“The EHRC states that employment tribunals can hear harassment claims from migrant workers without valid work permits because the harassment is not dependent on the legality of their employment.” — Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Our verdict: Partly True.
The claim was reported by the Daily Express on 2 November 2026, in an article about Angela Rayner and rights for small boat migrants.
Our verdict
Partly True
The claim is partly true. The law does allow employment tribunals to hear harassment claims from migrant workers without valid work permits, and the reason is that harassment does not depend on whether the employment contract was legal. But we could not find the specific statement in the EHRC's guidance that the claim attributes to it.
What we found
The legal part of the claim holds up. The Equality Act 2010 sets out the rules on harassment by employers, and the Supreme Court's judgment in Hounga v Allen in 2014 confirmed that a person can bring a discrimination claim even if their employment was unlawful, as long as the illegality is not central to the claim. That supports the idea that tribunals can hear such cases and that the legality of the employment is not the deciding factor.
The attribution part is where we get stuck. The claim says the EHRC states this. We know from business.gov.uk that the EHRC published updated technical guidance on harassment at work on 30 October 2026, and the EHRC's own technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work is the likely place for such a statement. But the excerpts we could see do not contain the specific wording about tribunals hearing claims from migrant workers without valid work permits, nor the illustrative scenario described in the claim. So we cannot confirm that the EHRC said it in those terms.
The evidence
2 of 5 sources support the claim; none contradict it.
- Supports the claim
The Equality Act 2010, Part 5, sets out the core prohibitions on discrimination by employers, which is the statutory basis for employment tribunal claims including harassment. [1]
- Supports the claim
The UK Supreme Court ruled in Hounga v Allen that the illegality of an employment contract does not automatically bar a discrimination claim if the illegality is collateral to the claim. [2]
- Background
The EHRC published updated technical guidance on harassment at work on 30 October 2026, but this source does not give the content of that guidance or mention migrant workers, work permits, or the legality of employment contracts. [3]
- Background
This is the EHRC's official technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work, which may contain the legal position and illustrative scenario described in the claim. [4]
- Background
The EHRC's annual report for 2023-24 covers organisational performance and accounts, not legal guidance on harassment claims for migrant workers. [5]
What we could not confirm
- Whether the EHRC's 30 October 2026 guidance actually contains the specific statement that tribunals can hear harassment claims from migrant workers without valid work permits.
- Whether the EHRC's guidance includes the illustrative scenario involving a migrant worker without a valid work permit, as described in the claim.
How we checked
We looked at the Equality Act 2010, a summary of the Supreme Court's Hounga v Allen judgment, the EHRC's technical guidance on harassment at work, the EHRC's 2023-24 annual report, and a government page confirming the EHRC published updated guidance on 30 October 2026. We could not retrieve the full text of the updated guidance itself. We reviewed 5 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]legislation.gov.uk · Equality Act 2010, Part 5 · April 8, 2010
- [2]ukhumanrightsblog.com · Victim of trafficking can claim compensation despite illegal entry to UK - UK Human Rights Blog · August 27, 2014
- [3]business.gov.uk · Workplace sexual harassment and third-party harassment · November 2, 2026
- [4]Equality and Human Rights Commission · Sexual harassment and harassment at work
- [5]equalityhumanrights.com · EHRC Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 · September 11, 2024
- [6]Original statement · News report · November 2, 2026
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