UK: The occupational promotion of migrant workers
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The UK contribution to this study on migrant workers begins by outlining the relevant and available data on migrant workers in the UK. It then notes the various public policies on the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the UK, before recording a series of region and sector specific ‘best practice’ guides to the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the UK. It concludes with a summary of the state of the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the UK.
1. The workplace promotion of migrant workers: current evidence
Please provide all available information on workplace promotion and careers of migrant workers in individual workplaces, and specifically indicate workplace- and/or employee-based data over the period 2003-2007 (or latest available) with respect to:
As of 2005, it was estimated that there were 1,404,900 migrant workers in the UK (Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 2006). Of these migrant workers, it was further estimated that 50.6% were female and 49.3% were male.
Types of contract (irregular, temporary, permanent) of migrant workers, by gender (workplace distribution and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
There is no comprehensive data on the forms of contract that migrant workers in the UK are employed on. However, in a study of migrant workers from the 10 central and eastern European countries that acceded to the European Union in 2004 it was estimated that approximately 52% of these workers were in temporary employment (Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) 2008).
Tenure (years, months) of migrant workers with same employer, by gender (workplace average and/or individual distribution). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
There is no information on the tenure of employment of migrant workers. However, given that the above statistic suggests that many migrant workers are engaged in temporary employment it may be reasonable to surmise that the tenure of employment of migrant workers is low compared to indigenous workers.
Occupation (ISCO-88) of migrant workers, by gender (workplace distribution and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
As of 2005, the sectors in which migrant workers were most commonly employed were the health and social work sector (166,000), the business and administration sector (125,000), the manufacturing sector (124,000) and the commerce sector (101,800) (Health and Safety Executive, ‘Migrant Workers in England and Wales: An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks’ 2006). Of the migrant workers from the 10 central and eastern European countries that acceded to the European Union in 2004, the three sectors in which a 2008 study estimated that these workers are most commonly engaged are business and administration (23,000 worker registration scheme (WRS) registrations), hospitality and catering (7,000 WRS registrations) and manufacturing (4,000 WRS registrations) (Institute of Public Policy Research, ‘Floodgates or Turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration flows to (and from) the UK’, 2008). The study did not offer data on the differing nationalities of the workers from the 10 central and eastern European countries.
Level of education/qualification (ISCED) of migrant workers, by gender (workplace distribution and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
Although there are no comprehensive statistics on the educational attainment of all migrant workers, a 2007 study on the educational attainment of Polish migrant workers in London entitled ‘Class and Ethnicity – Polish Migrants in London’ estimated that 68% had a secondary level of education, 22% had higher education, and 10% were students (Eade, Drinkwater and Garapich, 2007).
Over-qualification of migrant workers (i.e. they possess an educational degree/professional qualification of higher level than that required for the job they hold), by gender (workplace incidence and/or individual transitions). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
In terms of over-qualification, although there are no data that relate to all migrant workers, it has been estimated that approximately 70% of migrant workers from the 10 central and eastern European countries that acceded to the European Union in 2004 are engaged in an occupation that does not make full use of the educational and competence levels attained by them during their prior training (Institute of Public Policy Research, ‘Floodgates or Turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration flows to (and from) the UK’, 2008).
Participation to training of migrant workers by type of training (employer-funded, paid by the employees, publicly-funded), by gender (workplace rate and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
No data available.
Competence development, skill and qualification advancements of migrant workers, by gender (workplace rate and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
No data available.
Career advancements in terms of job positions of migrant workers, by gender (workplace rate and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences;
No data available
Salary progressions of migrant workers in percentage of the basic wage, by gender (workplace average and/or individual careers). Please include reference data for all workers to appreciate existing differences.
There is no data available on the salary progression of all migrant workers in the UK. A 2008 study entitled ‘Floodgates or Turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration flows to (and from) the UK’ estimated however that less than £400 a week was earned by 89% of migrant workers from the 10 central and eastern European countries that acceded to the European Union in 2004 (Institute of Public Policy Research, ‘Floodgates or Turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration flows to (and from) the UK’, 2008). No such data was available for other categories of migrant workers.
