Assembly calls for changes to the domestic worker visa

5 Aralık 2025

Today, the London Assembly called on the Mayor to write to the Prime Minister urging the restoration of the 1998 ODW visa terms, allowing domestic workers to renew their visas and enabling them to change employers.

Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, said:

“This motion is about giving overseas domestic workers real power to leave abusive employers. The current six-month visa makes that right almost impossible to exercise, and abuse has risen sharply since longer visas were stripped away in 2012. Restoring those protections will empower women to take back control of their lives, change employers and safely escape exploitation.”

The full text of the motion is:

Around 20,000 Overseas Domestic Worker (ODW) visas are issued each year to domestic workers accompanying foreign-resident employers to the UK. Domestic work happens behind closed doors, often inside the employer’s home, leaving workers isolated, unaware of their rights, and highly vulnerable to abuse. Under the current regime, workers experiencing abuse often remain with their employer because they cannot find alternative work in time or stay in the UK long enough to enforce their rights. Those who leave risk destitution or being pushed into irregular work, increasing their vulnerability to further exploitation.

Kalayaan, a London-based charity supporting migrant domestic workers, reports that 83% of its clients were brought to London by their employers. London Assembly Members therefore have a responsibility to help ensure these workers’ safety and access to justice in our city.

This Assembly notes that:

From 1998, the ODW visa protected workers by allowing workers to change employers and apply to extend their stay if in full-time work. This model was praised internationally, including by the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery as best practice.
These protections were removed in 2012, when the visa was restricted to only six months with no possibility of extension. A 2016 concession technically allowed workers to change employers, but the six-month limit remains. In reality, given employers will not hire someone with only weeks or months left on their visa, the right to switch employers has effectively been lost.

Kalayaan’s data shows rising exploitation since these restrictions were introduced:

Indicators of trafficking rose from 14% (pre-2012 visas) to 40–41% (post-2012/2016).
Workers not allowed out alone increased from 47% to 69%.
Workers denied access to their passport rose from 47% to 73%.
Workers with no day off increased from 52% to 66–70%.
Labour inspectors, and the forthcoming Fair Work Agency, cannot enter private households without a warrant, and the current visa regime prevents domestic workers from seeing through a claim against their employer due to the length of their visa. This leaves domestic workers effectively invisible to enforcement and unable to rely on standard labour protections.
Only those whose situations escalate to modern slavery can access meaningful support through the National Referral Mechanism, meaning many others are falling through the gaps and are left without protection. The current system is effectively incentivising workers to remain in abusive situations until abuse escalates to trafficking.

Numerous organisations, charities, trade unions, worker-led groups and the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner believe changes to the domestic worker visa are long overdue if all workers are to be protected at work in London and across the UK.

The London Assembly therefore calls on the Mayor to:

Write to the Prime Minister urging the restoration of the 1998 ODW visa terms, allowing domestic workers to renew their visas and enabling them to change employers.
Work with the Government to ensure that domestic workers are better informed of their rights and able to enforce them against foreign-resident employers.”

The meeting can be viewed via webcast or YouTube

Follow @LondonAssembly

Notes

The motion was agreed by 14 votes for and 2 votes against
Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, is available for interview.
As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.

source: http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly