The Government’s proposed “Earned Settlement” reforms are framed as changes to immigration policy, grounded in concerns about integration and the fiscal impacts of immigration.

However, the reforms, if implemented, will have significant consequences for the UK labour market. By extending the time migrant workers are required to remain in temporary immigration status, they will drive up levels of labour exploitation and weaken labour standards.

These outcomes not only pose serious concerns regarding people’s access to rights, including employment rights in the UK, but also undermine the stated aims of the Government’s reforms. Evidence shows that prolonged immigration insecurity reduces economic progression, weakens labour market enforcement, and creates barriers to integration. 

This briefing has been produced by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX). FLEX is a charity that has been working to end labour exploitation in the UK since 2013. We do this by delivering a leading programme of policy analysis and research which exposes how structures in the mainstream economy create risks of labour  exploitation. Our work has had a focus on sectors which rely on migrant workers on short term or restrictive immigration status, such as seasonal agricultural work, care work and domestic work, hospitality, and outsourced sectors, such as cleaning.  

This briefing highlights our learnings from workers with short term and restrictive immigration status as a projection for the impacts of the government’s proposed changes to settlement and related immigration rules.

We set out the implications of keeping large sections of the UK workforce in long-term temporary residence, with multiple dependencies on their employer, as well as the urgent need to reverse the earned settlement proposals.

We make the case that all workers in the UK must be recognised as workers with options and security, in order that they can meaningfully access rights in practice.