Legal Services and Sponsor Licences for the Health and Social Care Sector
Whether you are the owner of one nursing home or 200 care homes the health and social care industry is not an easy sector to operate a business in. It can be a minefield to work around all the regulatory and employment issues that can crop up on an almost daily basis. On top of that, there is often an ongoing battle to recruit healthcare workers with the necessary practical skills and ability to provide compassionate care to vulnerable residents.
In this article, our immigration solicitors focus on legal services and sponsor licences for health and social care sector businesses.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For health and social care sponsor licence and immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Employing healthcare staff with the right to work in the UK
It is vital that any UK business only employs staff with the legal right to work in the UK. The penalties for breaching UK illegal working legislation apply across all areas of industry; from health care to hospitality to construction. However, with healthcare, it can be particularly tempting to employ a new member of staff without properly checking their right to work in the UK because care home or nursing home residents are so desperate for care providers and the homes are simply unable to recruit enough workers from within the UK.
Sponsorship Licence lawyers often hear the argument that it is better to employ anyone rather than leave residents uncared for. However, the penalties for employing staff who do not have the right to work in the UK are already large and are going to increase.
At present the maximum fine payable by a business that employs a person without the right to work is up to £20,000. That fine is for each illegal worker employed by a company. The government plan is to increase the fines to £45,000 per worker for first offences and £60,000 per worker for businesses that are second or repeat offenders.
In addition to the financial penalty for employing a person without the right to work in the UK, a business in the healthcare sector could suffer serious reputational damage as well as scupper their prospects of being able to successfully apply for a sponsor licence to sponsor overseas-based staff on the health and care worker visa.
Knowing how and when to carry out right-to-work checks is vital. Our specialist immigration and employment lawyers can provide bespoke employment and right-to-work training to HR and administrative staff.
Sponsor licence applications
If your health or social care business is struggling to recruit the staff needed then one option is to apply to the Home Office for a sponsor licence to sponsor health and care worker visa applicants.
If your business is unsure about whether a sponsor licence is the right path for you then our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can talk you through what is involved in the application process and advise on the non-sponsored options to increase your pool of talent. For example, whether you can employ international students on student visas provided you comply with the work conditions on the visa or if you can restrict your employment of overseas workers to those in the UK on a graduate visa or on a visa where the individual is allowed to work without requiring a sponsoring employer. For example, those on the spouse visa or the dependant visa.
Our Sponsorship Licence lawyers are always happy to explain what is involved in a sponsor licence application, the costs of recruiting from overseas and its benefits. We can also explain our sponsor licence management service and the management cost for those businesses deterred from applying for a sponsor licence because they are concerned about their ability to comply with the licence reporting and recording duties.
Sponsor licence pre-licence audit
If you decide that your health or social care business needs a sponsor licence to meet its recruitment needs then our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can carry out a pre-licence audit. You may think that this level of preparation is unnecessary. However, if your application is refused because the Home Office does not consider that you have the systems and procedures in place to manage the sponsor licence, then you will waste time and money.
A pre-licence audit by OTS Solicitors is not intended to recreate systems and procedures that work for your HR team but to tweak your policies so you are compliant with Home Office expectations and can show that your systems will enable you to comply with your sponsor licence duties.
The sponsor licence application
Applying for a sponsor licence to sponsor health and care worker visa applicants should be relatively straightforward provided that:
- You have the right systems in place
- You have carefully chosen your key personnel
- You have sent the correct supporting paperwork and paid the right fee
- You have shown that you are a trading company and that you have genuine vacancies
The above points can be overwhelming when you are not used to dealing with the Home Office. That is why our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can manage the whole application process for you.
Recruiting workers on a health and care worker visa
Once you have got your sponsor licence the hard work begins as you need to start to sponsor workers. Initially, terms such as the minimum salary threshold, the standard occupational classification code, the shortage occupation list or the certificate of sponsorship can be confusing. You may not know where to start with a certificate of sponsorship allocation or you may be worried about how you should conduct a right-to-work check on an overseas-based job applicant. Our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can help you navigate recruiting new employees on the health and care worker visa and provide all the business immigration and employment law advice you need.
A sponsor licence management service
Not everyone wants or can manage their sponsor licence. At OTS Solicitors our Sponsorship Licence lawyers can either provide a full sponsor licence management service for a fixed monthly retainer or step in as required with bespoke training for key personnel or specific advice if you have sponsor licence or employment law queries.
If you need legal services or sponsor licence advice for your healthcare or social care business then our specialist team of Sponsorship Licence lawyers with their in-depth sector expertise can help.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For health and social care sponsor licence and immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
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