Immigration

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Migrant workers employed legally in the UK generally have the same rights, such as to be paid the national minimum wage and to be protected from discrimination, as workers who were born in the UK. This topic looks at how immigrants may obtain the right to work legally in the UK.

The main statute in this area is the Immigration Act 1971, which provides for the content of the Immigration Rules and for them to be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The Immigration Rules are made by the Secretary of State for the Home Office and set out detailed requirements regarding people coming to the UK for employment. They are supplemented by policy guidance for immigration officers on how the rules should be interpreted.

The Home Office has responsibility for controlling migration to the UK.

Immigration White Paper 2025

Practice Note: Immigration White Paper 2025—summary, tracker and resources considers the White Paper ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’, published on 12 May 2025, which sets out a large number of significant changes to numerous areas of immigration policy. Many of these reflect the Labour government’s stated aim to reduce net migration,

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Latest Employment News

Employment tribunal quarterly statistics for the period January to March 2025

Statistics relating to the employment tribunals for the quarter January to March 2025 have been published by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The statistics provide a snapshot of the number and types of cases that have been dealt with in the employment tribunals during Q4 2024/25, and also provide annual figures for 2024/25.

EU publishes implementation timeline for EU AI Act

The European Parliamentary Research Service releases an ‘at a glance’ document outlining the implementation timeline of the EU AI Act. The EU AI Act published in July 2024, will take at least three years to fully implement. The EU AI Act establishes a regulatory framework that categorises AI systems according to their risk levels and general-purpose AI models based on their capabilities. Additional regulatory instruments, including guidelines, standards and codes, are expected to complement the EU AI Act's implementation. The full regulatory framework is anticipated to be operational by mid-2027.

Data (Use and Access) Bill passes through Parliament and heads for royal assent

Parliament passed the Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA Bill) on 11 June 2025. First introduced in October 2024, this passage concludes a protracted legislative process as a notable amount of legislative 'ping pong' (nine rounds of back-and-forth) took place between the two Houses. Central to these discussions was the contentious issue surrounding the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems. During the last debate on 11 June 2025, the House of Lords opted against insisting once more on its amendment, which would have required further government legislation on copyright infringement and transparency in AI. Instead, the peers accepted an amendment in lieu from the Commons, which mandates the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to lay a progress statement before Parliament within six months of the DUA Bill’s enactment, outlining advancements on the review. The DUA Bill will now move forward for royal assent at a date yet to be confirmed.

Equality Act 2010 provisions refer to biological sex, regardless of gender recognition certificate (For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers)

Public Law analysis: The Supreme Court held that the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) refer to biological sex. Its relevant provisions cannot be interpreted as including ‘certificated sex’ under a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without rendering them incoherent and unworkable. In relation to sex discrimination, a person has the protected characteristic of their biological sex only. The relevant provisions of the EqA 2010 fall within the section 9(3) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA 2004) and so displace the rule in s 9(1) of that Act that the gender of a person with a GRC is for all purposes the acquired gender. This is a very significant judgment on the meaning of the EqA 2010, and on the law of discrimination particularly as it affects women and trans people. It must be understood by all those who advise on or are concerned with discrimination law, particularly employers, service providers and public authorities. Written by the LexisNexis Public Law team.

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