Which UK sponsors fall under Home Office checks, and why

A UK sponsor licence can be revoked if an employer receives a complaint or operates in a sector with a high risk of abuse. The Home Office selects such companies for checks by comparing HMRC data against payroll records. The main requirement for a sponsor is to report any reductions in pay in advance, not after the fact.

Two grounds for a check

The first ground is complaints. A dissatisfied employee who reports non-payment, underpayment or any other abuse to the Home Office triggers an investigation. The second ground is risk assessment. The Home Office places sectors where abuse is more common in a higher-risk group: social care, retail, restaurants and construction. Other industries are also named as high risk by the department.

How the check works

If a company is on the list, the Home Office sends a request for information. It may concern harsh treatment of workers, underpayment (breach of C1 under the sponsor guidance) and verification of the right to work. The department also requests HMRC data and establishes whether any payments were missed. Separately, it checks whether payments are confirmed in HMRC data. If there are gaps in them, for example due to sick leave, this becomes a subject of questions.

The deadline for responding to such requests is short: five working days.

Sick leave, maternity leave and unpaid leave

The Home Office pays attention to underpayment that is visible in the data. The department sends a request to the employer, and the employer explains, for example, that the worker was on sick leave for two months or on maternity leave. The problem is that such an answer comes only after the check. Under the sponsor guidance, an employer must report everything that affects pay in the month when it happened. You can report as much as needed, and there is no such thing as excessive reporting.

Sending a worker on unpaid leave for several months without a genuine reason and exceptional circumstances is almost impossible. Before reporting such changes or arranging unpaid leave, it is worth getting immigration advice.