UK Grants Visa Reprieve To Migrant Workers Fleeing Ab¥sive Employers
Care workers, chefs, hospitality staff and other migrant workers facing exploitation in the UK will be allowed to leave ab¥sive employers without automatically losing their immigration status under new Home Office visa changes.
From Thursday, skilled worker visa holders who receive a positive conclusive grounds decision confirming they are victims of modern sla%ery will be allowed to work for another employer for the remainder of their visa.
The change ends a post-Brexit rule tying workers’ immigration status to a specific sponsor. Introduced in 2021 under Boris Johnson’s government, the system left workers at risk of losing their right to remain if they quit an ab¥sive job and could not quickly find another sponsor.
Campaigners said rogue employers had exploited the system to underpay workers, force excessive hours and impose precarious conditions.
The Salvation Army’s Maj Heather Grinsted said “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.”
Work Rights Centre CEO Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol said the reforms could be a gamechanger, but warned their success would depend on how accessible the modern sla%ery framework is.
She added “For almost three years we have warned the Home Office that the sponsorship system instituted after Brexit is a recipe for labour exploitation, and have urged officials to free people’s visas from their employers’ control.”
Migration and Citizenship Minister Jo White said,No victim of modern sla%ery should be trapped with an exploitative employer because of their immigration status.
More than 6,600 sponsors have reportedly lost their licences since Labour came to power, including over 4,400 in the year to June 2026 a 140 percentage rise from the previous year.
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