Employment agencies who exploit workers will face unlimited fines in a crackdown announced by Business Secretary John Hutton.

“Vulnerable workers can be exploited by employers prepared to flout the law, no matter the nature of their employment or which sector they work in,” stated Mr Hutton.

Some employment agencies were found to be exploiting workers – most commonly migrant workers – according to trade unions. Such abuses included forcing workers to pay for transport or accommodation that they did not necessarily want. A high profile case involved a pizza franchise which forced migrant workers to take out loans in order to pay for cars.

This will become illegal under Mr Hutton’s directive, and such instances will be met with unlimited fines. The number of employment agency standard inspectors will also be doubled to enforce the legislation.

The Confederation for British Industry maintained that the new legislation would cause up to 250,000 temporary job losses.