Bullying and harassment of vulnerable workers

In the last 10 years, there has been an explosion in levels of low-paid casualised, short-term and agency labour. The TUC points out that “bullying and harassment can be a daily feature of working life” for these workers, who often suffer harassment for more than one discriminatory reason. Migrant workers are at particular risk of abusive management because of their precarious status.

In 2009, the TUC Commission on Vulnerable Employment published data showing that women, people from minority ethnic groups and disabled people are the most likely to be in vulnerable work, and that around two million workers are at risk of being in exploitative jobs. Analysis by the Legal Services Commission has shown that many of these workers believe nothing can be done about their treatment at work and are too frightened to take action. There are problems across all sectors, but they are at their most acute in certain sectors, in particular, food processing, care homes, cleaning, hotels, restaurants, hairdressing and security.

In March 2010, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published the results of an inquiry into recruitment and employment in the meat and poultry processing sector which found widespread evidence of mistreatment, including physical and verbal abuse and poor treatment of pregnant workers.

In particular it found that:

• a fifth of workers had been pushed, kicked or had things thrown at them by line managers;

• more than a third said they had experienced or witnessed verbal abuse, often on a daily basis;

• workers reported being refused permission to take toilet breaks and subsequently urinating or bleeding on themselves in the production line; and

• a quarter witnessed maltreatment of pregnant women, such as women being forced to continue with work that represented a risk to their health and safety, such as heavy lifting and extended standing.

In 2010, general union Unite reached an agreement with supermarket Asda to tackle discrimination against migrant workers in its meat and poultry supply chain, including ending the culture of bullying and harassment. Asda asked its 29 suppliers to stop unacceptable practices highlighted by the union, including migrant workers having to clock off for toilet breaks and being forced to share colleagues’ safety boots.

Two years on from the EHRC report, a 2012 report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Experiences of forced labour in the UK food industry, also disclosed a catalogue of abusive practices. These include upfront fees and debt bondage, threats and bullying, overwork, oppressive targets and surveillance, no breaks, non- and underpayment of wages, documentation abuse and over-recruitment, where there is just enough work to pay the debt to the gangmaster, but not enough to live on, forcing workers to live penniless in cramped accommodation.