This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28205968

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
EU expansion must be 'managed', says Migration Advisory Committee Low-skilled workers 'at risk of exploitation'
(35 minutes later)
Further expansion of the EU must be "managed" to reduce the economic and social impact low-skilled workers have on the UK, ministers have been warned. Low-skilled, vulnerable workers are at risk of exploitation because of lax labour laws, a report has warned.
The Migration Advisory Committee said eight countries with a total population of 90m could become member states. The government's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) found rules were either not being properly enforced or were being flouted by employers.
It also warned that the bodies tackling exploitation of migrant workers were "under resourced" and "too weak". This affected both British and migrant labour with low skills, it found.
Employers could expect to be prosecuted for breaching labour laws just once in a million years, it found. But its researchers warned the agencies tasked with tackling exploitation were weak and underfunded and said any further EU expansion must be managed.
The MAC researchers said low-skilled migrants had "not had a major impact" on pay, jobs or public services and the wider UK economy over the last 20 years. Statistically, employers could expect a minimum wage compliance visit from HMRC inspectors just once in 250 years, the report found.
But their report found such workers have had a "much greater impact" locally in areas where they are concentrated. And they could expect to be prosecuted for breaching labour laws only every million years.
In 2013, there were 2.1m people from abroad working in low-skilled jobs. Just over half of those were born outside the European Union.
The MAC report found that, nationally, such migrants had "not had a major impact" on pay, jobs, crime or public services and the wider UK economy over the last 20 years.
But it warned that - at a local level - in areas where migrants in low-skilled jobs were concentrated, authorities had been left "struggling to cope".
It said businesses which often could not attract British workers benefited from migrant labour.