Pickers at the farm in Kent were initially given zero-hours contracts and at least one was paid less than £300 a week after the cost of using a caravan was deducted, according to pay slips and other documents seen as part of a Guardian investigation. The fees they pay to secure work include flights and visas, but many workers said they also faced thousands of pounds in extra fees from Indonesian brokers who promised big profits. Under UK employment law, it is illegal to charge workers fees for finding work. A worker has described how he pledged his family home in Bali as collateral for the debt and fears he will lose it. “Now I’m working hard just to pay that money back,” he said. “I can’t sleep sometimes. I have a family that needs my support to eat and meanwhile I’m thinking about debt.” Brexit and the war in Ukraine have created chronic labor shortages in the UK agricultural sector, prompting desperate farms and recruitment agencies to look further afield to Europe, where it can be harder to track down the methods used by local brokers to find workers. The revelations raise the prospect of fruit pickers being trapped in debt slavery, preventing them from leaving their jobs without risking financial ruin. Immigrant rights experts say the situation puts workers at risk of what is effectively forced labor. The Home Office and the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority (GLAA) are looking into the allegations and supermarkets have launched an urgent investigation into the issues raised by the Guardian. Hundreds of Indonesian farm workers have been recruited to work in Britain this summer on seasonal worker visas, the migration route created to deal with the post-Brexit shortage of farm workers. Dozens of pickers were sent to Clock House farm near Maidstone in Kent, which supplies berries to most major supermarkets and has featured in an M&S advert. Clock House said it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations and “would not have entered into an agreement with or employed any entity involved in such activity [the charging of fees]It said it is working with authorities to investigate the allegations. The Indonesian workers were sourced from AG Recruitment, one of four UK agencies licensed to recruit using seasonal worker visas. The AG denied any wrongdoing and said she knew nothing about Indonesian brokers charging money. The AG originally planned to recruit from Ukraine and Russia, but changed its plans when war broke out in February, weeks before the collection period began. Last year nearly 20,000 Ukrainians came to Britain on seasonal work visas, making up two-thirds of all those who arrived through the scheme. AG had no previous experience in Indonesia and sought help from Jakarta-based Al Zubara Manpower, which in turn went to brokers on other islands who charged exorbitant fees to the people they introduced, according to an Al Zubara agent. Each season, Clock House Farm employs an average of 1,200 workers to pick raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and plums. Photo: PA/Alamy Invoices seen by the Guardian show Clock House workers owed between £4,400 and £5,000 to a broker in Bali who supplied workers to Al Zubara Manpower. While flights and visa fees are included in these debts, other charges included compulsory language training not required by the farms and hundreds of pounds for accommodation in Jakarta while awaiting visas. The debts must be repaid by bank transfer in monthly installments of up to £800, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Sukiasa Ketut, an independent agent who manages Al Zubara’s recruitment in Bali, said they used “many, many” independent brokers who did not follow the rules. He acknowledged brokers pocketed money from fees and said he felt “really sad” about the situation. He added: “We didn’t prepare well about the rules of how to recruit people, like that [went] to the recruiters and they just did it their way. We were surprised as some charge more and others less.” Even those workers who did not go through a third party were charged £2,500 by Al Zubara, with charges including a £560 training fee and a £362 visa fee, despite the Home Office fee of £259. Apart from the £1,478 for the flight and visa, there are not supposed to be any unnecessary additional charges under the seasonal worker scheme. AG Recruitment chief executive Douglas Amesz said he was unaware of brokers charging money and there was no indication he knew about the fees. He said he personally recruited candidates in Jakarta and that applications and visas were processed only by the AG. Balinese workers met Amesz in Jakarta and remember him telling them that they should not pay fees for jobs and that it was illegal. But they said local brokers told them not to reveal what they paid. Clock House Farm employs an average of 1,200 workers each season to pick raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and plums. It issued some arrivals from Indonesia on a zero-hours contract, seen by the Guardian, despite this being against the rules for those on seasonal worker visas from April 2022. After the Guardian approached it for comment in late July, contracts changed to a minimum 20 hour guarantee. Payslips seen by the Guardian show workers sometimes work far fewer hours and can earn less than £300 a week, leaving them worried about their ability to repay their debts. Clock House said it carried out an audit of its payroll and found that workers were clocked for an average of more than 48 hours a week, which means an income of more than £2,000 a month. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Clock House pays workers £10.10 an hour, under visa rules, and docks £10 a day from their wages to fund the caravans they live in on the site. Lawyers representing Clock House said the farm was “deeply concerned” about the recruitment issues highlighted by the Guardian “and the potential welfare and concern that would be placed on seasonal workers” and had reported the allegations to the GLAA. He stated that he was previously unaware of any problems or the existence of recruiters other than AG Recruitment. He asked the AG not to supply any more workers from Indonesia until further investigation. In terms of working hours, Clock House said it was writing to all seasonal workers to confirm that at least 35 hours of work per week would be guaranteed on average over a 28-day period. Amesz said he is “extremely concerned to learn of the allegations that have been made” and the AG is “cooperating fully” with the GLAA. He said Al Zubara did not handle any recruitment and the AG did not ask it to subcontract recruitment to other local agencies or brokers. He added: “We constantly monitor all aspects of our supply chain and if we find egregious behavior anywhere, we are committed to change. In light of your inquiry, we will redouble our efforts to ensure that all partners and affiliates understand the law, understand their responsibilities and understand our responsibilities under UK law and the GLAA regulations in order to protect the welfare of workers.” A crop of strawberries grows inside a polytunnel at Clock House Farm near Maidstone. Photo: Bloomberg/Getty Images The AG said Indonesia’s labor ministry conducted an investigation and confirmed that Al Zubara had acted legally. Leah Riley Brown, sustainability policy adviser at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said on behalf of the supermarkets: “BRC members are committed to high welfare standards for all people working in their supply chains and are urgently investigating allegations lifted up. The BRC continues to support a single enforcement body to ensure that exploitation is prevented and workers’ rights are a top priority.” Waitrose said it was concerned and would take the “necessary steps to ensure workers are treated fairly”. Sainsbury’s said that treating workers safely and fairly is “extremely important” and that it is working with government and industry “to introduce measures to prevent these practices from happening”. Tesco said it does not tolerate the use of illegal recruitment fees charged to workers and it is vital that they are paid back in full. The Home Office would not comment on specific allegations, but pointed out that the GLAA had no remit to investigate labor abuse and exploitation in other countries, saying it was up to foreign governments to investigate. Andy Hall, an independent migrant rights expert who investigates issues of forced labor in supply chains in Asia, said: “It appears that the GLAA, Home Office, [Foreign Office] and also UK government officials working in UK embassies abroad have no authority or power to monitor or investigate potential or actual recruitment abuses in the home countries of workers migrating to the UK for work. “As labor migration to the UK continues to gain increased importance, this is a significant monitoring and regulatory black hole that must be urgently addressed if the Government is to meet its global commitment to prevent forced labour.” Hall said challenges with the current agricultural recruitment model began with workers shouldering the cost of flights and visas, which he said created significant debt before any other burden. “Employees often don’t…
