Other rights

This Overview outlines the materials in our subtopic that consider other protected rights in employment.

Study or training

Most employees in businesses with 250 or more employees, who have been continuously employed for 26 weeks or more, have the statutory right to make a request to undertake study or training.

For a request to be valid, the purpose of the study or training (or both) in relation to which it is made must be to improve both:

  1. the employee's effectiveness in the employer's business, and

  2. the performance of the employer's business

The employer is obliged to consider such requests, and either agree them or hold a meeting (at which there is a right to be accompanied) to discuss them.

An employer may only refuse all or part of any such request if it thinks that one or more of the listed permissible grounds for refusal applies.

In certain circumstances, an employee who has made a request for study or training can bring a complaint before the employment tribunal on the ground that the employer has not dealt with their request correctly.

Employees

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PAC criticises Home Office over failures to tackle exploitation under skilled worker visa route

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found that the Home Office failed to adequately address the risk of exploitation and non-compliance under the skilled worker visa scheme, particularly in the care sector. In its 4 July 2025 report, the PAC criticises the department for failing to prevent abuse following the scheme’s 2022 expansion to support adult social care, highlighting serious weaknesses in safeguarding, compliance monitoring, and tracking of visa expiries. While the expansion helped alleviate workforce shortages during the pandemic, it also exposed migrant workers to exploitation, with evidence submitted to the inquiry detailing cases of debt bondage, excessive working hours and poor living conditions. Despite early signs of abuse, the Home Office was slow to respond and does not hold data on how many visa holders have been identified as potential victims of modern slavery. The PAC further found that the department lacks key data on visa compliance, including whether workers leave the UK at the end of their stay, are re-sponsored, or remain unlawfully, and has not analysed exit check data since the route’s introduction. In light of the recent decision to end overseas recruitment for care workers, the PAC warns of further risks unless cross-government workforce strategies are coordinated and calls for a joined-up approach to tackling exploitation and addressing domestic skills shortages.

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