the immigration rules for care staff.
Chief executive Darren Stapelberg told The Guardian: “It was very, very easy to sponsor people to come over, but the system has been abused, so now they are making it almost impossible to get new people in and staff who are already here can’t get renewals.
“We are losing workers who have made a great contribution to this society, at a time when you could quadruple our workforce and still not have enough staff.”
Migrant care workers
Invest in domestic care workforce, says sector body chief
New laws that restrict care workers from bringing dependants to the UK and a requirement for care providers in England to register with the Care Quality Commission if they want to sponsor migrant workers have come into force.
The requirement to register with the regulator was introduced in a bid to crack down on worker exploitation and abuse in the domestic care sector, including workers travelling thousands of miles for jobs that did not exist and being paid far below the national minimum wage.
Academics from the universities of Bristol, Leicester, London, York and Durham have found that short-term visa routes for social care and domestic workers “create conditions which enable exploitation of workers”.
Some migrant care workers were being paid less than £5 an hour, while some had overstayed their initial care worker visa and were now employed on next to no pay, the researchers told the Independent.
Home secretary James Cleverly said: “Care workers make an incredible contribution to our society, taking care of our loved ones in times of need. But we cannot justify inaction in the face of clear abuse, manipulation of our immigration system and unsustainable migration numbers.
“Our plan is robust but fair – protecting British workers while ensuring the very best international talent can work and study here, to add value to our society and grow the economy.”
Minister for social care Helen Whately said: “International care workers make an invaluable contribution caring for our loved ones, but international recruitment and more immigration are not long-term solutions to our social care needs. These rules provide a more ethical and sustainable approach.
“We are boosting our homegrown workforce by reforming social care careers. These include the first ever national career path for care workers and a new care qualification.
“Our reforms will grow the domestic workforce and build on our success over the last year that saw more people working in social care, fewer vacancies and lower staff turnover.”
Legislation raising the salary threshold for a skilled worker visa and removing the 20% discount for migrant workers in shortage occupations will be laid in Parliament tomorrow (14 March).
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In response to Grosvenor’s case, a Home Office spokesperson said:“Our guidance clearly stipulates for those who have submitted an application for further leave in the UK before their existing leave expired have the same entitlements as their original leave. We require sponsors to show evidence that a genuine vacancy exists at the time the application is submitted. Where there is no evidence to suggest the declared work will be available, applications are not approved.”
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