Sponsor Licence Audits and Compliance

Where a company holds a Points-based System (PBS) Sponsor Licence then UK visas and immigration compliance audits are a necessity. As part of your duties of holding a licence, the Home Office relies on the company and its key personnel to monitor their sponsor licence and assist with non-EEA migrant immigration control.

JMW’s team of specialist UK immigration law solicitors can give you all the advice and assistance you need in preparing and passing a sponsor licence compliance audit.

To speak to a solicitor in relation to sponsor licence audits, contact us today by calling 0345 872 6666, or fill in our online enquiry form and we will get back to you.

How JMW Can Help

With more companies applying to be granted sponsor licences to employ foreign workers, audits are on the rise and employers often struggle to keep on top of their management and reporting duties. This is especially the case if there is a large turnover of key HR personnel or there is a large workforce, not to mention constantly changing immigration legislation and regulation.

No matter how hard your HR staff work, there may be one missing piece of paper or a failure to accurately update an electronic file. We can ensure you stand the best possible chance of passing a sponsor licence audit by making the process of compliance less onerous. This includes:

• Ensuring all filings are up to date to avoid any backlogs
• Keeping HR files organised to assist an auditor with their review
• Creating an audit checklist to keep track of what is going on and how to find key information
• Making sure records and foreign migrant HR files are easily accessible when they are required for an audit
• Introducing a system to record training and file improvements - an auditor will presume a company that acknowledges its errors is less likely to have rogue files or staff
• Helping to implement mock file audits and staff appraisals, which should be two-way to allow key sponsor licence management staff to make suggestions to improve the working practices

The immigration law team is able to conduct mock audits to test the efficiency of systems and procedures, provide regular training to ensure key personnel are kept up to date with changes in immigration rules, and ensure rigorous but easy-to-follow systems are in place so audit visits are not daunting.

To learn more about obtaining a sponsor licence and how we can help, read our Guide to Employing Overseas Workers.

The Sponsor Licence Audit Process

The Home Office has the right to carry out announced or unannounced compliance visits to any address where sponsored migrants are working. If an employer is not prepared or does not have the requisite procedures in place, it could lead to their sponsor licence being revoked and any visas for their employees being curtailed.

In conducting this review, the Home Office would rate the sponsor’s HR systems and processes on a three-point scale (one being the best score and three the worst).

Specifically, they will look at the following five areas:

1. Monitoring immigration status and preventing illegal working
2. Maintaining migrant workers’ contact details
3. Record keeping
4. Migrant tracking and monitoring
5. Recruitment practices and professional accreditations

To maintain an A-rated sponsor licence under the PBS, a company would need to receive a one or near one rating in each of these areas.

A sponsor licence audit can consist of:

• A review of a foreign migrant HR’s files
• A review of company policies and procedures
• Interviews with key sponsor licence management personnel
• Interviews with any workers for whom you have assigned a certificate of sponsorship (CoS)
• The Importance of Compliance for an Employer
• Making sure that all the rules are adhered to is very challenging for an employer, and there are some important issues that employers should be aware of in order to avoid sanctions by the Home Office. 

Most importantly, every employer must check that each employee has the right to work in the UK. Employers must request to see employers’ passports and any other documents (such as biometric residence permits or immigration status documents) that confirm their right to work. Copies of these must be kept on the employee’s file and be available for inspection by the Home Office.

These rules are in place to make it harder for people with no right to work in the UK to unlawfully gain or keep employment. The government is keen to deter employers from engaging illegal workers and has set the maximum fine under the civil penalty regime at £20,000 per illegal worker in addition to being able to trigger criminal prosecution.

For employers, this highlights the importance of checking what their obligations are when employing an overseas worker and adhering to those obligations.

If these employee checks are conducted according to regulations and the required copy documents are kept, an employer will avoid being fined. However, if an employer has been informed that the Home Office is going to impose a fine, that employer has the right to challenge it, in which case, professional legal advice is essential.