Complying with your sponsorship duties as a Skilled Worker sponsor

One of the guiding principles of the Home Office’s sponsor licence regime is that sponsorship is a privilege, not a right. A sponsor must therefore fulfil certain duties and comply with the requirements as set out by the Home Office in order to benefit from the sponsorship system. As a licenced sponsor, an organisation’s sponsorship duties include:

1. Record keeping duties
2. Reporting duties
3. Not behaving in a way that is not conducive to the public good
4. Complying with immigration and wider UK law

Where an organisation fails to comply with it’s sponsorship duties, the Home Office may take compliance action against the sponsor, including downgrading, suspending or even revoking the licence.

Record keeping duties

Sponsors must retain certain documents for each worker it sponsors, as outlined in Appendix D to the Immigration Rules. This includes retaining evidence of the worker’s right to work in the UK, a record of absences, contact details, payslips and more. Sponsors should also retain evidence of how they recruited any sponsored workers, as well as copies of the documents provided as part of the sponsor licence application.

Reporting duties

Sponsor licence holders must report certain changes to the Home Office within set timeframes. Changes to a sponsored worker’s circumstances must generally be reported to the Home Office within ten working days, for example, where a sponsored worker’s normal place of work changes. 

Where there is a change to the organisation, this must ordinarily be reported within 20 working days of the relevant event. A sponsorship licence is not transferrable, therefore if there has been a significant change to the organisation such as a merger or takeover for example, a new sponsorship licence may also be required. 

Not behaving in a way that is not conducive to the public good

The Home Office will take compliance action against an organisation that has engaged in behaviour that is considered not conducive to the public good. This can, for example, include discrimination.

Complying with immigration and wider UK law

A sponsor should ensure that it complies with immigration law, for example only assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a worker where the sponsor is satisfied that they intend to and are able to undertake the role they are being sponsored into. It is essential that sponsors also comply with their duty to prevent illegal working by undertaking compliant right to work checks. 

A sponsor must also comply with wider UK law, including its obligations as an employer. For example, complying with National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Regulations as well as not engaging in any criminal activity. 

Conclusion

The Home Office reserve the right to undertake a compliance audit on any sponsor at any time. Where they discover that there has been non-compliance with sponsor duties, compliance action can be taken which can have serious consequences. It is therefore essential that sponsors are aware of their duties and take appropriate action to ensure their licence and sponsored workers are protected. 

If you have any queries about complying with your sponsorship duties, please get in touch with our Immigration Team. We also have a number of compliance packages available to assist sponsors, as well as a mock audit service which aims to review a sponsor’s current processes and practices. Find out more about our Sponsorship Compliance Package.