Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says
Independent 3rd June 2025: Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government-commissioned report says
Exclusive: It would cost employers £850-1,500 to bring each worker to the UK, study into seasonal worker visa finds.
Original Source: The Independent – Emiliano Mellino and Holly Bancroft – 3rd June 2025
British farms and supermarkets could tackle the exploitation of fruit and vegetable pickers by paying their travel and visa costs, according to a government-commissioned report. The report, undertaken for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), follows growing allegations of mistreatment of migrant workers on the seasonal worker visa, including a legal challenge brought by an Indonesian fruit picker against the UK government for human rights breaches.
Tens of thousands of workers come to the UK every year on a six-month visa from as far as Chile and the Philippines, and some accrue thousands of pounds of debt before they arrive, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.
The potential policy runs counter to tough new immigration rules announced by Sir Keir Starmerl that make it harder for workers and students to come to Britain. But it would bring the UK closer in line with other countries, such as the United States, where employers are required to bear the costs of workers’ recruitment and travel.
Currently, a handful of operators are licensed by the Home Office to recruit farm labourers and can issue a certificate of sponsorship that can be used to secure a seasonal worker visa from the Home Office. But the workers are left to pay for it and for the cost of travel to the UK.
The study commissioned by Defra into the ‘Employer Pays Principle’, seen by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Independent,proposes four alternative options to government, which would see recruiters, farms, retailers and consumers bear the costs instead.
In response to this story, a Defra spokesperson said the government “has no plans to impose the Employer Pays Principle for seasonal workers”, but The Independent understands the government will review the study and consider learnings alongside industry partners.
In the first proposed model, recruiters would have to cover the costs upfront and would then charge farms higher fees for the service. In the second option, recruiters would still cover the costs but they could then apply to a government or industry fund to be reimbursed. In the third, the worker would cover their costs, but then be reimbursed on arrival to the UK, and in the fourth, the costs covered by the recruiters would be passed on in full down the supply chain, via farms and supermarkets, to consumers.
The study, written by consultancy Alma Economics, estimates a range of £850-1,500 that would be paid for by employers for each worker on the seasonal workers’ scheme.
It also estimates fruit and vegetable growers will face the highest financial cost from options one and three. The first model could result in 70 out of 827 farms experiencing losses, compared to 43 in the second proposal, 57 for option three, and zero for the final scheme.
Consumers would pay between one and three pence per week more for fruit and vegetables picked under the scheme, the research estimates. Making the employer pay for the recruitment would cost £43.1 million in total and eliminate debt for 18,200 workers.
The research cites a report which said 70 per cent of workers on the scheme had accrued debt to come to the UK.
One seasonal farm worker, Elize*, has been travelling from South Africa to work on British farms for several years. She has often had to borrow nearly £2,000 from acquaintances to cover her travel and visa costs, at times being charged interest rates of around 20 per cent.
She says not having to pay travel and visa costs would help get out of a cycle of having to choose between taking on high-interest loans, or barely eating throughout the year in order to save enough to afford flights to the UK.
The report, which consulted supermarkets, farmers and recruiters, said that stakeholders supported making operators cover the costs and then pass them down the supply chain.
While the study said farmers were reliant on the seasonal worker scheme because they believed “UK workers often lack the skills and motivation” needed to pick fruits and vegetables, they largely opposed overseas workers having their recruitment costs covered.
Many worried it would threaten “worker commitment”, since the current system provides “strong incentives to work hard” to clear debts.
However, most retailers were in favour of introducing the employer pays principle as were some scheme operators, the report said.
Meanwhile, worker representative bodies and human rights organisations welcomed the proposals but thought wider reforms were needed to ensure it improved worker welfare.
Eleanor Lyons, the government’s independent anti-slavery commissioner, called on the government to act and highlighted these workers’ increased vulnerability.
“This has an incredibly detrimental impact on the victims who can be forced to work excessive hours, trapped in debt bondage, and in incredibly challenging conditions,” she said “The government needs to act now to provide more protection for seasonal workers, the risks to them are clear and there must be more safeguards.”
A National Farmers Union spokesperson said: “The NFU is aware that Defra is conducting a study modelling the economic impacts of the Employer Pays Principle. This is part of a larger agriculture sector-wide ongoing discussion on enhancements to seasonal worker welfare in the UK. Seasonal workers are of the upmost importance to the production of UK food, fruit and vegetables in particular.
7th Dec 2024: Gaurdian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence
7th Dec 2024: Guardian – Agency that brought heavily indebted Indonesian farmworkers into UK seasonal workers scheme loses licence
A British recruitment agency that brought Indonesian farmworkers to the UK owing debts of thousands of pounds to foreign brokers has had its licence revoked by the labour exploitation watchdog. AG Recruitment was once the largest supplier of international labour to British agriculture, bringing more than 1,450 Indonesians to pick fruit to supply British supermarkets in 2022.
