Research and analysis

Seasonal workers survey results 2020

Updated 21 October 2024

Executive Summary

This document sets out the summary of results of the 2020 seasonal workers survey. Invitations to take part in the survey were sent in the summer of 2021 to migrant workers who had worked in the UK with Seasonal Worker visas issued in 2020. The survey is based on 1554 responses from a potential total of 7211 visas issued. Almost all respondents (98%) were Ukrainian, slightly higher than the overall proportion of Ukrainians on the scheme (87%).

Working on farms in the UK

Over 90% of respondents said they would work on UK farms again. Away from work, respondents stated that they felt very safe in the UK.

Farm Management

Respondents reported a broadly positive experience with farm management. 79% of survey respondents found that farm management treated them the same as other workers, and 66% felt management supported them in their work, though this fell to 47% of support staff who were said to be helpful.

Pay

Most respondents stated they were paid in full (94%) and on time (99%) for their work, with 85% stating that their contractual agreements were adhered to.

Accommodation

In terms of accommodation, 82% of respondents stated it matched the description given to them prior to starting work. Additionally, survey respondents picked ‘safe’ most often from a list of options when asked to describe their accommodation, with warm being picked least frequently.

Physical working conditions

Over 90% of respondents stated that their physical working conditions were generally good, but 7% rated their general physical working conditions as bad and 3% very bad. Nearly half of respondents were provided with all the supplies they needed to do their work, 33% with some and 20% with none.

Complaints

Questions were asked of those who filed a complaint during their stay (11% of survey respondents). The most frequently picked reason for filing a complaint, from the choices provided, were ‘working conditions’, ‘treatment by management’ and ‘illness and injury’. Of these complainants, 39% stated that it was not easy to file a complaint and only 41% felt their complaint was followed up.

Whilst many seasonal workers have reported positive experiences of working in the UK in 2020, the negative experiences reported highlight there is further work to be done. The government takes the findings from this survey extremely seriously and we will continue to work with growers, labour providers and other interested parties to improve conditions for seasonal workers in the UK.

Section A – Introduction to seasonal workers survey results from 2020

The seasonal workers survey is a monitoring tool used by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) to assess migrant welfare and the experience of seasonal workers working on UK farms under the seasonal workers pilot visa route. It has been run each year since the Seasonal Worker visa route began as a pilot in 2019. 2020 was also considered a pilot year.

This report presents the results of the 2020 seasonal workers survey, which was issued in the summer of 2021 to migrant workers who had worked in the UK with Seasonal Worker visas in 2020. Insights are intended to support future policy development aimed at improving migrant welfare. Data from the 2019 Survey of Workers was published as part of a more comprehensive wider review.

At the beginning of 2020, the government confirmed the expansion of the seasonal workers pilot to allow farmers to hire up to 10,000 workers in 2020 – an increase from the 2,500 workers in 2019. Visas allowed workers to stay for up to six months. Of the 10,000 visas available in 2020, 7,211 visas were issued.

For 2020 two operators, Pro-Force and Concordia, were licenced to source and sponsor migrant workers. The home countries of seasonal workers reflect the recruitment approach taken by the operators who source seasonal workers (and act as their sponsor) on behalf of UK growers. A breakdown of the total number of visas issued to seasonal workers by nationality is in Table 1.

Table 1: Total number of visas issued to seasonal workers in calendar year 2020

Country of respondent	Visas issued in 2020	% Total of visas issued in 2020
Ukraine	6297	87.30%
Moldova	285	4.00%
Belarus	201	2.80%
Russia	195	2.70%
Georgia	174	2.40%
Barbados	16	0.20%
Philippines	16	0.20%
Kazakhstan	11	0.20%
South Africa	6	0.10%
Azerbaijan	4	0.10%
Tajikistan	2	0.00%
Kyrgyzstan	1	<0.1%
Armenia	1	<0.1% (note 1)
Uzbekistan	2	<0.1%
Totals	7211	100%

Source: Defra’s secondary analysis of Home Office Immigration Statistics – year ending June 2022.

Note 1: Those countries with <0.1% had percentages that were too small to list as 1 decimal place. These include Armenia (0.01%), Kyrgyzstan (0.01), Tajikistan (0.03) and Uzbekistan (0.03).

