Safeguarding workers on temporary migration programmes: study

Recommendations for the Scottish Government

Tackle the risks associated with temporary migration programmes

• As a priority the Scottish government should propose alternative migration routes to temporary migration programmes. Such routes should not tie workers visas to a single employer, sector or labour provider and be convertible, offering pathways to settlement.
• Continuous monitoring and evidence gathering is necessary to assess the risks faced by workers on temporary migration programmes in Scotland, this includes workers on the OWPVW and SWV whose numbers are growing annually.

Ensure employer compliance

• The Scottish government does not currently have access to all immigration data held by the UK Home Office, including data related to SWV worker placement with employers. By establishing a registry for all employers of temporary migrant workers, it would enable compliance activity and engagement to be more targeted towards this high-risk cohort of workers.

Consider proposing a pilot open work permit for workers at risk of or experiencing abuse.

• An open work permit can help safeguard workers on temporary migration programmes and provide an interim option to reduce the inherent risks of exploitation on such schemes.

If an open work permit is piloted the following considerations should be made:

Design:

• Engage a wide range of stakeholders with expertise in direct support to temporary migrant workers and legal frameworks to protect migrant workers. In particular, the definition of abuse should be informed by wide ranging expertise and there must be detailed analysis of the possible resource requirements and implications for NGOs that support temporary migrant workers.
• Establish a pilot open work permit programme to test efficacy, accessibility, and outcomes and to generate a clear picture of likely demand, including a monitoring, evaluation and learning component with opportunity for ongoing stakeholder engagement in findings.
• Extend the scope of any open work permit to all workers at risk of or experiencing abuse on temporary migration programmes, including those that have become undocumented.
• Ensure a comprehensive definition of abuse and accompanying guidance covering the range of possible circumstances and workable in conjunction with relevant employment, immigration, and human trafficking law and in a devolved context.
• Ensure work permit validity is based on evidence of the time it takes for workers to move on and find safe and sustainable employment.
• Ensure workers are not placed at risk of detention and deportation by applying, by ensuring secure reporting.
• Create a direct link between work permits issued and workplace inspections, seeking evidence that employers of workers issued open work permits are taking proactive steps to root out workplace abuse.
• Establish ongoing training for implementing officers, to ensure trauma informed worker engagement and uniform assessment of applications.

Implementation:

• Establish an accessible application process, including online and paper applications, with translation into workers’ native languages and limited requirements for supporting documentation.
• Consider innovative ways of gathering evidence, that centre the worker’s needs, including trauma informed oral evidence gathering.
• Ensure sufficient resources for emergency assistance, including a provision for emergency accommodation or support for applicants for an open work permit.
• Set an urgent target for application processing and decisions, such as the five working days target set by Canada’s IRCC, ensuring resources are allocated to meet the demand.
• Consider a two-step assessment process applying a lower standard to evidence than decisions, recognising that the open permit is designed for highly vulnerable individuals and that abuses can be hard to evidence.
• Publish decisions made and include a formal review facility within the open work permit, for transparency and accountability.

Outcomes for workers:

• Ensure open work permits are extendable at the end of their validity period upon consideration of the workers’ circumstances.
• Support an associated migrant worker employment programme, to assist workers on open work permits to find safe and sustainable future work.
• Include monitoring, evaluation and learning to ensure that the impact of an open work permit on vulnerable workers and incidences of abuse can be understood and programme alterations made if required.
• Document and monitor linked employer inspection outcome data to monitor wider impact of the permit.