Original Source: Guardian by Emily Dugan – 7th December 2024
Exclusive: AG Recruitment found not to have acted ‘in a fit and proper manner’ by labour exploitation watchdog
After revelations in the Guardian that farmworkers supplied by AG had taken on debts of up to £5,000 after paying unlicensed third parties in Indonesia, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) announced an investigation. AG said it had known nothing about charging by third parties and had warned farmworkers not to pay for jobs.
‘If you want to abuse your farmworkers, that’s fine’: UK modern slavery watchdog’s funding cut
More than two years after the GLAA investigation was announced, its findings have still not been published. It said on Tuesday that it had stripped AG of its licence for failing to “act in a fit and proper manner”.
AG said the investigation had cleared it of wrongdoing and that the licence was revoked because of a previous decision by the Home Office.
Last year, the Home Office took away AG’s licence to operate as a seasonal worker sponsor over allegations that farmworkers recruited by them had overstayed their visas.
Douglas Amesz, AG’s managing director, said of the GLAA investigation: “They found nothing. It took a very long time, and it was very detailed. There was no wrongdoing.”
Amesz admitted that farmworkers he recruited had paid fees to third parties but said that he had done his best to prevent this. “Third parties get involved – unscrupulous people doing the wrong thing. That’s what happened. I had no knowledge of it.”
He added: “I can’t influence what I can’t see and what I can’t touch and that’s what happened in Indonesia. It’s happening now, still.”
Commenting on agricultural recruitment overseas, he said: “Indonesian farmworkers, boy, oh boy, talk about corrupt. You know, eastern Europe’s corrupt. They’re all so corrupt. All the countries that we recruit from, there’s a high level of corruption and they just get better at it.”
When asked whether the farmworkers he recruited who had paid fees to unlicensed brokers should be compensated, he said “on the one hand, I don’t”, because he told them in person “that they should never pay fees, that they should report it, that it’s against the law in the UK and no one should ever pay for a job … I told them all not to do it but they went and did it anyway.”
When asked if it was true that no farmworkers had yet received compensation for fees paid to unlicensed brokers for jobs, Amesz said he could not comment.
Andy Hall, a migrant rights specialist, said: “Despite this important licence revocation, which resulted from the Guardian’s groundbreaking investigation and media coverage, none of the vulnerable migrant victims have received any remediation.”
Hall added: “Worse than that, as we saw with the UK food sector’s ill-informed recruitment from Indonesia again this year, the retailers, farms, scheme operators and more importantly the government have yet to learn any lessons from this scandal.”
The company is understood to have been added to the GLAA’s revocation register on Friday but lost its licence on 13 November. Amesz said he had initially appealed against the decision to revoke AG’s GLAA licence but had withdrawn the appeal on deciding to leave the recruitment industry altogether.
Amesz said it had faced an “unjust process” and that he and his wife had “been through hell and back”. He added: “AG is not being dissolved as a business, but we don’t operate any longer.”
A spokesperson for the GLAA said: “When an allegation is received, the GLAA will conduct a thorough investigation and this includes working with other government departments and enforcement agencies … AG Recruitment and Management’s licence was revoked after our investigation found there to be a breach of 1.1 of our licensing standards, which states: ‘The licence holder, Principal Authority and any person named or specified in the licence must at all times act in a fit and proper manner.’”
A breach of its licensing standards can include contravening any “requirements and standards of other regulatory authorities,” including UK Visas and Immigration.
The spokesperson added: “Following our decision to revoke, this decision was appealed, and later withdrawn by the licence holder. The GLAA strives to ensure that we operate a robust licensing scheme, and we will investigate any allegations reported to us regarding a breach in our standards.”
Additional Reading:
15th November 2024: TBIJ – Seasonal workers find no hope in employment tribunals
13th Nov 2024: Diplomat – Indonesian Workers Say They Faced Modern Slavery in the UK. Who Is Responsible?
