RLC's International Student Solicitor Sean Stimson likens the working conditions of some international students to slavery.
"There's a knock-on that happens with underpayment or non payment. Students have a job to pay for their accommodation. If you don't get paid, or you're underpaid, it means that your tenancy becomes an issue; you have the potential to become homeless," he says.
To avoid homelessness, or in the case of students paying part of their tuition fees, to avoid academic exclusion, he says students try to catch up by working longer hours than they are entitled, breaching the terms of their visa conditions.
This is not an accident, according to Stimson. "A very high portion of employers deliberately try to get their international student employees to breach their visa conditions. They then use this as a means by which they can dictate back to their international students, with that threat of a breach.
Read the full article HERE
