A foreign care worker says she was repeatedly raped by her manager but felt unable to report him to the police for fear of losing her right to work, in a case that exposes the way the UK’s visa system for health and care workers leaves people completely dependent on their employer.
The case is one of more than 170 examples of abuse and exploitation reported by foreign care workers across the UK in an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and Citizens Advice.
Others include a woman who reported being sexually harassed by her landlord in accommodation arranged by her employer, who sponsored her work in the UK, and a live-in carer who was threatened with dismissal and the revocation of her visa when she complained about being made to work 20 hours a day.
A health and care worker visa is only granted once the applicant has a job offer from an approved UK employer, also known as a sponsor. This places employers in an “incredible position of power”, said Dora-Olivia Vicol, the chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, because the worker remains tied to their sponsor for the length of their visa.
“What the Home Office and labour enforcement agencies need to realise is that, in the current conditions, people don’t report exploitation because they don’t want it to backfire,” Vicol added.
Government figures show almost 106,000 visas were granted to care workers in 2023 – almost double the number awarded in 2022. People from India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Bangladesh and Pakistan topped the list of those travelling to the UK to plug the labour shortfall created by Brexit.
The care worker who approached Citizens Advice in 2023 to report that she had been raped several times by her manager attended a rape crisis centre but said she was too worried about losing her pay and visa to complain to the police. .
Andrew Gwynne, the shadow minister for social care, said the findings highlighted how the government had failed in its promise to fix the crisis in social care. “It is vital that we ensure we have a system where exploitation of overseas workers is not tolerated, and steps must be put in place to stop those who perpetrate abuse,” the MP said.
In early 2023, staff at Citizens Advice, a charity that provides confidential support on issues including debt and housing, noticed an increase in calls from people who were on health and care worker visas.
Concerned by the trend, Citizens Advice collected information recorded by its advisers to assess the scale of the problem. In total, the charity gathered evidence from 150 workers, although the true number of people affected is probably far higher. The charity then shared anonymised information about the callers with TBIJ as part of its investigation into exploitative and precarious working conditions faced by migrants in the UK.
Separately, the TBIJ spoke to a further 22 care workers. These included Demi*, a live-in care worker who said she was expected to work 20 hours a day without a break. “I’m not sure how care companies in a first-world country are capable of getting away with abuse, exploitation and, simply put, a modern slave trade,” she said.
Care workers also described working unpaid hours, paying up to £30,000 in illegal recruitment fees, being allocated fewer hours than promised, and even being left destitute because of the working conditions experienced in the care sector.
In another case, a Nigerian worker who complained about earning below the minimum wage was told they would have to move more than 300 miles for a different placement. The employer revoked their sponsorship when they refused.
“There are potentially thousands of people trapped in a system that leaves them vulnerable to abuse and threats, powerless to complain, and often losing thousands of pounds,” Kayley Hignell, the interim director of policy at Citizens Advice, told the Guardian. “These people are skilled professionals who keep our healthcare services running yet are left without a safety net when things go wrong.”
Changes were made to care work visas in 15 February 2022 after a recommendation from the migration advisory committee was accepted by the government to allow a wider umber of people to apply. Citizens Advice said they began to notice cases of exploitation in large numbers in July 2023.
“A first step to fix this has to be designing working visas in a way that doesn’t bind someone to an employer,” said Hignell. “The government must also give workers better options for raising the alarm about poor treatment and ensure bad employers are held to account.”
A Home Office spokesperson told TBIJ: “We strongly condemn offering health and care worker visa holders employment under false pretences and will not tolerate illegal activity in the labour market.
“We are committed to stamping out exploitation of those working in the care sector and have announced providers in England will only be able to sponsor migrant workers if they are undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission.”
* Names have been changed
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