29th Oct 2024 SCMP: He left Indonesia, seeking a better life in the UK. All he found was debt and despair
Grocer NEWS 16th October 2024: Agri HR Ends Indonesian UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Recruitment Amidst Exploitation and Legality Concerns
8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being sacked by UK farms doubles in the past year
8th Sept 2024: The Guardian – ‘Targets are unrealistic’: sacked fruit picker tells of treatment on Kent farm
6th Sept 2024: Aljazeera – Indonesian fruit-pickers say seasonal work in UK left them drowning in debt
ITV EXCLUSIVE 5th Sept 2024: Seasonal workers on British farms being given ‘unhealthy and dangerous’ accommodation
24th August 2024 TBIJ: ‘We sacrificed everything we had’: seasonal workers in UK left without jobs after Home Office decision
6th August 2024: Fruitnet – Indonesian picker allegations highlight risk of exploitation for seasonal workers
31st July 2024: BBC Indonesia –‘I’m at my wits end’ – The fate of Indonesia’s aspiring seasonal fruit pickers who have yet to be sent to the UK (translated from Bahasa)
21st July 2024: Guardian Exclusive Investigation – Indonesians who paid thousands to work on UK farm sacked within weeks
16th July 2024: Financial Times – UK food sector should cover migrant workers’ upfront costs, advisers say
Independent 2nd June 2024: Vulnerable workers coming to UK in post-Brexit deal at risk of bullying and sexual harassment, report finds
Independent 29th May 2024: UK ministers pressed ahead with seasonal worker visa scheme for migrants despite UN experts’ warning of forced labour and human trafficking risks
Bureau of Investigative Journalism 29th May 2024: Government expanded visa scheme weeks after UN raised alarm over people trafficking
BHRRC 23rd May 2024: UK – Leading supermarkets asked to meet costs of implementing the Employer Pays Principle across supply chains by civil society group (see 9th May 2024 below); incl. company responses
Bloomberg 22nd May 2024: Fruit Picker Who Said Her Hands Bled From Work Sues UK Employer
Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce Update 17th May 2024: SWS Taskforce update on Employer Pays Principle study
GROCER 10th May 2024: SOURCING Workers’ groups call on supermarkets to pay seasonal labour fees – The groups said there are risks farmers will be unable to comply to new rules
Guardian 9th May 2024: UK Government says employers may be required to pay travel and visa costs for people getting seasonal worker visas
9th May 2024: Landworker’s Alliance and Allies call for UK supermarkets to pay recruitment related fees and costs for migrant workers
April 30th 2024: BBC World –England again employs seasonal fruit pickers from Indonesia (translation)
The Grocer 30th Apr 2024: Growers brace for up to £90m in additional seasonal worker costs in UK in move towards internationally compliant zero cost responsible recruitment model for vulnerable migrant workers
3rd April 2024: Financial Times (London) UK employment – Britain’s seasonal worker scheme leaves many migrants in debt, research finds
3rd April 2024: Independent – Migrant fruit pickers saddled with debts of up to £5,500 to come to UK through government scheme
26th January 2024: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Modern Slavery Issues: Indonesian seasonal fruit pickers landed in debt bondage challenges Home Office
26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – UK government fails to protect workers from trafficking and exploitation
26th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Challenge to government’s Seasonal Worker Scheme
25th Jan 2024 Home Office: UK government survey on experiences of seasonal workers scheme confirms the exceptionally high levels of issues (confusion, fees etc) faced by Indonesian and Nepali workers in 2021/2022
24th Jan 2024: ATLEU – Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking
12th January 2024: UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy
FLEX 26th Oct 2023 – Seasonal Workers’ Rights; Who’s Responsible?
21st July 2023: Vulnerable UK migrant workers at risk as audits of farm recruiters stall
17th March 2023 BHRRC Blog Series: UK Seasonal Worker Scheme Endangers Vulnerable Foreign Workers. (My Op Ed)
23rd February 2023: Farm workers on UK seasonal visas to be guaranteed 32 hours a week
Other stories on challenges of UK seasonal worker scheme:
1. Working in the UK: Hundreds of Indonesian Citizens Escape, More Than 1,200 Workers from Indonesia Threatened to Cancel (BBC, 16th Feb 2023)
2. AG Recruitment, UK recruiter of debt-hit Indonesian and Nepali migrant workers, loses seasonal workers scheme license following forced labour related allegations, worker abscondments and asylum claims (Guardian, 10th Feb 2023)
3. Indonesian former fruit pickers become illegal immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK – ‘This is the easiest shortcut’ (BBC, 26th Jan 2023)
4. Home Office accepts recommendations in Chief Inspector’s report on immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector (Freeths, 16th Jan 2023)
5. Immigration: Investors warn food companies about risk of forced labour on UK farms (Financial Times 19th Dec 2022)
6. Investor statement on the UK Seasonal Worker Scheme (Public Investor Statement 19th Dec 2022)
7. Hundreds of Indonesian fruit pickers in UK seek diplomatic help (Guardian, 2nd Dec 2022)
8. Seasonal worker visa puts migrants at risk of exploitation, say supermarkets (Guardian, 2nd Dec 2022)
9. Seasonal fruit pickers from Nepal left thousands in debt after being sent home early from UK farms (Guardian, 13th Nov 2022)
10. Indonesia to investigate claims fruit pickers in UK seasonal agricultural workers scheme charged thousands to work in Kent (Guardian, 29th Aug 2022)