1. Insights from the seasonal workers survey

As well as providing benefits to both business owners and workers, migration routes for low skilled workers have a range of risks associated with them, including the treatment of workers, fair pay, and the quality of their accommodation. Defra recognises the importance of monitoring and understanding their experiences so that measures can be taken to reduce these risks.

The annual worker survey collects both quantitative and qualitative data from seasonal migrant workers and provides valuable insights across five dimensions of their welfare:

1. Treatment by management and other staff (Section B part 4)
2. Contractual and pay agreements (Section B part 5)
3. Accommodation and working conditions (Section B part 6)
4. Complaints process (Section B part 7)
5. Intention to return in 2021 (Section 8 B part)

2. Methodology and analysis

The survey was hosted online. A link was disseminated to all 7,211 seasonal workers by the scheme’s operators on behalf of Defra in summer 2021. The survey comprised 46 questions. In addition, the survey included two screening questions and several free text fields to gain further detail on specific questions. The questionnaire was translated to make it accessible to all respondents. The survey ran from 13 May to the 20 June 2021 gaining insights from workers whose visa was granted in 2020.

Analysis was conducted in-house, removing responses where either: consent was not provided; respondents did not work on farms in the UK in 2020; and/or responses were blank. This left 1554 completed surveys, giving a total response rate of 21%. Two separate reports have been published in early 2023: one (this report) for the survey of Seasonal Workers 2020 and another for the survey of Seasonal Workers 2021. The latter publication sets out some next steps including improving future data collection to provide better insights into migrant welfare.

2.1 Limitations of survey

While seasonal migrant workers can be hard to reach as a research population, there have been significant efforts to document the experiences of seasonal workers and farmers. This study contributes to the body of literature and provides valuable insight into seasonal workers experience working in the UK. However, this research has some limitations, and we invite careful consideration when interpreting the findings.

The online survey was disseminated to migrant workers via the scheme’s operators to have a broader reach. Defra took measures to ensure that the anonymity of respondents was protected and did not collect identifiable information from survey respondents. Data was collected via Qualtrics, which allowed survey respondents to submit anonymous feedback directly to Defra.

However, there are limitations to collecting the data in this way. Firstly, it meant Defra could not follow up with survey respondents, for example to further explore questions raised. Secondly, online survey methods can be susceptible to low response rates, as is the case with all survey methods.

One crucial factor that may have affected the survey response rate is that workers depend on the scheme’s operators to access work and may therefore be reluctant to provide negative feedback or respond to the survey because they lack trust in the process, including who can view their responses.

There is also a risk of self-selection bias as participants could choose whether to respond to the survey or not. Hence, there is a possibility of overrepresentation of subgroups which had a particularly positive or negative experience of working in the UK.

A low response rate exacerbates the risk of self-section bias, and it is worth noting that the response rate has fallen to 21% from 26% in 2019. Consequently, results cannot be assumed to represent the overall experience of migrant workers employed for seasonal labour in 2020. Neither does this report make claims about the experiences of workers currently on the scheme.

Language barriers can be another limitation, bringing a risk that information is lost in the translation of survey questions into other languages or responses into English. However, only a minority of survey respondents answered in languages other than English, and a professional translator converted all responses.

2.2 Comparisons with 2019 survey results

This report makes a few comparisons to the 2019 seasonal worker survey results published as part of a more comprehensive review. For example, some characteristics, notably response rates, are compared. However, the analysis of the results was treated distinctly because of changes to the seasonal workers pilot scheme and survey design between 2019 and 2020. These changes are outlined in more detail below:

Changes to survey design:

1. The 2019 survey did not include any initial screening questions.
2. Defra updated the wording of specific questions in the 2019 survey on the treatment of workers by farm managers.

Given the anonymous nature of the survey, it is impossible to identify whether respondents who participated in 2020 did so in the previous year.

Changes to the seasonal workers pilot:

1. Scheme expansion: The number of visas available for seasonal workers increased from 2,500 to 10,000.

3. Respondent characteristics

The respondents’ characteristics provide basic demographic information, including nationality and age group.

3.1 Nationality of survey respondents

Of the 1540 survey respondents, most (97.8%) identified themselves as Ukrainian. Other nationalities represented by survey respondents include Belarusian (0.1%), Moldovan (0.2%), and Russian (1.1.%). A further 0.6% selected ‘other’ and declared their nationality as Romanian or Kazakhstani (see Table 2 below).

