What do Sponsors Need to do if a Sponsored Worker Changes Work Location?
Nowadays UK business owners need to be flexible to meet the demands of their business. That can involve moving employees from one place of work to another. That can create employment and immigration law issues if the worker is a sponsored employee on a Skilled Worker Visa or Health and Care Worker Visa.
Our Immigration Solicitors receive questions on sponsor licence holders' duties when moving sponsored employees to a new place of work. Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can answer all your sponsor licence questions and help you manage your licence with our professional Sponsor Licence Management Service.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Does location matter?
Ask Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp on Chanel 4 if location matters and of course, they will say yes. After all, the clue is in the TV programme name; Location, Location, Location.
It is not as clear-cut when it comes to your employees and changing their place of work. There are three questions:
- Is the change in working a temporary or long-term change? For example, is the move designed to provide temporary sick or holiday cover for an absent colleague or is it a hybrid move with the business plan being that the worker will work between the two locations or is it a permanent move combined with a promotion or a change in job description?
- Can an employee’s place of work be changed without creating a potential employment contract dispute and tribunal claim by the employee?
- Does a change in the employee’s workplace need to be reported on the sponsor management system if the worker moving to a new work location is a sponsored employee working in the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa or Health and Care Worker Visa
These questions may not have straightforward answers but they need to be considered carefully before an employer acts as there are serious employment and business consequences of failing to plan and consider the consequences of changing an employee’s place of work.
Changing a sponsored employee’s place of work
When you are considering changing a sponsored employee’s place of work you first need to check the work address stated on their certificate of sponsorship to see if a report is required. The certificate of sponsorship should contain details of the visa holder’s normal work location and help you find out if a report on the sponsor management system is necessary.
If the change is permanent then a report will be required. This includes situations where the sponsored employee will be working at a different branch office, nursing home, care home or another office. It also covers the situation where a sponsored worker will be based at a client’s premises to carry out a task.
In other situations, a sponsored employee may move from working in the office to working from home or hybrid working. That may be for a whole host of reasons, including the employee being unable to get into the office because of ill health or during the later stages of pregnancy.
The Home Office guidance says that a sponsor licence holder must report a change in work location including remote working from home where WFH is on a permanent or full-time basis with little or no requirement to go into the place of work. If a sponsored employee moves from being office-based to being a home worker the Home Office may question why the employee must be sponsored in the UK or if they could do the work from their home country.
The guidance goes on to recognise that nowadays work locations are often not clear-cut with some employers being amenable to hybrid working models without set office or home working days or the employee working between different locations. There is no longer a need to report on the sponsor management system if a sponsored worker is moving to a hybrid working pattern but sponsor licence holders must continue to report any changes to the visa holder’s main office work location, or of any new client sites. In addition, you need to maintain records of your sponsored workers’ working patterns.
Reporting changes to regular working patterns
UK employers will be relieved to hear that the Home Office guidance says that key personnel do not need to log and report daily on the working location of the company’s sponsored employees. For example, an employee may be working from home to complete a report in peace or have been seconded to a client’s business premises to carry out a specific task. These changes do not need reporting on the sponsor management system as they do not amount to a change in the employee’s regular working pattern.
Keeping on top of where sponsored workers are working
It can be difficult for HR staff and key personnel to keep track of where sponsored employees are working especially if the worker’s line manager has the authority to authorise home working or to agree to the transfer of a team member to another branch office. That’s why it is important that those in a position to say where sponsored employees will be working understand the need to follow company policy on reporting changes to HR staff so they in turn can get key personnel to make the necessary report on the sponsor management system.
Sponsor licence problems can start with a manager thinking they have made a sensible business decision on a worker’s location without considering the employment or immigration aspects of changing a sponsored employee’s regular working pattern. Sponsorship Licence Lawyers say that while managers may not need intense Immigration Law Training, it is important that anyone in authority to change working patterns understands why it is vital to keep a record and report changes on the sponsor management system.
Help with your sponsor licence questions
Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers are experienced in answering sponsor licence queries. Often HR staff are keen to follow the Home Office rules to the letter but find the Home Office guidance unclear and don’t want to ‘get it wrong’ and find that their decision not to report or to report comes back to haunt them if there is a later Home Office inspection.
Our team of Business Immigration Solicitors provides:
- Immigration Law Training that can be tailored to the needs of your business
- Advice on employment contracts and company policies and procedures
- Sponsor Licence Management Services
- Annual external audits of HR files and advice on any necessary tweaks or best practice changes
- Sponsor licence troubleshooting advice if the Home Office says a report should have been made and was not
- Advice if a sponsor licence holder receives a sponsor licence suspension notice
Our Business Immigration Solicitors are always happy to discuss how our services can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your business.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
For immigration advice call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
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