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🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Culture & Society

Care workers and others fleeing UK modern slavery win visa reprieve

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • The UK will allow recognized victims of modern slavery on skilled worker visas to change employers and work for the remainder of their visas.
  • The change addresses concerns that employer sponsorship rules leave abused workers vulnerable to exploitation and loss of immigration status.
  • Campaigners welcomed the policy but warned that its effect will depend on access to the modern slavery referral system.

Care workers, chefs and other migrants facing abuse will no longer have to remain tied to an exploitative employer if UK authorities formally recognize them as victims of modern slavery.

Under the change announced by the Home Office, workers on skilled worker visas who receive a positive “conclusive grounds” decision through the national referral mechanism can work for any employer for the rest of their visa. The mechanism identifies and supports victims of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Allowing survivors to work for another sponsor for the remainder of their visa is a crucial way to help them rebuild their lives safely and with dignity.

· Maj Heather GrinstedThe Salvation Army official welcomed the visa change for recognized modern slavery survivors.

The previous system linked a worker’s immigration status to a sponsoring employer. The scheme, introduced in 2021 by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government to address post-Brexit labour shortages, left workers with no recourse to public funds at risk of having to leave the UK if they lost their jobs and could not quickly find another sponsor.

Campaigners have warned that rogue employers exploited this vulnerability to underpay workers, impose excessive hours or force them into zero-hour conditions. Modern slavery can involve abusive working and living conditions, withheld wages, deception, intimidation, threats, violence, controlled movement and confiscated passports.

could be a gamechanger

· Dr Dora-Olivia VicolThe Work Rights Centre chief executive described the potential impact of the change while warning about access to the framework.

Maj Heather Grinsted, deputy director of anti-trafficking and modern slavery at the Salvation Army, said the new freedom would help survivors rebuild their lives safely and with dignity. Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, said the change “could be a gamechanger”, but its impact would depend on how accessible the modern slavery framework was. Migration and Citizenship Minister Jo White said no victim should be trapped with an abusive employer because of immigration status. Sponsors linked to criminality will be referred to police.

The policy follows record numbers of employers losing sponsorship licences for abuses. More than 6,600 sponsors have been stripped of licences since Labour came to power, including more than 4,400 in the year to June 2026, a 140% increase from the previous year.

No victim of modern slavery should be trapped with an exploitative employer because of their immigration status. These changes will give victims the freedom to leave abusive workplaces and rebuild their lives.

· Jo WhiteThe UK migration and citizenship minister explained the government’s stated aim.
About this summary

Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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