In May 2023, Focus on Labour Exploitation released a report, titled “Bound to work: Improving access to redress on the UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme”, analysing barriers migrant farmworkers experience leaving exploitative working conditions in the UK.

The report analysis data collected over 17 months from 399 surveys and 83 interviews with migrant workers on the UK’s Seasonal Worker Scheme. Surveyed workers were from 16 different nationalities, mainly from Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan (18.5%).

The report focuses on workers’ ability to change employers and access justice. Under the rules of the scheme, workers can request their scheme operators, who sponsor their visa, transfer them to another farm.

Key findings include:

• 55% of workers who made a request to transfer were refused. Not all accepted requests happened promptly, and workers were mostly not given reasons for refused transfers. Workers requested transfers for multiple reasons, including a lack of hours, discrimination, and poor accommodation.
• Around 70% of workers said they had to borrow money to come to the UK, including money from friends, family, and banks. Further, around 1 in 5 workers brought up issues with underpayment. Debt and wage theft can make workers feel unable to change employer.
• One in five workers reported experiencing threats from loss of work. Workers said farms denied workers hours as punishment for raising complaints. This impacts workers ability to pay off debts.
• Workers commonly expressed barriers access rights and support, including due to language barriers and workers feeling intimidated of farm management or the scheme operators. This hinders workers' ability to transfer.
• The report finds a lack of monitoring by scheme operators. Only 9% of workers surveyed said someone from outside their work asked to speak to them about working conditions. Scheme operators and retailers also said there was a lack of adequate inspections on farms by UK labour market enforcement agencies.
• The report finds workers are dependent on their employment, including for accommodation: 98.5% of those surveyed lived in employer-provided accommodation and workers also rely on employers for transportation. Around 1 in 6 workers said they struggled to move around and 18 of the 83 workers said explicitly they felt dependent on their employer.