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Last night Newsnight broadcast an investigation into the exploitation of immigrant labour in London hotels.  Newsnight found that workers were being paid according to the number of rooms cleaned not hours worked.  This meant that workers were regularly being paid below the £5.73 per hour minimum adult wage.  Example payslips which the BBC uncovered include one worker who was underpaid by £113 over a two week period, and another who was underpaid by £69.  Workers have no official support system to turn to and eventually took their concerns to London Citizens, a community group which campaigns for living wages and works to improve pay and conditions for low paid workers in the capital. 

These stories are not new and whilst nationalities and specific cases of exploitation change, the hotel industry is yet another sector where migrant workers are often isolated, unaware of their rights and lack English language skills.  This can make them easy victims for exploitation. The Newsnight story follows a flurry of reports this year relating to the mistreatment of migrant workers in the UK garment, meat and fruit industries.

Impactt have often found that labour standard issues tend to be more prevalent at sites using agency, temporary and migrant labour.  These issues are complex and cannot be reduced to a matter of blame; sustainable improvement relies on cooperation from all involved.  As a result, Impactt specialises in engaging with workers and acting as an avenue through which practicable improvements for workers can be developed with buy-in from both sites management and customers.