UK agency work means forced labour threat, says Queen’s Belfast law school
18 November 2013
A new report suggests that the UK is especially susceptible to forced labour because agency work is twice as prevalent as in any other EU country.
Mon, 18 Nov 2013A new report suggests that the UK is especially susceptible to forced labour because agency work is twice as prevalent as in any other EU country.
The Queen’s University Belfast School of Law today (18 November) publishes ‘Forced labour's business models and supply chains’, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and available online.
According to the report, the percentage of agency workers in the UK labour market is double that in any other EU country.
“That sector of the labour market which works at or near the minimum wage and often on zero-hour contracts is susceptible to forced labour,” the School of Law’s Professor Jean Allain says.
“This is the reality of a ‘flexible workforce’ for people at the wrong end of the labour market.”
The report in particular calls for scrutiny of the food and construction industry, as well as the illegal cultivation of cannabis in the Modern Slavery Bill, which the government is due to release next month.
The Queen’s University Belfast School of Law today (18 November) publishes ‘Forced labour's business models and supply chains’, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and available online.
According to the report, the percentage of agency workers in the UK labour market is double that in any other EU country.
“That sector of the labour market which works at or near the minimum wage and often on zero-hour contracts is susceptible to forced labour,” the School of Law’s Professor Jean Allain says.
“This is the reality of a ‘flexible workforce’ for people at the wrong end of the labour market.”
The report in particular calls for scrutiny of the food and construction industry, as well as the illegal cultivation of cannabis in the Modern Slavery Bill, which the government is due to release next month.
