Balfour Beatty and Interserve accused of migrant worker labour abuses in Qatar
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2016
Location: Qatar
Companies
Balfour Beatty - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 12
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 12 - Nepal , Construction , Gender not reported )Issues
Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Contract Substitution , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Retention of identity documents , Violence , Intimidation , Wage TheftResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Action taken: An organizer of a strike action to demand salaries was apparently sent home, while the company refused to pay his bonus or leave allowance, and cover the costs of his air ticket home. Media focus on the abuse claims led to Balfour Beatty (co-owner of BK Gulf) undertaking an investigation into their supply chains. Following the review BK Gulf terminated its contract with the labour supplier who was not meeting Balfour Beatty's labour standards. BK Gulf issued a statement in response to the allegations; Balfour Beatty also responded.
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 13 Apr 2016
Location: Qatar
Companies
Interserve - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 12 - Nepal , Construction , Gender not reported )Issues
Recruitment Fees , Retention of identity documents , Violence , Intimidation , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Contract Substitution , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Wage TheftResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Action taken: An organizer of a strike action to demand salaries was apparently sent home, while the company refused to pay his bonus or leave allowance, and cover the costs of his air ticket home. An organizer of a strike action to demand salaries was apparently sent home, while the company refused to pay his bonus or leave allowance, and cover the costs of his air ticket home. Interserve provided a statement to the Guardian, committing to investigation.
Source type: News outlet
Balfour Beatty and Interserve, two of the UK’s largest construction companies, have been accused of a raft of labour abuses by migrant workers employed on large-scale projects operated by companies that the firms co-own in Qatar. The Guardian spoke to more than a dozen migrant workers, all of whom requested to remain anonymous due to fears of losing their jobs.
Labourers on construction sites operated by BK Gulf, co-owned by Balfour Beatty, and Gulf Contracting Company (GCC), co-owned by Interserve, allege that they have been exploited and mistreated by labour supply companies hired by the firms...The alleged abuses include erratic or reduced payment of wages, passport confiscation, workers entering employment with high levels of debt bondage, and pay levels below those agreed when workers were recruited in their home countries…a culture of fear and intimidation, with threats of arrest or deportation...[the companies] said they were working within the parameters of Qatari law and rigorously monitored their labour supply companies to ensure good practice...[and] denied that they retained passports as a way of restricting workers’ movements.