2. Public policies for the promotion of migrant workers at the workplace
2.1 Please indicate whether there are specific public policies to foster the workplace promotion of migrant workers and specifically:
Rules on the recognition of educational credentials, diplomas and skills of migrant workers and whether the existing situation hinders the full utilisation of their qualifications.
Specific education and training programmes, including on health and safety issues, targeted to employed migrant workers. If present, please briefly illustrate such programmes by indicating: i) the target groups (all migrant workers or only specific groups, such as low-skilled, women, etc.), ii) the nature and content of such programmes; iii) their impact in terms of skill upgrading. Rules, policies and programmes which try to promote equal opportunities of migrant workers at the workplace. If present, please briefly illustrate such programmes by indicating: i) the target firms (all companies, only in certain sectors – like the public sector, or above a size threshold), ii) the nature and content of such programmes; iii) their impact in terms of equality.
There are no specific pieces of UK legislation concerning the recognition of the educational credentials, diplomas and skills of migrant workers. There are also no specific UK Government laws that are designed to facilitate the integration of migrant workers into workplaces in terms of health and safety and equal opportunities. However, the UK is covered by the European Directives 89/48 and 92/51. These Directives established a ‘general system’ for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in member states. Thus, the professional qualifications of migrant workers from EU member states are recognized in EU law that applies in the UK.
There are also a number of existing UK laws that have been identified as crucial in integrating migrant workers into existing UK workplaces (Health and Safety Executive, ‘Migrant Workers in England and Wales: An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks’ 2006):
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There is the body of UK law that prohibits discrimination of workers on the basis of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion and age. This body of law has been built up over a period of more than 30 years, and includes the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, the 1976 Race Relations Act, the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, and the 2006 Age Discrimination Act. UK trade unions and employers regard this body of law as pivotal in preventing the discrimination of migrant workers in workplaces (Trades Union Congress (TUC) 2007).
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Also, the UK HSE (2006) has highlighted the existing body of UK health and safety law as being crucial in preventing the exploitation of migrant workers in workplaces. This body of law includes measures on basic workplace health and safety rights and also sets out provisions for employers to consult with employees over health and safety conditions in workplaces.
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The 2004 Gangmasters (Licensing) Act was also specifically drafted as a result of concerns about the safety of migrant workers and regulates the supply of workers occupied within the agricultural sector. A number of ‘soft’ non-legally binding policies such as guidelines, codes of conduct, and charters of best practice have also been developed by the UK public authorities with specific reference to migrant workers.
Further, the HSE has been involved in extensive research on specific occupational risks to all migrant workers and also operates a multi-lingual helpline in which migrant workers may report potential health and safety risks within their occupation. Other branches of the UK public authorities such as the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and the UK Government’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) have also integrated issues relating to migrant workers into their activities. For example, the West Midlands branch of ACAS has conducted a review process to establish ways in which its services may become more accessible to migrant workers. BERR is also currently conducting a review to establish ways in which its services may become more sensitive to the needs of migrant workers.
3. Collective bargaining and HRM initiatives
3.1 Please indicate whether multi-employer collective bargaining addressed the workplace promotion of migrant workers: If present, please briefly illustrate the scope and content of such collective agreements by indicating:
the prevalent level of bargaining (intersectoral, sectoral, local); the target groups (all migrant workers or only specific groups, such as low-skilled, women, etc.); the focus of such agreements (employment contracts, working time and leave, education and training, including on health and safety issues, equal opportunity at the workplace); if assessment analyses were carried out, their impact on migrant workers’ promotion.
There are various factors that preclude the availability of comprehensive aggregate data on collective agreements and HRM initiatives that address the workplace promotion of migrant workers. Firstly, there is the ‘dis-organised’ nature of collective negotiations within the UK. There is no forum for inter-sectoral collective agreements, and sectoral collective agreements only cover a certain number of sectors in the UK public sector. In the UK, most collective agreements are concluded at the level of the firm or enterprise, and it is subsequently very difficult to monitor the content of agreements concluded at such a level.
