New Sponsorship Rules And What They Mean For You
The UK Government has announced significant changes to the way sponsorship of international staff can be recruited, so let's have a look at the changes and how they will affect your business.
These changes affect the skilled worker route, for example, affecting care workers and senior care workers, effective from 9th April 2025.
These changes are designed to address the growing issue of displaced workers who are already in the UK and no longer have sponsorship due to their sponsors being unable to provide sufficient work or having their sponsor licenses revoked.
New Recruitment Requirements
Sponsors will now be required to prioritise recruitment from the existing pool of displaced workers before considering new applicants from other immigration routes or from overseas.
This initiative aims to better utilize the available workforce within the UK and reduce dependency on international recruitment.
Demonstrating Genuine Worker Shortages
Potential sponsors must demonstrate a genuine shortage of workers for their vacancies. This may include providing evidence such as:
advertising the positions and demonstrating the unsuitability of applicants.
Regional Hubs
New regional hubs will be established. These hubs will maintain updated information about displaced sponsored workers.
Potential sponsors will be required to contact their local hub to find suitable candidates from this pool before proceeding with external recruitment.
Sponsorship Process for Displaced Workers
If a sponsor identifies a suitable candidate from the displaced workers database, they can proceed with the "undefined" sponsorship switch.
The application must include the phrase "Candidate has been recruited from the displaced workers pool" in the Sponsor Notes section.
No Suitable Displaced Workers
In cases where no suitable workers are available, sponsors must obtain confirmation from the regional or sub-regional partnership that they have attempted to recruit from the pool.
Only after this confirmation can sponsors apply for a "defined" certificate of sponsorship for workers outside the UK, subject to general eligibility rules.
Updates to the Minimum Salary
The minimum salary threshold for care workers is being updated.
The new salary requirements are:
Annual Salary: Increased from £23,200 to £25,000
Hourly Wage: Increased from £11.90 to £12.82
(based on a 37.5-hour workweek)
Revisions to Salary Deductions
Changes are also being made regarding deductions from a sponsorship member of staffs salary to ensure:
Consistency: Aligning how paid allowances for similar purposes are treated.
Mitigating Costs: Preventing sponsorship costs from being passed on to applicants.
Closing Loopholes: Addressing loopholes that allowed applicants to indirectly pay parts of their salary towards their sponsor's business.
These updates aim to ensure fair treatment of workers and maintain integrity within the sponsorship system.
Hopefully these changes will be of some comfort for the desperate displaced workers who currently have no where to turn.