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Sponsorship Compliance Services

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Categories: Business immigration
Date published: 3/02/2025
Sponsorship Compliance Services

Maintaining compliance with your sponsor licence is essential for businesses employing skilled workers from outside the UK. The Home Office conducts sponsorship audits to ensure employers are fulfilling their obligations. Failure to comply can lead to licence suspension, revocation, or reputational damage.

Our client, a multinational company in the wind turbine industry, struggling to recruit amongst other roles, blade engineers, from the UK, applied for a licence to sponsor overseas workers. As per the requirements listed in Appendix D of the Home Office guidance relating to sponsorship, submitted all necessary documents and information.

Why did the Home Office carry out a compliance visit?

The company has a global HR department managing workers in a few countries.  As it may not be a standard set up of a UK-based company with its own HR department, the Home Office first requested screenshots of the HR system, then arranged a compliance meeting with the Authorising Officer (a key person, responsible for recruitment of overseas workers and managing the sponsorship).

A compliance visit, or ‘audit’ is a review conducted by the Home Office to check whether the business complies with the rules and obligations outlined in the sponsor licence. These audits may be announced or unannounced and typically involve:

• Review of your HR and recruitment systems.

• Right-to-work checks and evaluating your adherence to sponsorship duties, such as preventing illegal working

• Assessing how you monitor and report employee visa status.

• Checking your record-keeping practices.

• Knowledge of the business and internal policies

Common issues relating to sponsor licence compliance

As a sponsor licence holder, our client will be required to keep specific documents for each sponsored worker to comply with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) regulations. Failure to maintain these records can lead to penalties, including the suspension or revocation of your sponsor licence.

Evidence of Right to Work

The Authorising Officer was asked to descript how he will carry out right-to-work checks. Right-to-work checks are a legal requirement for all employers in the UK and play a crucial role in sponsorship compliance.  Properly conducted checks help prevent illegal working and protect your business from fines, penalties or reputational damage.

Before the compliance meeting we ensured that our client can:  

  • Understand what constitutes a valid right to work check.
  • Identify the specific documents they are required to verify for different types of workers.
  • Keep up-to-date with the latest Home Office rules and updates to immigration law.
  • Retain documents that relate to the right-to-work checks in the correct format.

Employment Records

Prior to the compliance meeting, the Home Office requested a copy of draft employment contract. Since the role for which the employment contract was drafted is not an entirely office-based position and involves an atypical arrangement, particular emphasis had to be placed on defining the place of work. This includes working at multiple locations, both in the UK and abroad. The issue of working hours also required careful consideration, as blade repair technicians follow varied work patterns. They may be assigned to work for a week, followed by a week or two of paid rest. The contract had to be structured to ensure compliance with working time regulations and, where necessary, incorporate opt-out agreements.

The contracts for the provision of services for self-employed technicians had to meet the minimum salary requirements for skilled worker visa purposes. It was essential to recognise that this arrangement does not constitute an employer-employee relationship. Therefore, the contract needed to align with the client’s needs while avoiding arrangements (and thus, provisions) typically associated with employment, such as certain restrictive covenants and other that simply cannot be adopted by parties cooperating on a business-to-business basis.

Sponsors in the UK must maintain comprehensive and accurate employment records to comply with both employment law and the requirements of the Home Office for sponsor licence holders.  All employers must keep records for each employee, including employment contracts or service agreements, payroll records, working hours, holiday and leave records, performance appraisals and disciplinary actions and health and safety records.

A wind turbine engineer typically requires certifications from organisations like the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and certifications which are a mark of quality and safety that demonstrates compliance with national or international standards. These certifications can demonstrate a wind turbine engineer’s knowledge and skills in areas like design, safety, and maintenance and our client must obtain and retain copies of the workers’ qualifications, certifications, or professional memberships.

Recruitment Process Documents

 Although the Resident Labour Market Test was abolished in 2020, our client must demonstrate that they recruit fairly and transparently. The Home Office expects our client to demonstrate that the roles were genuinely open to the local workforce.

Whilst it is not mandatory to submit evidence of recruitment with the application for a sponsor licence, our client prepared detailed records of their recruitment process. The Home Office will expect to see copies of job advertisement, evidence of how the overseas workers were identified, a record of the reasons why other candidates were not suitable and documentation providing that the roles and candidate meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship.

Retention Period

Sponsors must keep these documents for the duration of sponsorship and for at least two years after the sponsorship ends or until a compliance audit is completed, whichever is longer.

Maintaining accurate and accessible records is essential to demonstrate your compliance with sponsor licence duties during a Home Office audit.