Further, there is no statutory obligation for firms to register the content of collective agreements with the UK Government and there is also no body that monitors the content of collective agreements. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), although offering a comprehensive level of information on the UK labour market, do not offer any data on the aggregate content of collective agreements or HRM initiatives.
Due to the above factors, the data that we have on the workplace promotion of migrant workers is confined to isolated examples of ‘best practice’. These examples will be elaborated in the section below.
3.2 Please indicate the role of company-level collective bargaining in fostering the workplace promotion of migrant workers. If such role is significant, please briefly illustrate the scope and content of such collective agreements by indicating:
the diffusion of such agreements in terms of sectors, companies and workers covered; the target groups (all migrant workers or only specific groups, such as low-skilled, women, etc.); the focus of such agreements (employment contracts, working time and leave, education and training, including on health and safety issues, equal opportunity at the workplace); if assessment analyses were carried out, their impact on migrant workers’ promotion.
See above.
3.3 Please indicate the role of company HRM initiatives in fostering the workplace promotion of migrant workers. If such role is significant, please briefly illustrate the scope and content of such initiatives by indicating:
the diffusion of such initiatives in terms of sectors, companies and workers covered; the target groups (all migrant workers or only specific groups, such as low-skilled, women, etc.); the focus of such initiatives (employment contracts, working time and leave, education and training, including on health and safety issues, equal opportunity at the workplace); if assessment analyses were carried out, their impact on migrant workers’ promotion.
See above.
4. Good practices and examples
4.1 Please provide information on existing analysis or repertories of good practices on workplace promotion of migrant workers by indicating:
The content and focus of such good practices How these good practices have been identified and selected; Who carried out the analysis and/or built the repertory.
There are several examples of ‘good practice’ guides regarding the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the UK. These texts are all non-legally binding, and the extent to which the guides have been subsequently incorporated into collective agreements and HRM policies is also unclear. Examples of national good practice guides include the TUC’s guide on ‘Safety & Migrant Workers’ and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau’s (CAB) guide on ‘Supporting migrant workers in rural areas’. The TUC document focuses on the health and safety risks likely to be faced by migrant workers in workplaces and identifies the issues of the linguistic abilities of migrant workers, the challenges faced in the trade union recruitment of migrant workers, and the basic health and safety risks migrant workers are liable to be exposed to as particularly relevant concerns for trade unions. A further example of a national good practice guide is the UK CAB’s ‘Supporting Migrant Workers in Rural Areas’. This document focuses upon the potential difficulties faced by migrant workers in rural areas, and lists the problems of the availability of suitable advice and the language difficulties faced by migrant workers as amongst the greatest potential problems. The document also offers various examples of local good practice. The case of the Carmarthen CAB, where Portuguese and Spanish translators were recruited by the local Bureau to facilitate the integration of Spanish and Portuguese migrant workers, was highlighted by the document. According to the document, this scheme was adjudged to be a success. However, the document did not offer any data of the scheme in operation in individual workplaces.There are also several local examples of good practice guides on the workplace promotion of migrant workers. One is the ‘Minimum Standards Charter’ developed by Migrant Workers North-West, a local public body established in the North-West of England (Migrant Workers North-West, ‘Minimum Standards Charter: A voluntary code of practice on employing migrant and European workers’, 2006). This charter is aimed at local firms who have been invited to sign the charter. As of October 2008, there is no information on the number of firms that have been signatory to the charter. The minimum standards outlined by the charter include the desirability of providing migrant workers with a copy of their employment contract in a language that they understand, the provision of details to migrant workers on trade unions operating in the workplace, the provision of effective health and safety advice to migrant workers, and the principle that firms ensure that migrant workers are treated in the same manner as indigenous workers. A further example of a regional document that is aimed at local employers is Business in the Community Northern Ireland’s ‘code of practice’ for the employment of migrant workers. This document stresses the benefits of local firms recruiting workers in international locations and advises firms on the most appropriate ways to integrate migrant workers into workplaces.
