4 November 2024: Guardian: Union launches charter to protect care workers on sponsored UK visas
Salford council is first signatory to Unison agreement intended to prevent exploitation of migrant workers
Care workers from countries such as India, Nigeria and the Philippines who faced losing their immigration status in the UK if they left their employers have been promised new protections by a landmark, grassroots deal.
The migrant care workers charter is an agreement designed by care workers and the trade union Unison to prevent the exploitation of people on sponsored visas – and Salford council is the first in the country to sign up to it.
The immigration status of people on post-Brexit sponsored health and care worker visas and skilled worker visas rests on them having a licensed employer. If they lose their job, the Home Office can cancel their visa, giving them 60 days to find a new sponsoring employer, apply for a different visa, or leave the country.
Union organisers say this means care workers who have sold everything to come to the UK, often to work with people with dementia or complex needs, are vulnerable to exploitation by under-scrutinised employers.
The charter includes a commitment that signatories, such as Salford council, will identify or act as an ‘‘employer of last resort” for care workers who have been victimised, or whose migration status is jeopardised after losing a job through no fault of their own, helping them to stay in the UK. Signatories also commit to creating an “ethical recruiter list” to stop rogue employers getting public money.