The Home Office are set to escalate enforcement action – sponsors should expect a sharp rise in compliance visits and licence revocations.
The Home Office have announced that they will be increasing their focus on preventing illegal working and ensuring sponsor compliance. As part of this announcement, the Home Office confirmed that this will involve a rise in sponsor licence compliance visits, putting sponsors at greater risk of having their licence suspended or revoked.
A licence revocation is disastrous for a sponsor. Not only does it prevent the business from sponsoring any migrant workers going forward, but it also brings the sponsorship of all existing sponsored workers to an immediate end – meaning that these workers must cease employment and leave the UK. A business which is heavily reliant on sponsored workers could lose a significant portion of their workforce overnight.
The Home Office have also said that they will be taking more stringent action against employers who look to flout employment laws, such as those relating to the Right to Work and payment of the National Minimum Wage. Reading between the lines, this would suggest that, even if a business has complied with all their sponsor obligations, a breach of UK employment law could result in their licence being revoked. There are already significant financial penalties in place of up to £60,000 per worker for failing to carry out the correct Right to Work checks.
Important update – December 2024
Since the initial publication of this article, the Home Office have provided more details on their crackdown plans, which they plan to implement through several proposed amendments to the Employment Rights Bill – you can read more about the Bill’s potential impact on employment law here or watch David Clay’s webinar on the Bill here.
These amendments include a new minimum two-year ban from sponsorship for employers that “repeatedly flout” immigration rules or commit serious breaches of employment law. If a sponsor is subject to a compliance visit from the Home Office, and they are unable to demonstrate compliance with immigration rules and employment law, then not only will they risk having their licence revoked but they may also be subject to a ban from sponsorship of at least two years.
We anticipate that Home Office enforcement action will become increasingly common throughout the beginning of 2025. Home Office visits can be unannounced. Is it therefore more important than ever for sponsors to ensure that they:
- have been acting in compliance with their sponsor licence obligations, including those relating to reporting and record-keeping;
- have carried out the correct Right to Work checks, in line with the appropriate Home Office guidance; and
- are compliant with all relevant UK employment law.
We would strongly recommend that you carry out an internal audit of your records and processes now – by the time that the Home Office come knocking, it will be too late to ensure compliance and protect your business.
We currently offer a package of audit services to suit all budgets.
If you would like to know more about what we can do to help or our audit services, please get in touch at [email protected]
