A recent feasibility study exploring the impact of shifting seasonal workers' visa and travel costs onto employers has sparked concern among UK growers, according to the NFU. Commissioned by Defra and the Seasonal Worker Taskforce, the study evaluates the potential for implementing the Employer Pays Principle (EPP) in the horticulture sector. EPP aims to prevent worker exploitation by ensuring employers, not workers, bear all recruitment-related expenses.
While the report acknowledges growers' commitment to worker welfare, it highlights the severe financial strain EPP could impose. With profit margins as low as 2%, many growers may not survive the added costs, risking business closures, job losses, and reduced crop output. NFU representatives argue that although some costs may be passed up the supply chain, most businesses simply cannot absorb the financial burden.
NFU Horticulture and Potatoes Board Chair Martin Emmett emphasized that seasonal workers are critical to UK food production and that the proposed shift in costs is incompatible with the government's goal of increasing access to healthy, homegrown food. He also pointed out that the study overlooked key issues, such as the scale of worker debt, which is crucial to determining fair and effective policy solutions.
The Seasonal Worker Taskforce has taken steps to improve worker conditions and awareness, including grower roadshows and webinars on grievance mechanisms. Still, the NFU stresses that without careful planning and broader support, EPP implementation could undermine UK food security. The NFU continues to collaborate with stakeholders to balance worker rights with economic sustainability in British horticulture.
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