Post by pcgman on Jan 30, 2010 10:48:13 GMT
A meeting of the Professional Contractors Group was held in London on 29 January specifically to discuss the abuse of ICTs. Several interesting points arose out of this which should be of great interest to members of this message board.
First some stats
There are roughly 50 000 IT workers currently out of work (this may well be an under-estimate as it doesnt include people who are not actively looking for work)
There currently 34 000 IT workers onshore in Britain (covered by ICTs and work permits) and a further 47 000 offshore.
So practically the whole of IT un-employment in this country is covered by the ruthless exploitation of ICTs by companies such as TATA who are recognised by the PCG as the biggest exploiters of the system.
Two points need to be made about ICTs and Work permits which have been confused. Unfortunately what TATA have done with ICTs are not strictly speaking illegal. They are however abusing them as these permits were only ever designed for very specialist staff. The UK Borders agency (who police these) and the Migration Advisory Comittee are now aware of this abuse and are currently tightening the rules. The Borders Agency (which has a small staff) has admitted that it has allowed so many through as it was concentrating on the terrorist threat.
With work permits the rules are stricter. Here the sponsor (in this case TCS) MUST show that the worker being brought into the country has skiils that are not available here. They must advertise the post in the UK for at least 2 weeks, they cannot over describe the vacant position such that only a pre-selected candidate can fill this role and they must not be advertised at below market rate. This is defined as being the 4th Quartile rate. For example £31,200 for a systems analyst.
The PCG is gathering evidence both in order that the ICT rules can be strengthened and also to provide evidence where rules have actually been broken (even if defined in their narrowest sence) and this is where we need your help.
Can anyone provide evidence of ...
Our aim is to both pursuade the government to tighten entry criteria and to prove actual wrong-doing by TCS and other BPOs. If we can prove that rules have been broken it is possible that TATA could lose its Sponsorship License. If thet were to happen the company would not be able to operate in this country so the stakes are very high.
In providing evidence Quality is more important than quality. Just one or two cast iron cases will count for more than hearsay or rumour (but even here the evidence is valuable as it corroborates what we already know).
In either case please send details to www.ictabuse.org.uk Annonimity is guaranteed.
On a slightly different note, both the CBI and the REC (recruiters organisation) were both at the meeting. Both expressed the view that their members would not want to associated with companies that abuse ICTs by breaking either the letter (or the spirit) of the law.
Their interest also might lie in exposing any sharp practice that might be taking place within a BPO.
Examples here might include
If anyone has concrete examples of such practices at TCS then please post onto this thread and I will pass to the CBI's representitive. As L&G are members of the CBI they may very well take an interest in these.
I know that things have been very tough for ex-L&G staff and for what it is worth the meeting expressed great sympathy for your plight.
We wish you well..
First some stats
There are roughly 50 000 IT workers currently out of work (this may well be an under-estimate as it doesnt include people who are not actively looking for work)
There currently 34 000 IT workers onshore in Britain (covered by ICTs and work permits) and a further 47 000 offshore.
So practically the whole of IT un-employment in this country is covered by the ruthless exploitation of ICTs by companies such as TATA who are recognised by the PCG as the biggest exploiters of the system.
Two points need to be made about ICTs and Work permits which have been confused. Unfortunately what TATA have done with ICTs are not strictly speaking illegal. They are however abusing them as these permits were only ever designed for very specialist staff. The UK Borders agency (who police these) and the Migration Advisory Comittee are now aware of this abuse and are currently tightening the rules. The Borders Agency (which has a small staff) has admitted that it has allowed so many through as it was concentrating on the terrorist threat.
With work permits the rules are stricter. Here the sponsor (in this case TCS) MUST show that the worker being brought into the country has skiils that are not available here. They must advertise the post in the UK for at least 2 weeks, they cannot over describe the vacant position such that only a pre-selected candidate can fill this role and they must not be advertised at below market rate. This is defined as being the 4th Quartile rate. For example £31,200 for a systems analyst.
The PCG is gathering evidence both in order that the ICT rules can be strengthened and also to provide evidence where rules have actually been broken (even if defined in their narrowest sence) and this is where we need your help.
Can anyone provide evidence of ...
- Where payment is being made in kind ie by subsidising housing costs at rates above market rates or payment in kind is making up a significant proportion of a worker's pay.
- Where unskilled workers are filling skilled positions
- Where posts are not being freely advertised
- Where exessive hours are being demanded of onshore staff
- Where CVs do not reflect the skills the person actually has
- Where contract or permanant staff have been specifically told they will be replaced by ICT workers
This list is not exhaustive - Where exessive hours are being demanded of onshore staff
Our aim is to both pursuade the government to tighten entry criteria and to prove actual wrong-doing by TCS and other BPOs. If we can prove that rules have been broken it is possible that TATA could lose its Sponsorship License. If thet were to happen the company would not be able to operate in this country so the stakes are very high.
In providing evidence Quality is more important than quality. Just one or two cast iron cases will count for more than hearsay or rumour (but even here the evidence is valuable as it corroborates what we already know).
In either case please send details to www.ictabuse.org.uk Annonimity is guaranteed.
On a slightly different note, both the CBI and the REC (recruiters organisation) were both at the meeting. Both expressed the view that their members would not want to associated with companies that abuse ICTs by breaking either the letter (or the spirit) of the law.
Their interest also might lie in exposing any sharp practice that might be taking place within a BPO.
Examples here might include
- Charging for work not done. IE TCS either overchaging for work or simply not doing the work at all.
- Booking hours in excess of those actually worked
- Charging for resources who are off sick or on holiday
If anyone has concrete examples of such practices at TCS then please post onto this thread and I will pass to the CBI's representitive. As L&G are members of the CBI they may very well take an interest in these.
I know that things have been very tough for ex-L&G staff and for what it is worth the meeting expressed great sympathy for your plight.
We wish you well..