Absence, sickness and unpaid leave for sponsored workers: the 10-day and 4-week rules

Why absence is different for sponsored workers

For most employees, absence is an HR and payroll matter. For a sponsored worker it is also an immigration matter. The Home Office sponsors a job, not just a person, and extended absence, or a fall in pay, can mean the job you sponsored is not really happening. Two rules carry most of the weight: the 10-day rule for unauthorised absence and the 4-week rule for unpaid or reduced-pay absence.

Absence that is always permitted

Section S4.26 lists absences that do not count against the 4-week limit, even when they are unpaid or on reduced pay:

• Statutory maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental, adoption and neonatal care leave.
• Sick leave.
• Helping with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis.
• Taking part in legal strike or other industrial action.
• Jury service, or attending court as a witness.

So a sponsored worker who is off sick for three months on Statutory Sick Pay does not need a 4-week report, though you should keep the fit notes and absence record as evidence.

The 4-week rule for unpaid or reduced-pay leave

If a sponsored worker is absent without pay, or on reduced pay, for more than 4 weeks in total in a calendar year, for any reason not listed above, you must either stop sponsoring them or report the absence and explain why you want to continue (S4.19 to S4.22, C1.15). Examples include an extended unpaid trip home, a long sabbatical, or unpaid leave to deal with family matters abroad.

The 4 weeks is cumulative across the calendar year, January to December, and is based on the worker's normal working pattern (S4.21). For someone who works 5 days a week, 4 weeks is 20 working days. Two separate unpaid fortnights add up. Scale-up Workers are counted over the sponsorship period instead.

The practical risk is that unpaid days are spread across months and nobody adds them up. Record every unpaid day, by type, as it happens.

The 10-day rule for unauthorised absence

If a sponsored worker is absent without your permission for more than 10 consecutive working days, you must report it within 10 working days of the tenth day, even if you intend to keep sponsoring them (C1.19). The report should include:

• The date the absence began, and the date they returned if they have.
• What you did to contact them: calls, messages, letters to their home address, contacting their emergency contact.
• Whether you made any deductions from their pay.
• Whether you will continue to sponsor them.

Give their last known address, phone number and personal email (C1.17). Keep a dated note of every contact attempt. If the worker reappears with a good reason, such as a hospital admission abroad, record it; the report can say you will continue sponsoring.

Reduced pay that is not absence

If pay goes down for a reason other than absence, for example a cut in hours or a new pay structure, that is a salary reduction. It must be reported within 10 working days, and if the new salary no longer meets the route's requirements you must stop sponsoring (S4.29 to S4.31). Narrow exceptions exist, such as a phased return for health reasons supported by occupational health.

A good absence process for sponsored staff

• Record every day of absence with its type: sick, annual leave, unpaid, compassionate, unauthorised.
• Keep fit notes and return-to-work notes on file.
• Approve unpaid leave in writing in advance, and check the running total for the year before you approve.
• Start contact attempts on day one of an unexplained absence, and log them.
• Diarise the tenth working day of any unexplained absence, and the report deadline ten working days after that.
• Tell sponsored workers about these rules at induction, so they understand why you need to know about extended trips home.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Sponsor guidance part 2, sponsor a worker (section S4, absence and pay)
• GOV.UK: Sponsor guidance part 3, sponsor duties and compliance (sections C1.15 to C1.20)