Changing a sponsored worker’s job, pay, hours or workplace: report it, or make a new application?

The principle

A Certificate of Sponsorship describes a specific job. Small businesses change jobs all the time: people pick up duties, get promoted, move site, drop a day a week. For a sponsored worker, each of those changes falls into one of three boxes:

• No action needed.
• Report it to the Home Office within 10 working days, and carry on.
• The worker needs a new Certificate and a new visa application before the change takes effect.

Getting the box wrong in the third case is the dangerous one. A worker doing a job that does not match the occupation code or job description on their Certificate is a mandatory ground for revocation.

Changes that need a new application

GOV.UK says a Skilled Worker must apply to update their visa if they change jobs or change employer. In practice, a new Certificate and application are needed when:

• The worker moves to a different employer, including a different company in the same group, unless a TUPE transfer applies.
• The new role falls under a different 4-digit occupation code, in most cases. Section S9 of the route guidance sets out the limited exceptions, including some promotions.
• The worker is moving into a genuinely different job, even with the same code, rather than developing in their current one.

The worker can only start the new role once the application is made, and in some cases granted. Plan the timing before you announce the change.

Changes you must report within 10 working days

Section C1.15 and C1.44 list changes you report through the SMS without a new application:

• A significant change to the job that stays within the same occupation code: a new job title, a change to core duties, or a promotion that meets the conditions in the route guidance.
• Any reduction in salary below the figure on the Certificate, for a reason other than permitted absence. If the new pay no longer meets the salary requirements you must stop sponsoring (S4.29 to S4.31).
• A change to the worker's normal place of work: a different branch, a client site, or a new office (C1.21).
• Moving to permanent or contractual home working. A contractual home worker must be reported (C1.24 to C1.25).

Changes that usually need nothing

• A pay rise. Salary increases generally do not need reporting (C1.15).
• Ordinary hybrid working, where the worker still has a normal workplace and splits time between it and home (C1.24).
• Small changes to how the job is done that do not change its core duties.
• A change in reporting line or manager.

The hours trap

Cutting a sponsored worker's hours usually cuts their pay. If the salary falls below the Certificate figure, it is a reportable reduction, and if it falls below the threshold or the pro-rated going rate for their option, you cannot continue sponsoring. Check the numbers before agreeing a reduction in hours, even when the worker asks for it.

Duties that drift

The most common problem is not a deliberate change. It is a job that slowly becomes something else. A sponsored chef starts managing the front of house; a software developer ends up mostly doing customer support. Nobody decides to change the role, so nobody reports it. Ask managers once a quarter whether each sponsored worker's actual duties still match their job description, and act on the answer.

A decision checklist

• Is the worker moving to another employer? New application.
• Does the new job fit a different occupation code? Almost always a new application; check S9.
• Is the pay going down? Report it, and check it still meets the salary rules.
• Is the title or core duties changing within the same code? Report it.
• Is the normal workplace changing, or are they becoming a home worker? Report it.
• Is it a pay rise, hybrid working or a new manager? Normally nothing.

When in doubt, take advice before the change happens, not after.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Sponsor guidance part 3, sponsor duties and compliance (sections C1.15, C1.21 to C1.25, C1.44)
• GOV.UK: Sponsor guidance part 2, sponsor a worker (section S4, salary reductions)
• GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, update your visa if you change job or employer