Julia Harris, Managing Director of the Manchester based company, The Childcare Recruitment Company, one of the largest suppliers of home based domestic staff in the UK, spoke on Monday 17th October 2011, at the House of Commons, for the launch of a pamphlet entitled ‘Service not Servitude: Protecting the Human Rights of Domestic Workers’ written by Fiona Mactaggart MP and Mathew Lawrence.

Julia highlighted the role that the overseas domestic worker play in filling job roles, especially live in positions that no one from the UK or EU wishes to do.

Julia Harris also spoke on behalf of the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC), who are the representative body for the recruitment industry, as she is a member of the REC Childcare Executive.

Speaking after the meeting, Julia said:-

“Today was an extremely important meeting and highlighted the significance of the Domestic workers visa in protecting candidates, whilst providing clients with high quality care and support. By uniting politicians and businesses, as well as anti slavery campaigners and domestic workers, we create a more powerful voice to explain the importance of the domestic workers route.”

“We must ensure that all parties have a clear understanding of both the importance of retaining the domestic workers visa, protecting this vulnerable group of workers from potential exploitation, and the vital role they play in filling live in positions looking after children or the elderly. It is clear that these positions aren’t being filled by UK or EU Nationals and it is critical that by trying to drive down immigration the Government does not leave households without the essential support that they need.”

Notes for editors.

The Government is in the process of withdrawing the Domestic Worker Visa, something that Julia feels would be to the detriment of a very vulnerable group of workers and would also stop families having the freedom to choose the type of help that suits their particular circumstance. Even the Prime Minister has chosen a domestic worker to help with his own family.

The Government believes that the work done by non EU workers with Domestic Worker Visas can be done by Europeans. Unfortunately, in Julia’s wide ranging experience this is not the case.

For the last four years the Manchester based company, through their two divisions: The Housekeeper Company and The Carer Company, has been trying to recruit UK or EU live in Housekeepers and Carers for their many elderly clients across the country, but has found great difficulty in filling the posts. Domestic work is unattractive to UK nationals as people are no longer prepared to live in someone else’s home, working long and often unsociable hours. Many also have their own families who need looking after.

Prior to 2004, there was an influx of Eastern Europeans who were happy to take Live-In employment, as their visas restricted the type of work they could do. Now as part of the EU, they can work anywhere and working in shops, bars and restaurants is far more attractive than working as a Live-in Help. Greater opportunities in their own countries have also opened up and many have returned home.

Julia also feels that it is important to recognize the essential support that domestic workers bring to families. For us in the UK, with an increasingly ageing population, we need workers who are able to empathize with the vulnerable and who are happy to take this kind of employment and the need for Live-in-Help is greater than ever.

Recruitment companies, like the Housekeeper Company, have had to turn to non EU countries, like the Philippines, to try to meet the demand.

If the Domestic Worker Visa route is closed, many elderly people will have no choice but to go into Care Homes. A solution which is much more expensive usually causes faster deterioration, where capacity is already stretched and would also place more strain on Social Services. And, if reports in newspapers are to be believed, the standard of care received is often poor.

For Domestic Workers there are already restrictions in place, as under the current system, domestic workers are only able to renew their visa if they are already working as a domestic worker in a private household.

Restricting the extension of that visa would mean that employers would not be able to continue the employment of trusted help. This would be especially hard on elderly people who rely on continuity of care, especially if they suffer from illnesses, like dementia.

While fully supporting the idea of the Home Office tackling illegal immigration, Julia does not believe canceling the Domestic Worker Visa is the answer. She feels that the Government will be creating an even bigger problem. Workers will enter the UK with their employers on Visitor Visas and then disappear and work illegally which is what happened prior to the introduction of the Domestic Visa in 1998.

Since then, research suggests that domestic workers make a net contribution to the UK economy. Enable LTD (one example of a payroll company who manage PAYE for domestic workers) estimate that in the last 2 years Non EU domestic workers registered to them made a net contribution of £1.8 million to the UK economy. Given that they are only one example of such companies the exact figure will be much higher.

However, agencies such as Julia’s do acknowledge and support some of the efforts that the UKBA and the Government are making in trying to curtail immigration. Workers would still have the right to freely change employer and renew their visa on an annual basis, as long as they conform to the terms of the visa.

Tags: Fiona Mactaggart MP, Julia Harris, Mathew Lawrence, Protecting the Human Rights of Domestic Workers, Service not Servitude, The Childcare Recruitment Company