Sponsor Licence Compliance

A person who has a sponsor licence must follow clear rules about hiring foreign workers. Licence holders are considered to be in compliance when they adhere to the regulations and rules outlined in the Sponsor Guidance.

A compliance visit, which is also called a “compliance audit” or “inspection visit,” can be done by the Home Office whenever they want. There is no patience for not following the rules.

A digital compliance inspection means that your records, proof, or information you have already sent will be checked.

People who don’t follow the rules could get fines, a legal penalty, or even have their Sponsor Licence suspended or taken away.

When this happens, it can be too late for a business to recover.

There are four places where licence compliance can be sponsored. Some of the primary responsibilities are:

• Record keeping duties
• General Duties
• Reporting duties
• Monitoring Immigration Status and Preventing Illegal Work

Record Keeping Duties

Sponsors must keep records for each worker to make sure they are following the rules. This includes following the instructions of the temporary worker sponsor, being respectful of the workers’ needs, and adhering to immigration regulations.

In Appendix D from the Home Office, you can find a list of important papers that should be kept on the file of every sponsored employee:

Here are some of the less obvious documents:

• Historical and up-to-date contact information
• Note the date the worker entered the UK, in case it’s not clear from their visa.
• Pay stubs (or electronic access to them)
• History of vacations
• Proof of employment to show that they are real

Key Points for Preparing for an Audit include:

• Being aware of what Appendix D is
• Making sure you have a way to keep current and old contact information for each supported employee, such as their UK home address, personal email address, and cell phone number
• Having a general “Sponsor Management” file with your sponsor licence application and copies of the paperwork that supports it
• The Home Office has provided useful information in Appendix D, Sponsor a Worker – General Information, Sponsor Duties and Compliance, and the Home Office Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks.

General Duties

Among other things, the Sponsor should make sure that

• Sponsor licence personnel are permanently situated in the UK and reported via SMS upon change.
• The Authorising Officer is in charge for as long as the licenses last and meets the standards set out in the sponsor guidance.
• Every month, the Authorising Officer looks at the CoS that was given to sponsored workers.
• There is one Level 1 person, who is an employee, who makes sure you can always get to the SMS.
• Users at level 1 or 2 keep their emails safe and don’t share passwords.

You have to follow all of the Home Office’s immigration rules and the Worker Sponsor guidelines. To make this work, the Sponsor needs to:

• Only hire people who are educated, registered, or have experience doing the job.
• Aren’t hiring people who can’t do the job because they don’t have the right experience, skills, or immigration papers, or because they are no longer allowed to do the job.
• Not give a license if there isn’t a job opening that meets the requirements for a sponsored worker.
• Workers should only be able to do jobs that are allowed by the terms of their stay.
• You should only give a COS to a worker who you think will meet the immigration standards.
• Don’t give a worker an undefined Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship when they need a specific one.

As a cooperator, you must do the following:

• To give staff from the Home Office unlimited access to any building or area under its control to carry out any action plan made by the Home Office
• Also, to follow any sector body’s or the Home Office’s good practice recommendations for sponsors to reduce the likelihood of immigration abuse.

Reporting Duties

According to the Home Office’s Sponsor Management System (SMS), the licence holder needs to send the following details within ten working days:

• If the sponsored worker doesn’t show up on the date written on their COS as the date they were supposed to start work,
• If the sponsored worker is missing from work for more than ten working days without permission,
• For any reason, if the sponsored worker’s job deal ends,
• If the company stops supporting a worker for any reason,
• Should there be any major changes in the supported employee’s life,
• If the supported worker takes more than four weeks of unpaid leave in a calendar year,
• Any information that shows a sponsored worker is not following the rules of their leave
• If a sponsored worker’s job is changed because of TUPE or if their funding can be moved to another sponsor licence,
• When the Sponsor’s situation changes in a big way
• You must also tell police about any information that makes you think a sponsored employee might be doing something illegal.

Important things to do before an audit are:

• Make sure that the sponsored workers you hire work and get paid according to the information on their COS and that the right SMS reports are sent to show any changes

With a good system in place to:

• Watch for changes in sponsored workers’ schedules, absences, and whereabouts.
• Ensure your Level 1 user(s) know about any changes affecting them.
• To show the Home Office that sponsored employees and their managers are aware of the events that require them to tell the Home Office.

Monitoring Immigration Status and Preventing Illegal Work

Following are some rules that are meant to stop illegal work and keep an eye on immigration statuses:

• Adding proof of work authorisation to all employee files.
• Writing down the dates that any employee’s visa expires
• Electronic copies of right-to-work paperwork can be kept.

Important things to do before an audit are:

• Doing monthly checks on all employee files
• Keep a record of all employees’ information, such as their name, nationality, work location, dates of employment, job title, current visa type (if relevant), visa expiration date, and so on.
• Showing that they fully understand both the old way of doing right-to-work checks by hand and the new way of doing them online
• Keeping a strong method for keeping track of when visas expire