:00:14. > :00:20.Welcome to BBC London News. I'm Victoria Hollins.
:00:21. > :00:23.This programme has gone undercover to expose sham self-employment
:00:24. > :00:26.in which workers are sometimes paid as little as ?2 an hour,
:00:27. > :00:30.Soap Co sell beauty products in some of Londons most prestigious
:00:31. > :00:37.shopping areas in Westfield, Covent Garden and Mayfair.
:00:38. > :00:40.Our hidden cameras have revealed how it breaks the law
:00:41. > :00:43.by telling its staff they're self employed but then treating them
:00:44. > :00:46.as employees and insisting they work a 60 hour week without paid sick
:00:47. > :00:49.One legal expert has described it as a flagrant
:00:50. > :00:53.BBC London's been investigating a company operating
:00:54. > :01:04.in some of the UK's most prestigious shopping locations.
:01:05. > :01:10.In what's called bogus self-employment.
:01:11. > :01:12.This manager tells our undercover researcher that to work at her
:01:13. > :01:23.Soap Co, with no connection to other firms of similar names,
:01:24. > :01:27.sell skin products from the Dead Sea in outlets at the Westfield
:01:28. > :01:36.And at their high end Sakare stores in Covent Garden and Mayfair.
:01:37. > :01:39.We've heard they're treating staff badly.
:01:40. > :01:45.Our undercover researcher will go and work for Soap Co
:01:46. > :01:48.in their Westfield outlet, and later in Covent Garden.
:01:49. > :01:56.Self-employed people should have the freedom
:01:57. > :02:07.to choose when they work, but here, it's a mandatory schedule.
:02:08. > :02:12.They have to be at work for around 60 hours, six days a week.
:02:13. > :02:18.Do you know if we can take days off on the weekend?
:02:19. > :02:28.A self-employed person would ordinarily be free to do the work,
:02:29. > :02:39.And that's not what we saw was happening here.
:02:40. > :02:43.And they're highly controlled, with penalties for not cleaning
:02:44. > :03:07.Some of the workers Carla speaks to are exhausted
:03:08. > :03:36.Snezana from Bulgaria like many of the workers
:03:37. > :03:38.here was recruited from abroad with the offer of
:03:39. > :03:39.accommodation and a job. Now she's quit.
:03:40. > :03:42.When people are pushing you, and they stress you every day,
:03:43. > :03:46.six days, 12 hours, you're under stress all the time.
:03:47. > :03:50.I was thinking that I will come to do something with my life.
:03:51. > :03:53.And after that, I become, like, without any money,
:03:54. > :04:02.any, any basically. They left me without nothing.
:04:03. > :04:09.By claiming staff are self-employed, this company avoids having to pay
:04:10. > :04:12.a whole host of in-work benefits, such as sick and holiday pay,
:04:13. > :04:16.When Carla collector first pay packet, it's well under the national
:04:17. > :04:36.For 90 hours, I've received, like, ?200, which is less than ?3 an hour.
:04:37. > :04:40.This is false self-employment, and this is much more and employment
:04:41. > :04:49.But unfortunately, quite an exploitative
:04:50. > :05:00.Soap Co in Finchley is owned by Gil Mandell,
:05:01. > :05:02.and Saha Medinah in London, with his sister in charge
:05:03. > :05:13.In a statement, Soap Co say they took their responsible
:05:14. > :05:17.They said, "We are extremely concerned to hear about
:05:18. > :05:19.the allegations made by some individuals about the company's
:05:20. > :05:25.As a consequence, we are reviewing those allegations,
:05:26. > :05:27.and the implications, if any, regarding the employment
:05:28. > :05:31.We also asked these two managers about their understanding
:05:32. > :05:38.of the working relationship here, but they didn't respond.
:05:39. > :05:41.Soap Co operate in London's top shopping locations,
:05:42. > :05:44.but there are big questions for customers of its skin care
:05:45. > :05:48.products, over the working relationship with its staff.
