Recruitment agency - duty of care?

[Westie17]

My daughter is presently working in Saudi on a short term contract, along with many other westerners - food, travel and accommodation is included in the package - the job came via a uk recruitment agency, they informed her of the following

48 hour week with 1.5 days off per week
vegetarians will be well catered for
freedom to dress in western clothes within the accommodation compound
abayas will be supplied should she need to leave the compound
kitchens available

she has now been there three weeks and she has not had a day off
the food for the vegetarians is rice and salad every meal (there is no shop on the compound for her to buy her own food)
they are not permitted to leave the compound nor wear their western clothing even if it’s modest within the compound
they have not been supplied with abayas
there are kitchens but there is not even a spoon or mug for them to use - they basically are useless so even if she took food back from the canteen, she would have nothing to serve it in etc

the main issue is the food and she is now not feeling well due to the diet and not having a day off is making her weaker

we have been in touch with the uk agency who have done nothing other than ignore our requests for them to ensure that healthy nutritious food is offered and that they work the hours they were told they would work

the issue with the accommodation and abayas are just side issues and tbh, if the food and hours were as expected then there wouldn’t be any other complaints

we are fully aware of how places like Saudi work and the laws of their land, we did not go into this without educating ourselves first and the agency, who are specialists in this type of work for high end clients through the world seemed to be thorough and know their business- however - they are not seemingly willing to address the issue with the hours or the food with the end client, stating there is nothing they can do

so my question is - does the uk agency have a duty of care the the staff it has sent out to Saudi, are they responsible for the fact that the conditions are not as they stated they would be? The agency is saying that the Saudi client is responsible and that my daughters contract is with them, not that she has a contract but surely, given the fact that the agency stated the conditions they should then ensure that those conditions that they advertised are met?

this agency has work with this client previously so they know them

she has 2 months left out there and if things do not change then she will request to leave as she can not risk her health for this job

thanks in advance for any info you can give regarding the uk agencies responsibilities

[efpom]

Is she being paid by the UK Agency?

[Westie17]

No - by the client

[efpom]

It would seem that the recruitment agency acted as agent of the client. If that is right, because of the "Law of Agency" you have no right of action against the recruiter. However, the promises made by the recruiter bind the principal - the client.

[Westie17]

Thanks for the info - so it would appear that we have no recourse with the recruiter, as these are the only people we can communicate with ?

i dearly want to go and tell the recruiter off and throw some legal stuff at them but by the sounds of it, there is little we can do to hold them responsible

is this the right assumption?

[efpom]

Unfortunately, your assumption is correct, unless the client (the principal) was "undisclosed" at the time your child entered into the contract with the client. If that is the case, your child has a right of action against the agent, as if he was the principal. You, as a relative, have no "locus standi" so the agent and principal is perfectly entitled to have nothing to do with you.

It might be worthwhile expressing your concerns to the Foreign Office about your daughter's welfare, either directly, or via your MP.

[Westie17]

We didn’t know who the client was at the time - just that they were a vip
all comms have been via the agency who sent out details of what to expect etc - all of which have turned out to be incorrect, they have informed us that they are going on what the client has told them etc

my daughter can communicate with the agency but they are just doing nothing and just don’t seem to care or maybe are not risking loosing a client by complaining to them

thanks for all your help - she will not just need to decide if she stays or goes

thanks again

[Westie17]

Actually just read your response again - as she didn’t know who the client was and literally only found out when she got the embassy letter then would that make the agency the principal and therefore they are accountable? If this is the case then what terminology should she use to ensure that the agency is aware that they are responsible ?

[efpom]

The purpose of the embassy letter was to enable your daughter to apply for a visa and the letter does identify who the sponsor was-that is the client, i.e. the principal is not “undisclosed”. It follows that your daughter would have no right of action against the recruitment agent.

It’s not for me to give advice on anything other than the legal position, but there are a couple of points which in fairness I think I should mention.

I have no doubt that your daughter is a vegetarian, by choice. However, the plain fact of the matter is that the availability of healthy vegetarian food is questionable.

That nonavailability is putting your daughter’s health at risk.

So, it seems to me that she has two choices, either she becomes non-vegetarian for the remainder of her time in Saudi Arabia, or she decides to terminate her employment, on the ground that as a vegetarian she is not being provided with a healthy vegetarian diet, as promised.

However, it is more likely than not that she will require an exit visa from Saudi Arabia, and the formalities for obtaining that are through the client. The client may well refuse to do the formalities until she has completed the entire term of the contract.

[Westie17]

yes she knew at the point of getting the letter who the client was (not exactly who it was but the household etc) - this was several weeks after all the correspondence between her and the agency - as soon as the letter was received the visas were processed within an hour and she was off on a flight to Saudi that evening - so she only knew who it was serval hours before leaving but the run up to this the coins about the working hours and conditions was only via the agency

so the principle was only known on the day of departure- surely given the agency had all the prior comms about conditions such as working hours etc, they are then responsible for ensuring that those expectations are upheld by the client?

it seems odd to me that they hold zero responsibly given all the comms were from them, if they don’t then what protects people in such situations like this, where they are told they would work 5.5 days a week but then once on site, they are working 7 days a week with no time off etc - to me (and I know I am not the law) they have falsely advertised the role

[efpom]

Unfortunately, whilst you make a number of valid points, the law is against you. You (your daughter) has no right of action against the recruitment agency. If the client has breached the contract, her remedy is against the client, and as her contract will probably be governed by Saudi law, invoking Saudi law is not something I would recommend. I am entitled to say that because I do have very detailed knowledge of both the country and how it's legal system operates.

I gather from your writing, that she is working for a Saudi household.

In Saudi Arabia, the concept of service is not as well developed as in other societies, and what would be regarded as unacceptable in those other societies, is there, deemed to be perfectly normal.

Finally, and although it's not for me to give you this type of advice, but it is kindly meant, I do think you would be wise to concentrate your efforts to providing whatever advice and support you can to your daughter, who finds herself in a difficult position, rather than looking for a cause of action against the recruiter.

[Westie17]

Thanks for all of your advice and i am looking after my daughter via every avenue I have, which is very little and the only way we though we had was to hold the agency accountable, not for any legal proceedings or anything like that, just so that they pulled their finger out and looked after the girls they placed in this role

we know that she and the rest of the girls don’t have a voice at all at the household and they would even ask, this is why we were going down the agency route as they have a relationship with the client and recruited everyone

if there is nothing we can do then at least we tried, lesson learned that the agency clearly cares more about their relationship with the client than the girls they recruited, despite their promises, once they were on site then the comms and care stopped

And then next year when they recruit again for this role, another load of girls will be lured in with false promises and then dumped into conditions that do not meet expectations and that are stressful and scary - and so it continues and whilst I can’t do anything for my daughter, I would like to ensure it doesn’t happen to the next batch of girls but by the sounds of it, there is nothing I can do and it will just continue

Thanks again and it’s just very disappointing that nothing can be done

[Amethyst]

Not my area of knowledge and will tag in Ula as well .... but seems if the job was arranged by an agency then you might get somewhere talking to BEIS (well a dept called the employment agency inspectorate) - at least signposted where best to raise your concern about the agency misleading people as to the work conditions.

eas@beis.gov.uk or telephone on 0207 215 5000,