Immigration: Conditions of Employment

(asked on 24th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure labour rights are enforced for all workers regardless of immigration status.


Answered by
Paul Scully Portrait
Paul Scully
This question was answered on 29th November 2021

All workers who are legally working in the UK enjoy the full protection of UK employment law. Migrant workers are also entitled to the same protections under health and safety legislation as any other worker.

While most employment rights are enforced by an individual through an employment tribunal, the state has an important role to play in protecting the most vulnerable workers from exploitative practices.

We spend over £35million a year on enforcement covering:

  • National Minimum and Living Wages – enforced by HMRC;
  • Employment agencies and employment businesses - enforced by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS);
  • Labour exploitation and modern slavery, and the gangmasters licensing scheme for suppliers of labour in agriculture and fresh fruit supply chains - Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

The Government has also now committed to establish a single enforcement body for employment rights, which will bring together the three existing bodies to better protect vulnerable workers and create a level playing-field for the majority of employers complying with the law.

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