The Home Office confirmed on 14 October that it has eliminated the long-criticised backlog of modern-slavery cases awaiting a ‘conclusive-grounds’ decision under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). At the peak in January 2023 more than 31,000 people were waiting; by 30 September 2026 that number had fallen to 6,277 – an 80 % reduction. At the same time the Immigration Rules were amended so that Skilled Worker visa-holders who are formally recognised as victims of modern slavery can switch to any lawful employer for the remainder of their visa. Previously, victims were tied to their original sponsor and often faced the impossible dilemma of remaining with an abusive employer or losing their immigration status. The change removes that dependency and is expected to make it easier for legitimate employers to hire talent that would otherwise have left the UK labour market. For global mobility and HR teams the announcement closes an unpredictable compliance risk. Sponsors who unwittingly took on victims can now regularise their staff without risking licence revocation, while companies recruiting from the cleared backlog will need to run fresh right-to-work checks and issue new Certificates of Sponsorship where appropriate. Organisations should also review their supply-chain due-diligence processes: the Regulatory Policy Committee’s 13 October opinion on the Immigration and Asylum Bill signals that tougher modern-slavery reporting duties for large employers are imminent. The Home Office insists that faster decisions will speed up removals of people found not to be genuine victims, but NGOs point out that the vast majority of referrals are ultimately confirmed. Either way, the move underscores the government’s push to combine ‘restoring control’ with new worker-protection measures – a trend mobility managers will have to track closely as the earned-settlement framework rolls out in 2027.
Source: LexisNexis Legal News
