Migrant workers in the UK, including those with the right to work here, are subject to such levels of exploitation and control that they meet the international legal definition of 'forced labour,' according to an independent report published by the TUC.
‘Forced labour and migration to the UK’ reveals abuse, including very long hours, pay below the minimum wage and dangerous working conditions in sectors including construction, hospitality, agriculture, food processing, horticulture, contract cleaning, nursing and care homes. Employers and agencies who break the law are rarely prosecuted or even inspected by the authorities - in fact, the report finds employers are using the threat of immigration authorities against migrant workers.

TUC is calling for employees here on a work permit to have more rights to report abuse and change employer, and says employers guilty of abuses should lose the right to apply for work permits for their staff. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'The precarious position of those who have no legal basis to work here is well known, but what this report shows is just how much people with every legal right to hold a job can also be so badly exploited that they must count as forced labour.' Among the factors that the International Labour Organisation identifies as indicative of forced labour are 'threats or actual physical harm to the worker.'

[Read the report]