The Immigration Bill returns to the House of Lords today. An amendment to the Bill that would give extra protection for domestic workers who face abuse was introduced by the Lords in March but was defeated in a vote by MPs on 25th April. We hope peers will take up this chance to put the issue back in front of the Lords.

The government has said that those entering the NRM will now be given extended leave and so a right to work. ATLEU believes this adds nothing meaningful to protection for workers. Workers starting off on this visa will not have clear and concrete rights as an alternative to continuing to suffer abuse. The right to work while they are in the NRM will not provide enough of an incentive for domestic workers in exploitative work to take the risk of entering the NRM. In the NRM they would not have a clearly defined period for how long their right to work would last, making it almost impossible for them to get work in practice. Also, a negative decision could be provided in 5 days which would cut short their rights completely.

Read a joint briefing by eight organisations who back this amendment here.

Read a briefing on the Immigration Bill including the amendment on domestic workers prepared by the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association here.