Seasonal worker recognised as a potential victim of trafficking

Julia Quecano Casimiro, who entered the UK on a seasonal worker visa, has been issued with an initial decision from the Home Office confirming that there are reasonable grounds for believing she may have been a victim of trafficking. Julia came to the UK to pick fruit on Haygrove Farms. She says that when she was recruited she was told that she could make up to £500 a week and would have to repay no more than $1000 for her flight tickets.

However, after arriving in the UK, she was given no shifts or pay for the first week and earnt less than £150 the following week. She faced poor working conditions and intimidation from supervisors. She and the other workers were also told they would have to repay their flight costs in six weekly installments of £250.00, which would have left many of them with little or nothing to live on

Julia raised concerns with senior colleagues on one occasion and was told she would have no work the following day.

Julia is also bringing a claim against Haygrove Farm for unlawful deduction of wages, unfair dismissal, discrimination and harassment in the Employment Tribunal, with a preliminary hearing expected in March 2024.

We are representing Julia in her trafficking case and the United Voices of the World union are representing her in her employment claim.

Following the end of EU free movement and the war in Ukraine, the seasonal worker visa scheme has grown significantly to try and solve the resulting labour shortages faced by UK farms. A small number of recruitment companies, known as Scheme Operators, are responsible for sourcing migrant workers, sponsoring their visas and monitoring their welfare while they are in the UK.

A Seasonal Worker visa is a short term, non-renewable visa, which links the worker to a specific scheme operator, who will decide where they can work and whether they can change their employer if they face problems or if the work runs out. Workers are not permitted to seek any work outside of these parameters or access any public funds. Due to the remote locations of most UK farms, workers are also reliant on their employers for accommodation and may have more difficulty finding local support and advice

There have been many reports of workers, like Julia, being subjected to mistreatment including underpayment of wages, lack of access to sick leave, and debt bondage in the case of those who have had to pay high travel and visa costs or recruitment fees in their home countries.

However, because the visa scheme restricts them from changing employers, workers are trapped in exploitative situations. We are concerned that the current scheme creates a serious risk of labour exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery;placing considerable power in the hands of profit-seeking recruitment companies; and creating a vulnerable class of workers who may be less willing or able to speak out about poor treatment and exploitation.