Ethical recruitment

Here we outline the key principles of the Code of Practice for International Recruitment,
including Red List countries and modern slavery

Code of Practice

The Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel provides guidelines for ethical recruitment in the UK.

The Code states that overseas health and social care staff must be:

recruited and employed in a fair and transparent manner, with respect for their rights and values
protected from exploitation, abuse and coercion. This includes the prohibition of charging overseas staff excessive fees or requiring them to work in debt bondage
treated no differently to domestically trained staff, including support for professional development

Red list countries

Any countries included in the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List are graded as ‘Red List Countries’ in the code. Whilst there is nothing to prevent an individual residing in a Red List Country from applying directly for work in the UK; employers and recruitment agencies must not actively recruit from Red List countries.

Modern slavery

The CQC has noted a significant rise in referrals of modern slavery abuses towards overseas care workers.

Providers need to ensure that they are taking proactive steps to fully understand, identify, monitor, and mitigate the growing risks in this area.

For further information, please see the National Care Forum’s Pastoral Care Guide for International Recruitment and Skills for Care’s Modern Slavery, which features videos explaining how to understand the risks and what actions to take to protect employees.

See our Frequently Asked Questions section for information on reporting concerns about modern slavery, abuse, or exploitation of foreign workers.