Exploitation of international care staff a growing problem

The UK’s adult social care sector is facing a perfect storm.

An ageing population, increasingly complex care needs, and persistent staff shortages have left thousands of vacancies unfilled. Skills for Care estimate that there are currently over 130,000 unfilled roles in the sector. In response, care providers have turned to international recruitment at an unprecedented scale.

Between 2021 and 2023, the number of overseas care workers arriving in the UK more than tripled — with over 70,000 Health and Care Worker visas issued in 2023 alone, according to the Home Office.

This shift has brought in much-needed talent. But it’s also opened the door to exploitation.

Recent investigations have exposed the darker side of this hiring boom: migrant care workers being charged illegal recruitment fees, underpaid, poorly housed, and threatened with deportation if they speak out. In many cases, rogue recruitment agencies are facilitating the abuse — operating with little oversight in a sector stretched thin.

These investigations have raised urgent questions about how we hire, who we trust, and what ethical recruitment really looks like in 2025.

What’s Going Wrong

For many overseas care workers, the journey to the UK begins with promise of work but too often ends in exploitation. As care providers struggle to fill roles and recruitment ramps up, a shadow economy of unethical agencies has emerged, feeding off the sector’s urgency and lack of oversight.

One of the most common abuses involves illegal recruitment fees. A 2023 UNISON report found that nearly a quarter of migrant care workers paid upfront charges to secure their role in the UK, often between £5,000 and £20,000. These fees are unlawful under UK regulations, but enforcement becomes challenging when agencies operate overseas or through complex supply chains.

Accommodation is another pressure point. Investigations by The Guardian revealed that many workers are placed in overcrowded housing — sharing bedrooms with strangers, lacking privacy, and in some cases, being made homeless due to unaffordable rents or withheld wages.

Underpayment is widespread. According to a 2024 Financial Times investigation, more than a quarter of migrant care staff are paid below the legal minimum wage, and over half are not paid for travel time between client visits — a violation of employment law that disproportionately affects those in domiciliary care.

Worryingly, many workers are too afraid to report abuse. The Guardian’s coverage included accounts of care staff being threatened with dismissal or deportation if they spoke out. The sponsorship visa system, which ties an individual’s legal status to a single employer, creates a power imbalance that leaves workers vulnerable and easily silenced.

These issues rarely happen in isolation. They’re symptoms of a recruitment system that is moving faster than it can be monitored — and unless employers take a closer look at how staff are being sourced, some may be unknowingly complicit in exploitative practices.

Who’s Responsible – and What’s Being Done?

Responsibility for migrant worker exploitation sits across a complex web of recruitment agencies, employers, regulators, and policymakers. While some employers are complicit, others are unknowingly hiring through unethical channels — especially when working with third-party recruiters or overseas intermediaries.

The UK government has acknowledged the scale of the problem. In early 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a £16 million fund aimed at tackling the exploitation of overseas care workers. The initiative provides training, resources, and oversight support for local authorities and care providers, with the goal of improving recruitment practices and safeguarding vulnerable staff.

In 2025, a new Home Office rule was introduced requiring providers to prioritise the recruitment of international care workers already in the UK before hiring from abroad — a direct attempt to reduce dependence on overseas recruitment pipelines and curb abuse linked to initial relocation. Community Care reported that this policy shift followed a dramatic rise in reports of abuse and non-compliance.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), the UK’s labour exploitation watchdog, has also stepped up its investigations. Between April and June 2024, 61% of all concerns raised with the GLAA involved the care sector — an unprecedented level of activity that underscores the scale of the problem.

Yet enforcement remains patchy. Many rogue agencies continue to operate unchecked, often by shifting recruitment activities overseas or using informal networks to bypass scrutiny. And while some employers take steps to ensure ethical practices, there’s still no mandatory audit process to guarantee transparency across the recruitment supply chain.

Without stronger regulation and proactive vetting by care providers, vulnerable workers will continue to fall through the cracks — and ethical employers may be unknowingly exposed to risk.

What This Means for Employers

The consequences of overseas worker exploitation aren’t limited to the workers themselves — they can ripple through an entire organisation, affecting compliance, reputation, and recruitment outcomes.

Employers who use third-party recruitment agencies, especially for international hires, may assume that ethical and legal obligations are being met upstream. But as recent reports show, that’s not always the case — and ignorance is not a defence.

Under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015, employers have a responsibility to ensure their supply chains are free from labour abuse. Failing to carry out due diligence on recruitment partners could result in legal consequences — particularly if workers are found to have paid illegal fees or been misled about their terms and conditions.

Even when no law is broken, the reputational damage can be severe. In a sector built on trust and care, associations with unethical hiring practices can undermine public confidence, affect CQC ratings, and damage partnerships with local authorities and funding bodies.

Then there’s the operational impact. Workers who arrive in debt, fear deportation, or face poor conditions are less likely to stay long-term. Turnover rises, morale drops, and the original aim — building a stable, high-quality care workforce — is lost.

Whether you’re recruiting directly or through an agency, the responsibility to ensure fair, safe, and lawful hiring lies with you. And in today’s climate, choosing to look the other way simply isn’t an option.

How to Recruit Ethically and Safely

Tackling exploitation in overseas recruitment doesn’t require reinventing the wheel — but it does mean asking the right questions, choosing the right partners, and putting safeguards in place.

Here’s how employers can take meaningful steps to protect workers and reduce their own risk:

1. Work only with licensed, transparent agencies.

Before engaging a recruitment partner, check whether they’re registered with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) or subject to any enforcement action. Ask for documentation showing how candidates are sourced, vetted, and supported during relocation.

2. Ask about recruitment fees upfront.

No overseas worker should be paying to secure a care job in the UK. Request a clear breakdown of any costs charged to candidates and insist on written confirmation that no fees are taken — directly or through intermediaries.

3. Map your recruitment supply chain.

Know exactly who is responsible for each stage of the hiring journey. That includes local agents, overseas partners, and any third-party accommodation providers. Gaps in visibility can lead to gaps in accountability.

4. Strengthen pre-employment screening.

Use background checks and reference verification to confirm that workers have been recruited legally and ethically. Partnering with a screening provider like Personnel Checks can help identify red flags early and build a compliant workforce from day one.

5. Provide safe reporting channels.

Create clear, confidential routes for workers to raise concerns — including those who were hired via external agencies. Ensuring they can speak up without fear of retaliation is key to identifying problems before they escalate.

Ethical recruitment isn’t just about compliance — it’s about values. It’s about treating care workers with the same dignity and respect they’re expected to show others. And it starts with the choices employers make.

The care sector exists to support people in vulnerable situations — and that responsibility doesn’t begin with the client. It begins with the people we recruit to deliver that care.

As international hiring becomes more common, so too does the risk of exploitation — especially when recruitment is rushed, outsourced, or poorly regulated. But by taking ownership of the process, employers can help build a sector that’s not just staffed, but sustainable — one where workers feel safe, supported, and respected from the moment they’re offered a role.

At Personnel Checks, we work with care providers to strengthen their recruitment process through robust employment screening, digital ID verification, and reference checks that help ensure every hire is made with confidence — and conscience.