Lifted Talent launches tech platform for displaced care workers

Lifted Talent – a technology platform for ethical recruitment in the care sector – has launched SponsorSwitch.

The new platform matches exploited care workers with ethical employers. It helps them to find housing and vehicles, and automates all Home Office compliance to make sure employers do not fall foul of rules.

Under the Health and Social Care Visa scheme, overseas care workers must be sponsored by an employer to work in the UK.

However, a survey by Lifted Talent found one in five had not done any work for their employer, despite them being legally obligated to provide a genuine job with a salary of at least £23,200 (previously £20,960) and a minimum hourly wage of £11.90 an hour.

A further 20% of recipients were given less than 10 hours of work a week. Four in ten (40%) are living on less than £120 a week from their care role, despite Home Office rules stating they should be paid a minimum of £446.25 a week from the 4 April.

Rachael Crook, Lifted Talent chief executive, said: ‘The UK has a huge shortage of care workers. The Health and Social Care Visa scheme has brought enormous benefits to our sector. However, it is being undermined by a small number of unscrupulous companies. This has led to people being brought to this country and promised a new life, only to find they are exploited or left without work. We knew we needed to act and SponsorSwitch was born.

‘We are delighted that this platform has been developed for the care sector by the care sector to support staff to have a second chance at the new life they were promised, and give the sector the great staff it so desperately needs,’ she said.

SponsorSwitch is being backed by the Homecare Association, which supports the use of the technology to connect workers with ethical employers.

Dr Jane Townson, Homecare Association chief executive, said: ‘These survey results show why it is so vital that we provide opportunities for sponsored care workers without adequate work, for whatever reason, to find new roles with the thousands of excellent homecare providers in this country. We are delighted to support Lifted Talent to launch SponsorSwitch. It shows the power of sector collaboration and of the determination to care for those it employs.’

Crook, who also runs Lifted Care, is a former senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit and an Obama Leader, one of 36 leaders in Europe recognised by the Obama Foundation.