The UK government has promised that the Employment Rights Act (ERA) would bring about the biggest upgrade to workers rights in a generation. It has also introduced the Fair Work Agency (FWA), a unified labour market enforcement body.

However, the UK’s reliance on restrictive work visas, which limit the options of workers to bring complaints against an employer on whom they also depend for their immigration status, undermines the ambitions of the ERA and hampers the ability of the FWA to meaningfully enforce workers’ rights. 

In July 2024, Australia started piloting a bridging visa that allows people on temporary visas, who have experienced exploitation at work, to stay in the country for up to 12 months in order to work and seek redress for their exploitation. As the pilot in Australia is nearing 2 years, important lessons have been learned. The UK would be wise to build on these lessons to inform and implement its own Workplace Justice Visa that can effectively tackle labour exploitation and meaningfully improve the employment rights landscape.

In this briefing the Labour Exploitation Advisory Group (LEAG), a coalition of frontline, research and policy organisations which promotes discussion, information-sharing and collaboration among organisations working directly with people who have experienced or are at risk of labour exploitation in the UK, reflects on the implementation of the Workplace Justice Visa in Australia, and on learning for the UK.