Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether workers in the UK on the horticultural seasonal worker visa have access to employment law remedies; what information his Department provides to workers in the UK on the horticultural seasonal worker visa on their rights in the workplace; and how many workers who were issued a horticultural seasonal worker visa for the UK received redress following a complaint about violations of their rights in the workplace in the latest period for which data is available.

Migrant workers are entitled to the same rights and protection under employment legislation as resident seasonal workers.

As part of their duties as Seasonal Worker operators, sponsors provide seasonal workers with information about their rights and how to raise concerns. The Home Office monitors this by interviewing workers and engaging with sponsors to check what information is provided and in what format.

The majority of workers also undertake pre-departure orientation courses, developed by the International Organisation for Migration.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) also produce and distribute similar material at source of recruitment.

The overwhelming majority of migrant complaints are minor and are swiftly addressed by a worker’s scheme operator. Any significant breach of employment rights would be a matter of UK employment law. The Home Office does not have any published data on this particular matter.

The Home Office does not publish data on the length of employment of seasonal workers.