Table 2: Nationality of survey respondents (Total number of respondents to this question: 1540)

Nationality	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Belarusian	2	0.10%
Moldovan	4	0.30%
Russian	17	1.10%
Ukrainian	1506	97.80%
Other (Romanian, Kazakhstani)	11	0.70%
Totals	1540	100%

3.2 Age of survey respondents

Most respondents were aged between 25 and 31 years (38.4%). A similar percentage were between 18 to 24 (26.3%), 32 to 38 (20.4%), or aged 39 and over (14.9%) (see Table 3 below).

Table 3: Age group of survey respondents (Total number of respondents to this question: 1540)

Age group	Frequency	Proportion (%)
18 to 24	405	26.30%
25 to 31	591	38.40%
32 to 38	314	20.40%
39 and over	230	14.90%
Totals	1540	100%

Section B - Main findings

This section outlines the main findings from the seasonal workers survey results in 2020.

4. Treatment by farm management and other staff

In the first section of the survey seasonal workers were asked how they felt they were treated by farm management and other staff, how well they were supported by management staff, and how helpful they found working with farm support staff. However, it is worth noting that some respondents may have worked on multiple sites, or with multiple managers, during 2020 with varying treatment However, responses were based on their overall feelings regarding their treatment while working on farms in the UK.

Please note that Section 7 discusses respondent complaints, including about farm managers and other staff members, during their stay in 2020.

4.1 Treatment of seasonal workers by farm managers

Respondents were asked whether they were treated equally to other workers by farm managers (see Figure 1 below).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1479

Findings

• The majority of respondents (79%) felt that farm managers treated them equally to other workers
• 14% said they did not feel that farm managers treated them equally to other workers and 6% that they did not know

Figure 1: Were you treated equally to other workers by farm managers?

Respondent answer	Share of respondents (%)
Yes	79%
No	14 %
Don’t know	6%

4.2 Support for seasonal workers by farm management

Respondents were asked how well supported they were by farm management (see Figure 2 below).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1469

Findings

• 66% of survey respondents said that they felt farm managers supported them in their work
• 24% said that they did not feel supported by farm managers in their work
• The remaining 10% said they did not know how well supported they felt

Figure 2: Did you feel supported by farm managers in your work?

Respondent answer	Share of respondents (%)
Yes	66%
No	24 %
Don’t know	10%

4.3 Help for seasonal workers by farm support staff

Respondents were asked how helpful other staff members were, such as translators and human resource staff (see Table 4 below).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1446

Findings

• Most respondents stated that they found their farm’s support staff (translators and HR staff) either helpful (46.5%) or very helpful (26.7%)
• 18.7% of respondents said that they found the farm support staff to be neither helpful, nor unhelpful
• 5.1% of respondents said that farm support staff were unhelpful and 3.0% that they were very unhelpful

Table 4: Seasonal workers asked how helpful were the farm’s support staff members, such as translators and human resources staff? (Total number of respondents to this question: 1446)

Statements	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Very Helpful	386	26.70%
Helpful	672	46.50%
Neither helpful nor unhelpful	271	18.70%
Unhelpful	74	5.10%
Very unhelpful	43	3.00%
Totals	1446	100%

5. Contractual and pay agreements

In the second section of the survey, Defra asked seasonal workers whether contractual agreements and worker rights, in terms of pay, were upheld.

5.1 Pay agreements

Respondents were asked whether they were paid in full and on time for their work (see Figure 3 below).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1486

Findings

• 94% of the 1486 respondents to this question stated they were paid in full for their work, while 4% said they were not paid in full and 2% said they did not know (see Figure 3). 99% of respondents also said they were paid on time, whilst <1% either said they did not know or were not paid on time

Figure 3: Were you paid fully for your work?

Respondent answer	Share of respondents (%)
Yes	94%
No	4 %
Don’t know	2%

5.2 Contractual agreements

Respondents were asked whether contractual agreements were adhered to while they were employed to work on UK farms in 2020.

Total number of respondents to this question: 1487

Findings

• 85% stated that all their contractual agreements were adhered to, while 9% said that employers did not adhere to their contractual agreements, and 6% said they did not know
• Of the respondents who said their employers did not adhere to their contractual agreement, their reasons included: unexpected payment charges for costs outside their contract (such as using cooking and washing facilities), delayed or underpaid wages, and contracted hours were only sometimes available

5.3 Recruitment fees

Respondents were asked if they had to pay any fees to recruiters or recruitment agencies in their home countries.

