A Kent expert in employment law argues that the government’s policy on modern slavery has ‘backfired’ and that a new, centralised inspectorate must be established to tackle the problem.
Professor Judy Fudge, of Kent Law School, asserts that instead of offering migrant domestic workers greater protections, changes to the visa system have made it more difficult for them to stay and work in the UK, and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by their employers.
In a policy briefing published by the Oxford Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Professor Fudge makes the case for a multi-pronged strategy designed to regulate the labour market, and outlines a series of recommendations, including:
- the UK government’s ratification of the Domestic Workers Convention
- establishing a centralised and well-funded labour inspectorate; and
- creating a firewall between immigration controls and the enforcement of labour rights.
Professor Fudge believes that the problem with the existing approach to modern slavery is that it is embedded in the criminal law and associated with strengthening border controls, when effective regulation of the UK labour market is the only way to stop the exploitation of overseas domestic workers.
Currently, the enforcement of employment law in the UK is divided between four agencies. The body responsible for providing strategic direction for these agencies, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, (GLAA) will conduct joint operations with the UK Border Force.
Professor Fudge argues that this mixing of the enforcement of labour standards and immigration controls will undermine the ability of the GLAA to enforce labour standards, since undocumented workers who are at risk of labour exploitation will be unwilling to come forward to report violations of labour standards if they fear that they will be penalised for ‘illegal working’.