The Home Office has recently updated its sponsor guidance on employer duties, following its last published Statement of Changes and Spring policy review. The guidance now includes clarification on the need for sponsors to report post-pandemic hybrid and remote working patterns, as well as other updates to sponsor duties.

The most important thing for HR teams to be aware of from the Statement of Changes is the increase to minimum salary thresholds for sponsored work visas, including the Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility (GBM) routes. Workers issued with Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) assigned on or after 12 April 2023 will need to be paid at higher minimum rates than previously.

Increased salary thresholds

The National Minimum Wage increase took effect on 1 April 2023. Sponsors must pay sponsored workers at or above the revised National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate in all cases, whenever the COS was assigned. The revised National Minimum Wage rates are:

In most cases, the new minimum salary requirements for sponsored workers will exceed NMW, because the minimum salary that all sponsors must pay is whichever is the higher of:

• the general salary threshold for the specific sponsored route,
• the going rate (market rate) for the specific job to be performed, and
• £10.75 per hour.

The general salary threshold increased for all COS assigned after 12 April 2023 – and for most roles the going rate increased too. But for any sponsored worker holding a COS issued before that date, the previous salary requirements will apply until they submit a fresh application with a new COS (assuming salary meets the latest NMW levels). In that situation, salary does not have to be increased until the next COS is assigned.

General thresholds

The general annual salary threshold has increased as below:

• Skilled Worker: standard case where no discounts apply – £26,200 (up from £25,600).
• Skilled Worker: where applicant has a relevant PhD needed for the job – £23,580 (up from £23,040).
• Skilled Worker: where proposed role is on the Shortage Occupation List or where the applicant is a new entrant to the labour market - £20,960 (up from £20,480).
• GBM Senior or Specialist Worker for intra-company transfers – £45,800 (up from £42,400).
• GBM Graduate Trainee – £24,220 (up from £23,100).
• GBM UK Expansion Worker - £45,800 (up from £42,400).
• Scale Up - £34,600 (up from £33,000).

Going rate

Where the going rate – the market rate for the particular job to be performed, taking account of any available discounts – is above the general threshold, the employer must pay the higher amount. For most roles, the going rates increased on 12 April but in a change to the previous rules, those going rates are now calculated using a working week of 37.5 hours, rather than 39 hours as previously. Employers need to be careful to ensure that where the weekly working hours (including paid breaks) are above 37.5 hours, they pro-rate the going rate upwards accordingly. For jobs where there are irregular (fluctuating) hours, there is guidance on how sponsors should calculate weekly hours using averages, so that sponsors can still work out the minimum going rate that should apply.

By way of example of the going rate increases, for a COS assigned after 12 April the annual salary for a 40 hour per week Sales Account Manager role (covered by occupation code 3545) increased from £36,310 to £37,440 and the going rate for a Software Developer role (covered by code 2136) increased from £34,155 to £36,270.

Hybrid and remote working

It has always been the case that employers must report a change in work location of a sponsored worker to the Home Office. The latest guidance now provides clarity on reporting of hybrid and remote working arrangements. Any change to the ‘normal work location’ recorded on the COS must be reported to the Home Office through the Sponsor Management System (SMS). This includes where: 

• the worker is, or will be, working at a different site, branch or office of your organisation, or a different client’s site, not previously reported
• the worker is, or will be, working remotely from home on a permanent or full-time basis (with little or no requirement to physically attend a workplace) and this has not been previously reported, or
• the worker has moved, or will be moving, to a hybrid working pattern

A 'hybrid working pattern' is where the worker will work remotely on a regular and planned basis from their home or another address, such as a work hub space, that is not a client site or an approved address listed on your licence, in addition to regularly attending one or more of your offices or branches, or a client site.

Sponsors are not required to report day-to-day changes in work location. For instance, if a worker occasionally works at a different branch or site, or from home occasionally, this will not need to be reported. Only changes to a sponsored worker’s regular working pattern will need to be reported.

For workers that are fully remote, the Home Office may query whether the worker needs to be in the UK, and therefore whether there is a genuine UK vacancy, on the basis that they could perform their role from anywhere. Employers should be prepared to justify the arrangements, for example due to the need to avoid time zone differences on a team project. 

Key Personnel changes 

Requests to replace Authorising Officers and/or Key Contacts and to add new Level 1 users will be actioned immediately if the following criteria is met:

• The postcode of the address stated for the new Authorising Officer, Key Contact or Level 1 User must match either the postcode of the sponsor’s main organisation address or that of its head office address or, for Key Contacts and Level 1 Users, the postcode of a legal representative organisation that it has told the Home Office is acting on its behalf.
• The licence is fully active.
• The sponsor is an A rated sponsor.

Right to work (RTW) checks 

The Home Office has also updated its right to work guidance for employers, introducing important new changes for all UK employers. Following on from our update last year:

• Employers using the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP) for digital identity verification will need to obtain evidence of the check from the IDSP to have a statutory excuse. Employers will only have a statutory excuse if they reasonably believe the IDSP has carried out their checks in accordance with Home Office guidance.
• For workers who do not hold a valid British or Irish passport, or do not wish to prove their identity using an IDSP, employers must use other methods to prove their right to work.
• Employers cannot establish a statutory excuse (defence) against liability for a civil penalty – or where applicable, comply with their sponsor duties - if the IDSP performs a manual or online RTW check when they are not entitled to.
• Where a worker is an eVisa holder (so has digital status only) and has an outstanding in-time application with the Home Office, employers can now use the online RTW service, rather than the Employer Checking Service, for a faster outcome.

If you would like to explore any of this further, including if you need any advice on your reporting duties, please do get in touch with us.