Under a new crackdown on visa abuse, employers that commit serious offences will be banned from hiring overseas workers.
Businesses that repeatedly flout visa rules or commit serious employment breaches, such as failing to pay the national minimum wage, will be barred from hiring overseas workers, the Home Office has announced.
The policy meets a Labour party manifesto commitment to deal with the issue and have been included under amendments to the Employment Rights Bill.
Currently, employers who flagrantly flout visa rules can only be sanctioned for a maximum of 12 months. Under the changes the period for repeat offences to be at least two years, double the current length.
Migrant worker visas
Care firms granted sponsor licences despite labour violations
This government will also not wait until employers have committed serious breaches of the law before taking action. Action plans bind businesses that commit minor visa breaches to a set of specific actions to correct issues.
These are being strengthened, with the maximum time they can be applied quadrupled from three to 12 months, ensuring long-term and sustained compliance with visa rules.
While the longer action plans are in place, employers will face restrictions on their ability to bring in overseas workers. Failure to comply or make the necessary improvements will see their visa sponsor licence revoked.
Ministers said the measures were part of wider efforts to tackle the root causes behind the UK’s long-term reliance on international workers and action to link migration policy with skills and wider labour market policy.
Minister for care, Stephen Kinnock, said there had been “an unacceptable rise in the exploitation and abuse of overseas social care workers from rogue operators.
“Cracking down on these unethical employers will protect migrant workers from unacceptable and shameful exploitation.”
The measures are also designed to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation, prohibiting unprincipled companies from charging skilled workers for the cost of sponsorship.
Other additions to the bill passing through parliament currently are set to curtail the practice of clawing back visa costs from sponsored employees.
Under the Employment Rights Bill, the new Fair Work Agency will bring together existing state enforcement functions including regulations for employment agencies and employment businesses, enforcement of the national minimum wage, statutory sick pay and the licensing regime for businesses operating as “gangmasters” in certain sectors.
The Home Office also announced there had been a “major surge” in Immigration Enforcement’s targeted visits to rogue businesses suspected of employing illegal workers, with 856 visits in October alone – a 55% increase on the same month last year. Between January and October this year, more than 6,600 visits had been made, a 22% increase on the same period last year, with over 4,600 arrests being made, up 21% on last year.
Since July 2022, the government has revoked about 450 sponsor licences in the care sector as the government continues to clamp down on abuse.
Ashley Stothard, immigration executive at law firm Freeths, welcomed the measures: “Today’s proposed amendments in the Employment Rights Bill feels like the right step forward in tackling exploitation within the immigration system. Many migrant workers, especially those in the care sector, are experiencing severe labour abuse and exploitation, such as debt bondage and exploitative work conditions. By enforcing stricter penalties and banning unethical practices, it is hoped that migrant workers are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
“This is a positive move towards a fairer and more just immigration system. The amendments have been made in an early part of the bill’s passage through parliament, so I am interested to see if they make it into the final draft.”
Senior associate at Lawrence Stephens, Joanne Leach, said early consultation on the measures would be welcomed because, for example, “it is unclear how a company will be judged to be in breach of employment laws, and whether this finding will derive from a successful employment tribunal claim or whether a new regulatory body be tasked with assessing failure to comply with minimum standards.”
Migration minister Seema Malhotra added: “No longer will employers be able to flout the rules with little consequence or exploit international workers for costs they were always supposed to pay if they choose not to recruit domestically … workers coming to the UK to support our health and social care service have all too often found themselves plunged into unjustifiable insecurity and debt. This can, and must, end.”
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