Mixed messages over the future for seasonal workers on an Ethero sponsored visa has led to confusion within the workforce.
Policymakers are yet to advise workers about next steps following the scheme operator’s removal last week from the government approved list, workers told The Grocer.
In a letter from the scheme operator on 5 August, received by sponsored workers in the UK and seen by The Grocer, they are told they must leave the country within 60 days.
The Home Office has denied this is the case and says it is looking at sending the workers to other farms in the UK.
However, there is still much confusion within the seasonal labour workforce. Workers who contacted The Grocer were unaware the 60-day rule would not be enforced.
Many workers who had been in touch said they had not heard from the government regarding the rules, and because of this one had already booked their return flight to Uzbekistan.
“We are now in despair as seasonal work has been our main source of income,” said one worker. “We have families and parents who depend on us. This work is vital to us.”
Seasonal worker operator fury after licence revoked
“It is unacceptable that people who came to the UK to work on farms are now left in a chaotic and precarious situation,” said Kate Roberts, head of policy at Focus on Labour Exploitation. “They are left with no public guarantee that the UK will uphold its side of the bargain – ensuring they have employment, or are compensated for loss of work.”
“There is currently an information void for workers, which risks being filled by unscrupulous operators,” said Caroline Robinson, director of the Worker Support Centre. “Workers urgently need government to clarify their situation – in writing to them – so they can make informed choices about what to do next.
“Unless this happens we could see workers being tricked by fraudsters seeking to profit from this confusion,” she added.
Another worker got in touch with The Grocer, who had applied for a visa in May through Ethero’s company Telpasc, and said they had spent significant funds on the application and waited many months without any clarity.
The Home Office has now started issuing letters with visa application decisions, The Grocer understands.
Roberts said there is a “responsibility to workers who have invested in coming to the UK but haven’t travelled yet” and said there needs to be a structural review to make sure provisions are in place for workers.
“We cannot keep asking workers to come to the UK to put food on our shelves without safeguarding the rights of these workers,” said Roberts.
This call for a rethink of the scheme was echoed by Robinson, who said the Worker Support Centre had been “inundated with enquiries” and the scheme is “failing workers”.
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