Care staff who come to the UK from overseas are having to share beds with other workers, sleep rough, and pay huge fees to work because of exploitation by rogue employers, according to a report released by UNISON today (Tuesday).

Some migrant care workers have paid more than £20,000 to intermediaries in return for a job before they even arrive, according to Caring at a Cost. They can then be housed in overcrowded, substandard accommodation and subjected to appalling racist abuse in the workplace, according to the research.

The report is based on findings from a survey by UNISON of more than 3,000 people who have come to the UK on health and care worker visas. It is the first major piece of work on migrant care staff conducted by the union.

More than one in seven (15%) paid money to an employer and one in eleven (9%) to a recruiter or agency before coming here. This is in return for filling jobs during a recruitment crisis in social care, says UNISON.

The union is calling for the government to take over sponsorship of migrant care staff from employers. UNISON says the current system, where care companies sponsor migrant care staff who can then apply for a visa, allows unscrupulous bosses to abuse their power…