Total number of respondents to this question:1546

Findings

• 94% stated that they did not pay any fees, with 4% stating they had and 2% that they did not know.

6. Quality of accommodation and working conditions

6.1 Quality of accommodation

Respondents were asked whether their accommodation matched the description provided before they arrived.

Total number of respondents to this question: 1461

Findings

• 81.9% of survey respondents stated that their accommodation matched the description provided before they arrived. However, 13.6% said their accommodation did not match the description, while 4.5% did not know (see Table 5).

Table 5: Seasonal workers asked if the accommodation provided matched the description upon arrival? (Responses to this question: 1461)

Response	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Yes	1198	81.90%
No	198	13.60%
Do not know	65	4.50%
Total	1461	100%

Respondents were asked whether they would describe their accommodation as ‘safe,’ ‘comfortable,’ ‘hygienic,’ and/or ‘warm.’ Respondents could select multiple options they felt applied to their accommodation.

Total number of respondents to this question: 1551

Findings

• Of 1551 respondents, the most frequently picked descriptor was that accommodation was ‘safe’
• Figure 4 shows a count of how seasonal workers described their accommodation based on the multiple-choice options available

Figure 4: How seasonal workers described their accomodation in UK farms in 2020 (n=1551)

Description of accomodation	Number of responses
Safe	925
Comfortable	848
Hygienic	723
Warm	606
Not applicable	244

Respondents were asked whether their accommodation had toilet facilities, adequate running water, and cooking facilities.

Total number of respondents to this question: 1246

Findings

• The majority of respondents stated that their accommodation had toilet facilities (99.8%) and adequate running water (99.1%). 92.3% of respondents said their accommodation had adequate cooking facilities (see Table 6)

Table 6: Did seasonal workers find that the accommodation had toilet facilities, adequate running water, and cooking facilities? (Number of respondents to this question: 1246

Note: Respondents were able to select multiple options (n = 1246)

Rating on accommodation	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Toilet facilities	1244	99.80%
Adequate running water	1236	99.10%
Cooking facilities	1151	92.30%

6.2 Working conditions

Respondents were asked how they would rate the general physical working conditions (for example, hygiene, health, safety, the intensity of work, and working hours) (see figure 5 below).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1463

Findings

• Over 90% of respondents stated that their general physical working conditions were very good (18.5%), good (40.3%) or ok (31.9%)
• However, 6.6% rated their general physical working conditions as bad and 2.7% as very bad

Figure 5: How respondents rated physical working conditions

Rating of physical working conditions	% of respondents
Very good	18.5%
Good	40.3%
OK	31.9%
Bad	6.6%
Very bad	2.7%

Respondents were asked whether they were provided with all the appropriate clothing and equipment needed to undertake their work safely (see Figure 6).

Total response rate to this question: 1460

Findings

• Just under half of respondents (46.6%) said they were provided with all the supplies they needed to undertake their work, while 33.2% said they were provided with some. Meanwhile, 19.9% said they received none of the supplies necessary to do their work - a small number (<0.3%) did not know

Figure 6: Whether respondents said they were provided with supplies

Response	Proportion (%)
All	46.6%
Some	33.2%
None	19.9%
Don’t know	0.3%

6.3 Adherence to COVID-19 regulations

In March 2020, the government issued guidance on social distancing measures to protect UK citizens from COVID-19. These measures included advice on how to reduce the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19 in the workplace.

Respondents were asked whether social distancing and other COVID-19 measures were upheld in their accommodation (read table 7).

Total number of respondents to this question: 1458

Findings

• The majority of respondents stated that COVID-19 regulations were met (73.7%) or partly met (19.1%)

Table 7: Did seasonal workers find that social distancing and other COVID-19 measures upheld at accommodation sites?

Number of responses to this question: 1458)

Were COVID-19 regulations were followed?	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Yes	1075	73.70%
Partly	279	19.10%
No	104	7.10%
Totals	1458	100%

Respondents were also asked whether they became sick or injured during a placement, and, if so, whether farm management helped them receive adequate treatment.