:05:49. > :05:53.They're generations apart, the very young and the older amongst us.
:05:54. > :05:57.Now for the first time in the UK, nursery school children and people
:05:58. > :06:00.who live in a care home are spending time together every day
:06:01. > :06:07.Graham Satchell went to find out more.
:06:08. > :06:11.Young and old, singing, playing, interacting together.
:06:12. > :06:14.When it officially opens in September, this will be the first
:06:15. > :06:23.nursery in the country to be sited in the grounds of a care home.
:06:24. > :06:31.Children spend more of their time away from other age groups,
:06:32. > :06:33.and the elderly spend more of their time
:06:34. > :06:38.There's something very natural about bringing them back together.
:06:39. > :06:40.A sports day to celebrate the opening, and 87-year-old Faye
:06:41. > :06:43.is showing off her egg and spoon skills.
:06:44. > :06:46.Children from a nearby nursery have been coming here on weekly
:06:47. > :06:51.trips since January, and Faye has loved it.
:06:52. > :06:54.So we sing and we dance, and play games.
:06:55. > :07:01.And for most of the residents that go, they have a great time.
:07:02. > :07:07.Bringing young and old together like this already happens
:07:08. > :07:11.Experts say the advantages are clear, particularly
:07:12. > :07:14.for the elderly, in tackling isolation and loneliness.
:07:15. > :07:20.Finding the right sites with enough space, and of course,
:07:21. > :07:25.making sure both children and adults are safe.
:07:26. > :07:27.Back inside, 90-year-old Walter is making glasses out of Play-Doh,
:07:28. > :07:37.Careful play arranged by grown-ups is teaching them
:07:38. > :07:46.As an old person, coming to the end of my life,
:07:47. > :07:49.it's a great joy to see the new human beings
:07:50. > :07:57.growing and growing slowly into people.
:07:58. > :08:01.There's certainly hope here that it will benefit young and old.
:08:02. > :08:07.Now lets check on the Weather with Wendy Hurrell at Wimbledon.
:08:08. > :08:16.You have your Wellington boots on. Not a good sign.
:08:17. > :08:24.Never a good sign. The umbrella is down but it has been up and the
:08:25. > :08:27.covers as well here. As we go through the afternoon, rain will
:08:28. > :08:32.become more persistent here and elsewhere across London. By the time
:08:33. > :08:37.we get to evening rush-hour, a really good splash of rain and some
:08:38. > :08:44.of it will be heavy, too. Fresh today, 21 degrees. Through the
:08:45. > :08:47.evening, rain continuing, heavy in places, particularly in the early
:08:48. > :08:53.hours of the morning. Humid tonight with temperatures down to 12 or 13.
:08:54. > :08:57.If you are up early, it will be breezy, you might see rain, but it
:08:58. > :09:01.all calms down and the sun will come out, with cloud in the afternoon.
:09:02. > :09:08.Temperatures pleasantly 21 or 22 degrees. Thursday, sunny spells on
:09:09. > :09:12.and off. On the outlook, dry weather through to the end of the week with
:09:13. > :09:17.one or two showers around on Friday morning. At the moment, a good spell
:09:18. > :09:19.of rain for the gardens, brollies down for now at least, but they will
:09:20. > :09:22.be up again later. Riz Lateef will be here
:09:23. > :09:26.with our 6:30 evening programme. But for now, from us all,
:09:27. > :09:44.a very good afternoon. Oh, Arthur lives down the hill
:09:45. > :09:46.and I live down the hill. MAN: What makes you two make
:09:47. > :09:49.different from each other? but I don't, like,
:09:50. > :09:58.love it as much as Lucy. Oh, Arthur lives down the hill
:09:59. > :10:00.and I live down the hill. Good at counting
:10:01. > :10:16.and I'm good at hiding. 'From the heights
:10:17. > :10:19.of the Scottish Highlands