Our campaigns

We campaign for better employment protections for all workers, and an immigration system that treats migrants with dignity.

We are currently campaigning to:

Parliament (1)
Reform the sponsorship-based visa system

Sponsorship is at the root of widespread exploitation of migrant workers in sectors from construction to care, domestic work and fruit picking. With their visa status tied to their employer, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers feel unable to challenge exploitation, for fear of losing their right to be in the UK. And if they do decide to report it, getting redress can take years.

We are calling for urgent reform of the sponsorship system to:

  • Give migrant workers the freedom and means to change employers.
  • Empower them to report exploitation, without fear of losing their status.
  • Prevent exploitation in the long term, with a Migrant Worker Welfare Strategy that puts worker welfare at the heart of the UK’s immigration system.
Read our publications
End exploitation of migrant Health and Care Workers

Despite providing essential care for elderly and disabled people, migrant care workers are facing extraordinary risks. The Health and Care Worker Visa introduced after Brexit to plug labour shortages in the NHS and the adult social care sector, puts employers in charge of workers' immigration status. If an employer withdraws their sponsorship, migrant workers have just 60 days to secure another job from Home Office-licensed sponsor, make and pay for another visa, or risk becoming undocumented. 

Many employers use this to exploit workers and prevent them from blowing the whistle. Our frontline team has supported countless individuals who were physically abused, forced to work long hours with minimal pay, or asked to pay eye-watering recruitment fees for jobs that never materialised. To protect them we are, among other things, calling on the government to stop penalising workers for the actions of their employers and:

  • Lift the 60 day cap on finding another visa sponsor.

  • Permit workers to take up any job, while they are looking for a new sponsor, to avoid the risk of destitution or re-exploitation.

  • Give exploited workers an immigration status that gives them the unrestricted right to work, as many other countries do (e.g. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland).
Read our publications
Protect seasonal workers on UK farms

Migrant workers who want to work on British farms are subject to strict visa conditions that restrict their ability to leave an exploitative employer or challenge abuse. Just a handful of operators recruit and hire workers on the Seasonal Worker Visa Scheme, with the location, duration and type of work they can undertake in the hands of these operators. Every season, our clients report poor housing, overwork, bullying and discriminatory behaviour. For others, their contract is terminated unexpectedly early, leaving them indebted and dismayed.

Substantial reform of the seasonal worker scheme is the only way to make sure the British fruit and vegetables you eat are produced fairly. These reforms must:

  • Make it easier for workers to transfer between farms if work dries up, or if they experience exploitation or poor conditions.

  • Enable workers to claim compensation for unlawful recruitment fees.

  • Increase the penalties for operators or farms who fail to provide workers with their entitlements, such as a contract in their own language and at least 32 hours of pay for every week workers are in the UK.

Read our publications
Stand up for employment justice

Underfunding and austerity have left Britain’s employment tribunal system in tatters. Claimants often wait years for a hearing, and even when the judge rules in their favour, poor enforcement of rulings means some never receive what they are owed.

Workers are often put off reporting exploitation out of fear they could lose their immigration status. And even when they do report, the UK’s complex network of labour enforcement bodies is fragmented and under-resourced, allowing many employers to dodge justice.

We are campaigning for:

  • A well-resourced Employment Tribunal system that is accessible to all workers seeking justice, including vulnerable migrants.

  • A Single Enforcement Body to enforce workers rights and hold abusive employers to account.

  • A secure mechanism for reporting workers’ rights abuses that is truly separated from immigration enforcement.

Read our publications
Secure safety for Ukrainians in Britain

Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, our team has supported hundreds of Ukrainians to find safety in the UK, and rebuild their lives. But on 19 February 2024, without any warning or parliamentary scrutiny, ministers unexpectedly made sweeping changes to the Ukraine Schemes that have left families divided, and some Ukrainians unable to remain in the UK on the Schemes.

We are bringing a legal challenge against the government to get these changes reversed and counter the undemocratic process of changing immigration legislation without parliamentary scrutiny. Ministers must deliver on their promise to provide safety and sanctuary for Ukrainians in Britain, and accountability for all voters in the UK.

Read our publications

We campaign through:

  • Research that documents and exposes the structural roots of injustice;
  • Policy influencing work with decision makers who have the power to change the system;
  • Strategic litigation that advances the protection and fulfilment of rights, and raises public awareness of injustice.