Total response rate to this question: 1460

Findings

• Of 1460 respondents, 207 said they had become sick or injured during their placement. Three of these respondents did not say whether farm managers ensured that they received adequate treatment.
• Of the 204 who did provide insight on their treatment, 112 (55%) said farm managers ensured they received adequate treatment. In comparison, 92 (45%) respondents said that farm managers did not ensure they received treatment. (see Figure 7 below).

Figure 7: Total % of respondents who said farm managers ensured they received treatment when injured or sick (N = 204)

Response	Proportion (%)
Yes	55%
No	45%

7. Nature of complaints and handling experience

7.1 Number and nature of complaints

Respondents were asked whether they filed a complaint during their placements.

Total number of respondents to this question: 1458

Findings

• 156 respondents (10.7%) said they had filed a complaint during their placements.

Table 8: Seasonal workers asked whether respondents filed a complaint

Number of responses to this question: 1458)

Response (Y/N)	Frequency	Proportion (%)
Yes	156	10.70%
No	1302	89.30%
Totals	1458	100%

Respondents were given an option to elaborate on the nature of their complaints and could select multiple options:

1. Dismissal.
2. Illness and injury.
3. Working conditions.
4. Pay disputes.
5. Living conditions.
6. Treatment by other workers.
7. Treatment by managers.

The most frequent complaints identified from the options provided were working conditions (83), treatment by management (23), and illness and injury (22).

Additional concerns raised by seasonal workers in the ‘other’ free text field related to the number of working hours available, workers having to provide their own equipment and how complaints were handled.

7.2 Complaint handling experience

Respondents were asked how easy it was to file a complaint if they needed to.

Total number of respondents who answered this question: 153

Findings

• 72 (47%) respondents said that it was easy to file complaints. Meanwhile, 59 (39%) said it was not easy to file a complaint

Respondents were also asked whether their complaints were followed up by farm managers.

Total number of respondents who answered this question: 153

Findings

• 73 (48%) of respondents said that their complaints were not followed up by farm managers, while 63 (41%) said they had been. 17 respondents (11%) said that they did not know whether farm managers followed up on their complaints or not.

8. Future plans of seasonal workers

8.1 Likelihood of returning to the UK for seasonal work

Respondents were asked how likely they would return to work in the UK for seasonal work.

Total number of respondents who answered this question: 1389

Findings

• Of the respondents who rated how likely there were to work on UK farms again, most said they were very likely (83.4%) or likely (9.3%) to do so. 3.4% said that they did not know whether they would return or not
• By comparison, only a small proportion of respondents said they were unlikely (1.3%) or very unlikely (2.7%) to return to do seasonal work in the UK (see figure 8)

Figure 8: Would you work on UK farms again for seasonal work?

Rating by respondents	Share of respondents (%)
Very likely	83.4%
Likely	9.3%
Neutral / don’t know	3.4%
Unlikely	1.3%
Very unlikely	2.7%

Respondents could select multiple options as to why they would or would not return.

Respondents who answered this question: 1323

Findings

• The two most common reasons cited for returning to the UK as a seasonal worker were pay and UK culture and attractions (see Figure 9 below for a full count of options selected)

• Of the 102 respondents who answered why they were unlikely, or not sure, to return to work in the UK for seasonal work, 65 gave the reason being working conditions

Figure 9: Reasons to return to seasonal work in the UK

Reason to return	Response count
Pay rates	1210
UK culture and attractions	839
Working conditions	515
Learn about UK agricultural practices	344
Living conditions	247

9. Conclusion

The results of this survey give a useful snapshot from a relatively small, self-selected sample of seasonal workers from 2020.

There were broadly positive experiences reported with most respondents indicating they would want to work on a UK farm again. Additionally, there were promising results in terms of treatment by farm management, though less so with support staff. Responders to the survey indicated they were paid on time and in full and reported good general working conditions. Some areas that warrant further investigation include the level of satisfaction with accommodation, equipment supplies and making and handling complaint procedures.

Please note this survey is being published at the same time as the 2021 survey and these more recent results should also be considered.

Section C – Information about this release

Totals in this release are based on unrounded figures so may not agree with the sum of their components in the tables.

Other relevant data sources

Data has been collected every Spring since 2020 on a retrospective basis. Results from the 2019 survey of workers were published within a wider review of the pilot.

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