EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
cent of Poles, 12 per cent of Portuguese and no Somalis. At the other end of the occupational scale, 28 per cent of UK nationals work in process, plant and machineoperating jobs or elementary occupations, compared to five per cent of Australians, 33 per cent of Bangladeshis, 56 per cent of Poles, 54 per cent of Portuguese and 52 per cent of Somalis. The fact that many highly skilled migrants are actually working in low-skilled occupations is of concern: it is likely that some of this reflects discrimination in the labour market. There is considerable research evidence of migrants from the eight Eastern European countries which joined the EU in 2004 (the A8 accession countries) facing poor conditions, unfair treatment and workplace harassment. Exploitation may take the form of lower wages, payments in advance to secure jobs, and illegal or excessive deductions by gangmasters. Name-calling and racial harassment by supervisors and co-workers is common in some settings. Those employed by agencies, who are significant recruiters of labour in sectors such as cleaning, health, hospitality and manufacturing, may not even know who their employers are. Migrants are more likely to be working in sectors or occupations where there are existing health and safety concerns and their status as new workers may place them at added risk, due to limited knowledge of the UK health and safety system and to communication problems. The labour market experiences of male and female migrants reflect traditional labour market divisions between the sexes. Women are more likely to be found in the caring sectors of employment and men in the ‘heavy’ or manual sectors. Women may accrue very different bundles of rights, have different settlement outcomes, and experience migration and settlement in different ways. The proportion of women and men entering through different routes varies and the valuation of skills embedded in each tier of the PBS also has gendered implications for stratified rights of employment and residence. Undocumented and irregular migrants face particular discrimination. A London cleaner with documentation could expect to be paid £6–7.50 an hour, but cleaners working for employers who know their irregular status could expect to be paid as little as £2–£3.50 an hour. Furthermore, the civil penalty regime (introduced in February 2008) introduced fines of up to £10,000 for the employment of undocumented migrants. It thus places a responsibility on employers to require workers to produce documentation, at a time when there has also been a significant increase in workplace raids organised by UKBA enforcement officers. Some research indicates that these enforcement efforts focus disproportionately on black- and ethnic minorityrun businesses, which reflects further discrimination. There is also evidence that both Department of Work and Pensions agencies and employers may be selecting
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