The United Kingdom has been listed as the most common location for migrant worker abuse in 2024 so far. New analysis from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre revealed more than 40 cases of abuse have taken place in the UK in the first six months of the year, impacting migrant workers from India, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Ecuador, Spain, Indonesia and Nigeria, among nine other countries.

Large multinational companies were linked to migrant worker abuse occurring in the UK, including Amazon, Deliveroo, security provider ISS, Meta and Uber Eats, alongside multiple private healthcare companies.

Several well-known UK-headquartered companies and investors were among those linked to allegations of migrant worker abuse: Cotswold Outdoors, Deliveroo, Footasylum, HSBC, Hermes Asset Management, JD Sports, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer’s, Next, Schroders and Sports Direct.

UK sectors where abuse is allegedly taking place:

• Over 40% (17 cases) of cases were linked to the UK’s health and social care sector which is increasingly propped up with labour sourced from countries in the Global South, whose nationals report being charged extortionate and illegal recruitment fees and being subjected to sexual harassment, extremely long hours, wage theft and abuse on arrival.
• 34% (14 cases) of cases were linked to agriculture and fishing, as the Seasonal Worker Scheme continues to be linked to unfair recruitment, poor working and living conditions, including by UN experts
• Several cases of abuse were also reported by hotel, restaurant (5 cases), and cleaning and maintenance workers (5 cases).

Isobel Archer, Labour and Migration Senior Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “The first half of this year has seen repeated, egregious allegations of abuse that point to an appalling truth: many areas of the UK economy which rely on migrant labour are failing to address the very real risks of unfair recruitment practices and exploitation to their invaluable workforces. Many workers are sourced on temporary or seasonal visas that have the potential to keep them in exploitative work situations, while employers are simply not doing enough to respond to well-documented risks of abuse in their supply chains and operations.

“Migrant workers are at risk of extreme abuse throughout the recruitment and employment cycle, experiencing illegal and extortionate fee-charging that leaves them many thousands of pounds in debt – before arriving to find harsh working and living conditions, at odds with what they expected. Workers also cite barriers that discourage or prevent them from seeking and accessing help – from a lack of awareness of their rights, to unscrupulous employers actively discouraging or threatening them into silence.”

Types of labour rights violations most frequently reported by migrant workers to the UK:

• Recruitment fee-charging (14 cases), including illegal and extortionate charges of up to GBP20,000;
• Intimidation by supervisors (13 cases);
• Barriers accessing remedy (12 cases); 
• Contract substitution (12 cases); 
• Unreasonable working hours & leisure time (10 cases);
• Wage theft (8 cases); 
• Irregular work (8 cases); 
• Precarious/unsuitable living conditions (7 cases);
• Arbitrary dismissal (7 cases).

Isobel Archer, Labour and Migration Senior Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “The high prevalence of intimidation is particularly shocking. Workers reported being verbally abused and harassed by employers; employers threatening to revoke their visas; workers experiencing punitive treatment for not meeting excessive production targets, such as being denied work; a worker being repeatedly raped by her employer and not reporting to the police for fear of losing her visa; and workers labouring in a ‘culture of fear’ that left them unable to report abuse to inspectors. 

“Intimidation by employers has been exacerbated by the previous Government’s creation of a hostile environment towards migrants. Many say they feel unable to report abuse due to the risk – perceived or actual – of detention and deportation. The next six months cannot see a repeat. With a new government, the UK has the chance to commit to tackling these issues and ensure migrants who form the backbone of our economy do not bear the high cost of employment themselves.”

Examples of worker resistance in the UK

Despite the concerning figures around allegations of abuse, the first half of 2024 also saw important examples of worker resistance, including strike action in the UK.

• Outsourced cleaning staff from Latin America, cleaning Blackheath Prep School in London, took strike action to protest contract disparity, pay and sick leave allowances at Westgate Cleaning Services. 
• Cleaners for James Allen’s Girls’ School in London protested changes to contracts without consultation at DB Services. 
• UK Deliveroo drivers took strike action over working conditions outside the gig giant’s AGM. 
• Spanish workers took legal action against an Amazon subcontractor over conditions during the last Christmas period. 
• An Indonesian farmworker brought a “test case” civil claim for damages against the UK Home Office and Defra over a debt bondage situation. 
• A court ruled a care worker from India could be eligible for compensation after his British employer allegedly unfairly dismissed him. 
• The UK Home Office found reasonable grounds to conclude a Chilean migrant farmworker could have been a victim of modern slavery as she files a claim against her employer Haygrove, a grower which supplies to UK supermarkets.

UK headquartered companies overseas

UK-HQ companies, including luxury and household brands, and investors were linked to migrant worker abuse through their global supply chains and portfolios:

• In Jordan, a Bangladeshi garment worker at a factory supplying to US apparel brands, later sold by UK retailers, died by suicide following repeat and egregious abuse, including being fined for missing excessive production targets. Workers at the factory reported widespread sexual harassment and systemic exploitation. Passports were withheld from workers and “dehumanising” conditions, including working 16 hours, seven days per week, were reported. The brands included Harrods, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Next, Sports Direct, JD Sports, Footasylum and Cotswold Outdoor.
• In Taiwan, Vietnamese and Thai manufacturing workers for bicycle brand Giant, whose investors include UK asset manager Hermes Investment Management, HSBC and Schroders, reported being charged thousands of dollars for jobs, taking loans to be able to pay recruiters at high interest rates. Some workers complained about crowded and dirty accommodation, and punitive management practices including deportation.
• In Ireland, food delivery drivers, including for Deliveroo, took strike action on Valentine’s Day over low wages, as order payments allegedly fell as low as EUR1 per order.
• In Qatar, the family of an oil rig worker for UK company Film-Ocean, who was killed by a colleague, took legal action against his employer, to whom he had allegedly complained regarding sleeping arrangements.

Isobel Archer, Labour and Migration Senior Researcher, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “UK brands have responsibility to respect migrant workers’ rights throughout their global supply chains. As mandatory human rights due diligence laws become the norm, UK companies will find they can no longer turn a blind eye to abuse happening overseas – but they should already be taking action to address abuses in sectors and geographies where workers are most at risk. Where allegations of abuse are brought to light, brands who have the most leverage and resources must act swiftly to investigate and remedy abuse directly to workers.”

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Notes to editors: 

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe.
• BHRRC’s database contains information on allegations of migrant worker abuse across the globe, including breakdowns of the dataset by geography, sector or types of abuse reported by workers. Further information on our methodology can be found here.
• In 2023, BHRRC published an analysis of 613 cases of alleged abuse reported by migrant workers around the world. Key findings, recommendations and analysis by sector, countries of origin and destination, and types of reported abuse can be found here.
• Allegations linked to companies are displayed on companies’ pages on our website; companies can be searched for here.
• Region and sector-specific information is available upon request.

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Communications Officer (Media/PR), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, [email protected]