Can you help or advise my Nanny's Sister PLEASE

[dejags]

My Nanny's sister has recently moved with her family from South Africa to London.

In South Africa she was earning a shocking wage by international standards but not out of the ordinary by SA Standards (R1500 per month). She would live-in on week-days and then go home on Fridays.

Two weeks ago the family told her she was to move to London with them for a year. She has been contracted (hahaha!) to work 7 days a week and be on call 24x7 (no I am not joking!) what's worse is that these people are paying her in Rands. Effectively she is working 365 days a year and on call overnight for the unbelievable amount of £125 per MONTH. They made her sign an agreement to the effect that if she was found looking for another job, they'd have her deported. They left within a week of telling her all of this.

What can I do to help her, can anyone advise on the legality of this in the UK?

I am so very angry about this - it's virtually slave labour and this young woman is so deaparate for an income she just goes along with it because she needs the meagre pennies they are paying her.

.

They have to pay the minimum wage at least. They sound like psychopaths. I have no idea what the legal position on her working here is.

Aloha,

what's the minimum wage for a live-in au-pair. Also, I think they have not applied for a visa for her. I assume she has come into the UK on a tourist visa - this poor woman is completely at their mercy.

They aren't psychopaths - this is an average South African mentality. She has been given food, lodging and some "pocket money" so why should she complain. Essentially she will be left to mother the little boy (6 months old) while both parents work and earn a fat UK wage.

Makes me so bloody , I was spitting mad when my nanny told me the whole story. Her and her sister are fairly accepting of the situation - along the lines of "well we are so bloody poor, with so few prospects we'll take what we can get"

Found this on the net:
Have they not applied for a visa for her? On what basis is she here then? She needs to know that.
Nannies from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa tend to come to the UK and work on a working holiday visa for up to two years. The working holiday visa is for those under 27 years of age from commonwealth countries and allows the holder of the visa to work for 12 months within the UK. Some nannies from overseas may be lucky enough to have a British grandparent and can apply for `grand partiality', which entitles them to work in the UK for up to 4 years, or they may hold a British passport. Nannies from the EU can work within the UK with out obtaining a working visa.

I am certain the 'agreement' she signed is illegal. But I don't know her status here regarding immigration/work.

Is she in London now?

If she hasn't got a visa, then she can go to South Africa house, and apply for one (if she is under 27 and fulfills the other rules). Then, in her position, I would advertise on gumtree and just bloody well leave that family! I would honestly apply for jobs, do the interviews and just one day up and leave. I doubt they would find her and she'd earn a far better wage. If she's left on her own so much, hopefully she can get to an internet cafe and do that all. Has she got the courage to do that?

Other than that, it might be worth going to someone like Amnesty international!

(Having said that, we have some au pairs round here who seem to have sole charge throughout the week for an absolute pittance. I think they are only supposed to do 25 hrs a week but many many families abuse that and treat them as live-in nannies)

I know for a fact that it takes weeks to get a two year working visa and that she has not applied for this.

I think she has just come into the UK on a 6 month tourist visa, so she is working illegally. She seems to think that this is ok because her employers have told her that they have "sorted it". I know the timelines though and there was no time for them to get a visa for her.

grrr..

Why not suggest she applies for a working holiday visa?

She is so inexperienced and frightened that she will lose her job it's going to be difficult to persuade her otherwise. I am going to wait for a few more answers on this thread, then show it to her.

Maybe that will spur her into taking action. This is one of the main reasons I want to leave South Africa. This goes on all the time and makes me sick to my stomach!

Sorry for getting on my soapbox, but this truly p1sses me off.

It's 2006 for goodness sake and people are still being taken for granted on the premise that they are "part of the family".

I think it is actually legal for her to come here as a "domestic servant" sort of attached to their visas. And they are right that in that case she has no rights here, and cannot look for other work. I also think that she is not entitled to any normal Uk working rights because of her status.

(This is all badly remebered from an article I read about women like her a year or so ago - poor things are effectively treated like slaves, in exactly eth way tehy are in their home countries, an dcan't do much about it)

God you are joking Prufrock. I am horrified.

This woman is effectively enslaved to this family then.

I can't believe that the UK government allow something like this to happen. .

uwila (think it was uwila) wrote something about a domestic servant visa a while back - let me see if I can find it

Here are some helpline numbers: (there is a domestic worker visa but she'd need to look in her passport to see if they applied for one on her behalf)

For overseas domestic workers who need confidential support and advice in the UK should contact:

Kalayaan UK
St. Francis Centre
Pottery Lane
London W11 4NQ

Telephone: (+44) (0)20 7243 2942
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.kabayan.com/kalayaanuk.htm

Immigration Advisory Service (IAS)
The IAS is an independent charity that gives confidential advice and help, and can represent people who are applying for a visa for the UK.

Immigration Advisory Service
3rd Floor
County House
190 Great Dover Street
London SE1 4YB

Telephone: (+44) (0)20 7967 1200
Duty Office (open 24 hours a day): (+44) (0)20 8814 1559
Fax: (+44) (0)20 7403 5875
Email: [email protected]

Unfortunatly not dejags.

There is something here and this might be of some help. the aticle did say that things were changing to give people on domestic worker visas more human rights as applied in their "new" country.

I was just going to post EXACTLY what foxinsocks has done.

If you want the background, here is link to UK visa info .

By the way, the Kalayaan site seems to be down just now.

Ah, so she can get another job, provided it's another live in nanny job.

Oh, and can I just add, what stinkers.

here's the blurb on the domestic worker visa - there are lots of conditions attached. However, it does say that they cannot hold her passport so if she did want to leave voluntarily, she should be able to. Unfortunately, she would probably have to turn up at a refuge or a homeless centre if she had no-one else to turn to (or one of those immigration centres).

Hi all,

Thanks for the links. The Kalayaan website can be found at www.kalayaan.org.uk. I have sent them an email and will wait to hear from my nanny's sister (she hasn't even been allowed to give her family a telephone number to pass their details onto her.

Hello, sorry to say I am no expert on the domestic worker visa. But, if she has a look inside her passport she will find out whether or not she is here on one.

My nanny is here (from Canada) on the working holiday visa. It allows her to enter the country for 2 years and work for 12 months. She can work for anyone in any line of work. She is not tied to me. And I have not sponsored her. She got the visa issues in a matter of hours.

Regarding minimum wage, I'm afraid that there is no minimum wage for live-in employees. So they can in fact pay her £125/month legally (but only id she lives with them). However, not sure about working 24 hours a day. I would think that violates some EU working law.

So, how is she now?

Sorry Uwila, I only just saw your reply now.

We are waiting for her to call my Nanny - until then we can't do a thing because we have no idea how to contact her .

Will report back asap.