Number of seasonal workers seeking help after being laid off from UK farms doubles compared to last year | Agriculture

Research has found that the number of farm workers seeking help to make redundant after leaving the UK to work on farms or orchards has soared in the past year.

This trend is thought to be due to pressure to meet harvest targets, the difficulties farmers face in maintaining profitability, and the unexpected consequences of new laws mandating minimum working hours.

The Worker Support Centre (WSC), which supports seasonal workers across the UK but is based in Scotland, said the number of people coming to it seeking help over redundancies in June and July this year was more than double the number in the same period last year.

This problem may be the tip of the iceberg. Workers who have just arrived in the country may not know how to get help.

The WSC said 47 people approached it for advice on redundancies between June and July, up 22 from last year, and that 60 workers have raised concerns about the company's high productivity targets so far this year.

Caroline Robinson, the organisation's director, said: “At Worker Resource Centres we regularly hear stories of workers being presented with lofty performance targets within their first two weeks on the job and then threatened with redundancy if they failed to meet them.

Most workers are in debt to travel to the UK on seasonal worker visas, which prevent them from leaving the farm and finding another job. The risk of losing their job is often so high that some are forced to endure extremely difficult working conditions.

In July, the Guardian revealed that Indonesian fruit pickers who had paid thousands of pounds to work in the UK were being sacked after just a few weeks for not working fast enough. For those who come to the UK and spend a lot of money, being sacked before their six-month visas end increases the risk of returning in debt.

Many who support workers believe the increase in layoffs is an unintended consequence of rules introduced this year that require farms to guarantee at least 32 hours of work to people on seasonal visas. They say the change has made it less attractive for farms to hire slower workers, since they no longer have the option of using them for fewer hours.

Robinson said the government must take action to ensure that visas do more to protect workers. The practice of using the threat of dismissal and choosing wages as a means of forcing workers to compete with each other to achieve goals that some cannot achieve within a visa system where people have no choice but to submit is dangerously close to the definition of forced labor, and this new government must quickly turn its attention to it.

WSC said in its interim report that it was experiencing its most challenging work season to date, with more daily support calls than at any time in the history of the service. The organization also recorded that 12 workers had been fired after complaining.

Adis Sehic, of the Work Rights Centre, a charity that supports migrants in precarious employment, said she believed the rise in layoffs was linked to the introduction of minimum working hours. [farmers] It is about making sure that everyone working on the farm actually works and is as productive as possible. Unfortunately, in the UK at least, there are no regulations on the productivity rates of seasonal workers. These are set by the farm and obviously change from day to day depending on the weather and conditions on the farm.

So what we think happens is that seasonal workers come in, they're trained, they're given goals, but there's no regulation of productivity at all, so they're laid off a few weeks later.

Alison Capper, chief executive of British Apples and Pears, the association representing Britain's apple and pear growers, pointed out that the study's sample size was relatively small and that layoffs will always occur on farms.

Capper, who runs an apple and hop farm and relies on seasonal workers on visas, said he “wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few layoffs and wage issues during peak season.” [of the soft fruit season].

Capper said there will always be people who are not suited to the job because it is difficult and requires a high level of physical endurance and dexterity.

She said she did not believe the 32-hour minimum was a factor in the layoffs, but the pressure to be productive made it impossible to hire significantly less capable pickers.

Farms have a very strong need to be able to deliver good productivity levels due to the pressure on prices from customers. During periods of significant inflation, it has been very difficult for growers to increase the value of their produce in the supermarkets. This means that the cost of harvest per kilo is always under pressure.

Capper said that while it is in the growers’ interest to set up their work stations properly so that the harvesters return each year, those who are significantly slower cannot continue to work. There will always be a few who are harvesting at below average productivity levels. If it is slightly below that, you can afford it. But if it is significantly below that, you can’t afford it, and in fact, it’s not fair to the other workers.

No grower can afford to hire workers to pick crops at productivity levels significantly below average.

A government spokesperson said: “The welfare of all visa holders is of the utmost importance and we will take firm action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the seasonal worker route are not being met.

We have set clear requirements for organisations holding sponsorship licences and stressed that those who directly benefit from immigration have a responsibility to ensure that the immigration system is not abused.

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