4.2 Please provide information on at least two examples of successful workplace promotion of migrant workers by indicating:
Basic data about the workplace (type of organisation, sector, size, location); A brief description of the initiatives regarded as successful and how they emerged, which should include: i) the dimensions of workplace promotion involved (employment contracts, working time and leave, tenure, education and training, including on health and safety issues, competence development, career advancements, salary progressions), ii) the target groups (all migrant workers or only specific groups, such as low-skilled, women, etc.), iii) the initiators and the actors involved (the company management, trade unions, employer organisations, etc.); On which basis this experience is regarded as successful (i.e. its results and impacts).
Bernard Matthews is a food processing company that is based in Norfolk in the east of England. It employs approximately 7,000, and also operates sites in New Zealand, Germany, France, Hungary, and Poland. The firm’s annual turnover in 2005 was GBP 400 million. Over a period of years, management at the firm have developed a strategy to attempt to aid the integration of migrant workers into its different workplaces. The various policies were developed by management in an attempt to address the problems that the firm faced with regard to seasonal recruitment. Specifically, the firm provides a series of support services to migrant workers who are new to the area in which they are working. These support services include language training, ‘welcome packs’detailing information about local schools, transport, health, and housing facilities, and the provision of support staff who provide specialised support to migrant workers. Management at Bernard Matthews report that the policies have resulted in the development of a highly skilled and dedicated migrant workforce, and have also led to a fall in the firm's recruitment and training costs. In addition to this, the firm has been recognized by the UK Government’s BERR as a ‘best practice’ employer.There are also examples of UK trade unions initiating and implementing policies designed to promote the integration of migration workers into local workforces. In one such case, the UK Unite trade union operated a campaign in a meat processing factory in Northern Ireland that was based on problems that the migrant workforce faced in relation to the temperature in the factory and the speed of the work. The union identified that the migrant workforce were often not aware of the legislation that allowed workers to take breaks in order to deal with the cold temperature, and were also not aware of an existing company accident book that allowed workers to report repetitive strain injuries (RSI) arising from the fast-speed of work. The union subsequently organised an information campaign to make workers aware of these issues and also translated the information into the various languages spoken by migrant workers. As a result of these policies, collective action was taken that effectively dealt with the two problems.
A further example of a UK trade union facilitating the integration of migrant workers into workplaces is found in the distribution department of a large supermarket operating in the midlands region of the UK in which a large number of Polish workers are employed. In this case, the USDAW trade union arranged for health and safety signage at the site to be offered in both Polish and English. A series of union operated health and safety training courses were also run for Polish workers by the union, and a Polish translator was also offered by the trade union to Polish workers.
5. Commentary by the NC
5.1 Please provide your own comments on the present state of workplace promotion of migrant workers and on the presence and scope of initiatives to promote such promotion in your country.
Despite the considerable number of migrant workers within the UK, the regulation of migrant workers within the UK is notable for its lack of a concerted approach to the occupational promotion of migrant workers. The lack of legal regulation on the occupational promotion of migrant workers in the UK and the absence of inter-sectoral agreements on the topic means that there is no policy on the topic that covers all regions and sectors. However, a rich array of local approaches is evident. This would suggest that trade unions, employers’ bodies and local public authorities are devising creative and locally tailored approaches to the challenges that the occupational promotion of migrant workers present.
REFERENCES
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Citizens Advice Bureau (2005) ‘Supporting Migrant Workers in Rural Areas’, London.Eade, J., S. Drinkwater and M. Garapich (2007) ‘Class and Ethnicity - Polish Migrants in London’, London.
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Health and Safety Executive (2006) ‘Migrant Workers in England and Wales: An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks’, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Norwich.Institute of Public Policy Research (2008) ‘Floodgates or Turnstiles? Post-EU enlargement migration flows to (and from) the UK’, London.
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Migrant Workers North West (2006) ‘Minimum Standards Charter: A voluntary code of practice on employing migrant and European workers’.
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Trades Union Congress (2007) ‘Safety & Migrant Workers: A practical guide for safety representatives’, London.
Tom Prosser, University of Warwick