Thousands of Portuguese migrant workers are being encouraged to come to the UK to fill vacancies in agriculture, cleaning and the hospitality industry, but language problems and a lack of understanding of UK employment law is giving unscrupulous employers a licence to exploit, the TUC warned today.
The TUC is concerned that if the same level of ill treatment is mirrored in other migrant worker communities, bad bosses could be exploiting workers on a grand scale. The TUC has examples of Portuguese migrant workers who have been hired and fired at will by their employers, paid at less than the market rate, and denied holiday and sick pay. And because many of these workers lack a fluent grasp of English, their isolation and ignorance of the law is made worse.
To help Portuguese migrant workers achieve better working conditions, the TUC is today (Friday) launching a new dual-language leaflet, Working in Great Britain/Trabalhar na Grã-Bretanha. It covers topics such as National Insurance, employment contracts, maternity rights, the minimum wage, health and safety, working time and holidays, and unfair dismissal.
