Domestic workers in private households
Conditions of your stay
It applies to you if you are currently in the UK as a domestic worker in a private household and applied on or before 5 April 2012 for your visa to come to the UK under that category.
On this page
For more information about your rights and responsibilities during your stay, see the While you are in the UK section.
How long can you stay?
If you successfully apply for a visa, you will normally be allowed to come here as a domestic worker in a private household for:
- up to 6 months if your employer is coming to the UK as a visitor; or
- up to 12 months, if your employer plans to stay here for longer.
The visa in your passport tells you the date when your permission to stay expires.
You will then be able to apply to extend your stay for a further 12 months at a time.
Employment rights
You and your employer should already have agreed the conditions of your employment. You should have a copy of the conditions.
Your employer cannot change the conditions of your employment unless you agree. You must:
- be paid the agreed rate, which must be at least the national minimum wage; and
- not be forced to work excessive hours; and
- be given agreed holiday pay; and
- be given the notice you are entitled to if your employment ends.
If your employer does not meet the requirements above, you should be able to take legal action through an employment or industrial tribunal or the civil courts.
Public funds
As a domestic worker you will be expected to support yourself during your time in the UK without claiming state benefits or other public funds.
Changing jobs
You are allowed to move to another job after you have arrived in the UK, if the work is similar in skill to your original job.
If you change your employer after you have entered the UK, you must write to us and tell us:
- your name and date of birth as in your passport;
- where and when you got your original visa;
- details of your original and new employers;
- the reason why you have changed employment.
You do not need to make a formal application until you need to apply to extend your stay.
If you have been working in the UK for more than 5 years and have been given permission to settle here (known as 'indefinite leave to remain'), you can take any job without needing our permission.
Travelling abroad
If you travel abroad, you can normally come back to the UK to complete your stay provided you can show that you are still employed as a domestic worker in a private household. You should carry a letter from your employer saying that they will continue to employ you when you return to the UK.
If your employer leaves the UK
If you came to the UK with your employer on a visit, you are expected to leave the UK when they return home. If you stay in the UK after your employer has left, you will not be entitled to work unless a member of your employer's close family is also visiting and wants you to work for them. You must leave the UK when your permission to stay ends.
If your employer is living in the UK and takes trips abroad, you do not need to go with them, provided they are still based in the UK and intend to return here.
If your employer leaves the UK permanently, you are expected to leave with them. If you stay in the UK after your employer has left, you must leave when your permission to stay ends.
Advice and support
Kalayaan is an organisation that can provide free, confidential and independent advice to domestic workers in the UK. Kalayaan is not part of the Home Office.
Kalayaan
St Francis of Assisi Community Centre
13 Hippodrome Place
London W11 4SFPhone: 020 7243 2942
Fax: 020 7792 3060Email: info@kalayaan.org.uk
Website: www.kalayaan.org.uk
You should contact Kalayaan directly for details of opening times.