Conducting regular internal checks will ensure all documents are complete and up to date.

Monitoring and Reporting

During the compliance meeting the Home Office enquired about our client’s ability to monitor attendance and performance to ensure that the worker is fulfilling their duties, and report unauthorised absences or significant changes.

A sponsor licence holder has a legal duty to report certain changes to the Home Office within specified timeframes. Failing to meet these obligations can lead to penalties, including suspension or revocation of sponsor licence.

Changes Related to the Sponsored Worker

Sponsors must report the following changes within 10 working days:

Change in employment status:

  • If the worker’s employment ends earlier than stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), whether due to resignation, dismissal, redundancy, or early completion of the role.
  • If the worker is absent without permission for more than 10 consecutive working days.

Change in job role or duties:

  • If the worker is moved to a different role that requires a new CoS.
  • If there is a significant change to the job description, responsibilities, or salary (except for routine annual pay rises or statutory increases).

Change in work location:

  • If the worker is relocated to a new work address not previously stated.

Change in personal circumstances:

  • Changes to the worker’s name, address, or contact details.

Changes Related to Sponsor’s Organisation

Sponsors must report the following changes within 20 working days:

Change of business address:

  • A relocation of organisation to a new registered or operating address.

Change in company structure:

  • Mergers, acquisitions, de-mergers, or changes in ownership.

Change in key personnel:

  • If a sponsor appoints a new Authorising Officer, Key Contact, or Level 1 User, or if any of these roles leave the organisation.

Closure or cessation of operations:

  • If the business ceases trading, closes a branch, or stops being a sponsor.

Significant organisational changes:

  • Changes to the nature of your business, such as moving into a new sector or significantly altering your activities.

Issues that may affect your sponsorship:

A sponsor must report any situation that may impact their compliance with sponsorship duties, such as:

  • Receiving a criminal conviction or civil penalty as an organisation or key personnel member.
  • Losing accreditation, registration, or certification required to operate legally.
  • Significant reductions in workforce size or layoffs affecting sponsored workers.

Most changes should be reported via the Sponsor Management System (SMS). Some complex changes, such as mergers or significant organisational changes, may require submitting additional documents or notifying the Home Office in writing.

Timely reporting demonstrates compliance with sponsor licence duties and protects a sponsor licence status. Regularly reviewing HR systems and ensuring all updates are recorded promptly can help avoid penalties during a Home Office audit.

If you need guidance on reporting changes or managing your sponsor licence, contact us for expert advice.

How We Can Help

Training and Support for HR Teams

We deliver tailored training sessions to your HR staff, ensuring they:

  • Recognise acceptable documents
  • Understand how to check the validity of documents
  • Follow correct procedures for conducting in-person and online checks, including digital right-to-work checks using the Home Office online system.

Our Sponsorship Audit Services

We offer tailored services to help you prepare for an audit or address concerns raised by the Home Office.

1. Pre-Audit Readiness Checks

• Conduct a thorough review of your HR and recruitment processes.

• Identify and rectify compliance gaps.

• Provide advice on maintaining accurate records.

2. Mock Sponsorship Audits

• Simulate a Home Office audit to identify risks.

• Offer actionable recommendations to strengthen your systems.

3. Post-Audit Support

• Help address any issues raised during an audit.

• Assist in implementing corrective measures.

• Support with responding to Home Office enquiries or resolving penalties.

Why Choose Us?

We are experts in what we do, but we recognise that there are many other firms on the market. So why choose us?

Extensive experience. Our immigration specialist has 18 years of experience in business immigration matters. This means that we truly understand what needs to be done to secure the best possible result for you.

Comprehensive legal insight. While our business immigration team specialises in immigration law (obviously), our team members have in-depth knowledge and experience in employment, contract, and corporate law. This allows us to provide well-rounded advice and view your situation from multiple legal perspectives, not just one.

Our team members speak various languages. This means we are usually able to provide advice in your native language, and in legal matters language matters.

Your case is our case. It means that we are all one team working for you to achieve your goal. We do not simply fill in the forms for you. We work closely with you, meeting and speaking multiple times to ensure you are well-informed and confident at every stage of the process.

We are here for you. Not the other way around.

If you wish to read some of the opinions about us from our clients, click here.

Contact Us

Don’t leave compliance to chance! Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business stay on top of its sponsorship obligations and prepare for any Home Office audit.

To find out more about our services, visit Business Immigration section of our website.

Call us now to discuss your case 0333 034 9474 or email us at business@imd.co.uk.

Publisher Details
Published by:

Jarmila Entezari - Senior Associate

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