The UK High Court has awarded compensation in favour of six victims of human trafficking who brought a civil case over severe exploitation in an agricultural company.
The claimants were six Lithuanian men who, having been trafficked to the United Kingdom were engaged in labour exploitation in a British company, DJ Houghton Catching Services Limited. Claims brought by the workers alleged that there had been breaches of contract, breach of the Agricultural Workers Act 1948, negligence, harassment and assault.
A term of the Agricultural Workers Act requires that where workers are paid by piecework rather than by the hour, their pay must not amount to lower than the hourly wage. In this case, the workers were paid on the basis of chickens caught rather than by the hour, however records were not kept of the hours worked by the claimants, therefore the defendant’s submission that they earned higher wages by being paid by the bird did not stand. Furthermore, the Act requires an additional pay supplement for night work and that any travel time also be paid, at a minimum rate. Here, most work took place at night when chickens are more docile and easier to catch, and considerable time was also spent travelling. Neither of these clauses were honoured.
The Court also found the defendants guilty of unlawfully deducting fees for work-finding services from the employees’ wages, and of failure to provide washing, food, drink and rest facilities under the Gangmasters (Licensing Conditions) Rules 2009.
Claims for personal injury will be heard at a separate trial, the Court having found sufficient evidence to refuse to grant the defendant’s application that the claims be struck out. Lord Supperstone held that, provided they are not statute-barred by expiry of time limits, the claims relating to work-related eye, back and ankle injuries will be heard, even in the absence of medical evidence.
The Guardian have described this judgement as a ‘landmark ruling’, quoting Shanta Martin, lawyer at Leigh Day, the UK firm who brought the civil action, saying: “This is the first time a British company has been found liable for victims of trafficking and it is going to make a world of difference to our clients. It should be seen as a warning shot to businesses that they need to make sure modern slavery is eradicated from their supply chains.”
Click here for the full judgement.