Sponsored Worker Rights in the UK: What Employees Must Know — and What Employers Cannot Do

If you hold a Skilled Worker visa, your immigration status does not place you outside UK employment law. You have the same core rights as any other worker — and your employer has legally binding obligations they cannot sidestep simply because they hold a sponsor licence.

This post is for two audiences: sponsored workers who believe their employer is treating them unlawfully, and employers who want to understand their sponsor duties before a Home Office compliance visit finds out for them.

The Power Imbalance — and Why Employers Exploit It

One of the most widespread problems affecting sponsored workers is the deliberate weaponisation of immigration status. Workers are told — explicitly or by implication — that raising a grievance, refusing an unlawful instruction, or asserting a workplace right will put their visa at risk.

This is a tactic. It is also unlawful.

Your right to remain in the UK depends on compliance with your visa conditions — not on your employer’s goodwill. An employer cannot withdraw sponsorship arbitrarily as punishment for a worker exercising a legal right. If your employer is using your visa status as leverage in a disciplinary process, a grievance, or a pay dispute, that conduct may constitute unlawful detriment and should be treated as a legal issue, not an HR one.

Passing Sponsorship Costs to Workers Is Unlawful

The Home Office is explicit: the cost of a sponsor licence and Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) cannot be passed to the worker — not as a wage deduction, not as a loan to be repaid, and not as a sum clawed back if the worker leaves before an agreed date.

If your payslip shows deductions for a CoS fee or immigration administration charges, your employer is in breach of sponsor guidance. If your contract requires you to repay sponsorship expenses on departure, that clause is likely unenforceable — and may constitute an unlawful deduction from wages under the Employment Rights Act 1996. The worker also has a civil claim.

For employers, this is one of the most common and most serious compliance failures identified during Home Office visits. It can trigger suspension or full revocation of your sponsor licence.

Skilled Workers Can Change Employer Without Leaving the UK

If your employer is treating you unlawfully, you are not trapped. Skilled Worker visa holders can change employer mid-leave, provided the new employer holds a valid sponsor licence and issues a new Certificate of Sponsorship. You do not need to return home. You do not need to wait for your leave to expire.

Employers who tell sponsored workers otherwise — implying that leaving the job automatically ends the right to remain — are misleading them. Migrant worker employment rights in the UK include the right to move between licensed sponsors, and no employer can contractually override that. If you are considering a move, legal advice before you act is essential.

Salary Cannot Fall Below the Sponsorship Threshold

A sponsored worker’s salary cannot lawfully be reduced below the threshold specified on their CoS or the going rate for their occupation code — whichever is higher. If your employer has cut your pay, changed your hours, or removed allowances in a way that takes your earnings below that threshold, two consequences follow. You may have a claim for unlawful deduction from wages or breach of contract. And the employer is obliged to notify the Home Office — failing to do so is a separate compliance breach. In serious cases, a salary reduction can result in curtailment of the worker’s leave.

For employers: any material change to a sponsored worker’s salary or role must be reported via the Sponsor Management System. This is not optional.

Equality Act 2010 Protections Apply in Full

Nationality and race are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, and they apply to sponsored employees exactly as they do to any other worker. Sponsored employee discrimination can take many forms — differential treatment in disciplinary proceedings, being passed over for promotion on grounds of national origin, or creating a working environment in which immigration status is used as a source of exclusion.

Using a worker’s visa status as a threat during a grievance or disciplinary process may independently constitute unlawful detriment. These are skilled worker rights under UK employer obligations that sit entirely separately from the immigration framework — and they carry significant financial liability for employers who get it wrong.

Whistleblowing Protections for Sponsored Workers

If you report your employer’s sponsor compliance failures to the Home Office — for example, that they are charging workers for sponsorship costs or failing to report salary changes — you are making a qualifying disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA). Retaliation is unlawful. That includes dismissal, demotion, disciplinary action, or any threat to your immigration status. A whistleblowing claim does not require two years’ service.

What Employers Must Understand

The Home Office conducts both announced and unannounced compliance visits, and a single complaint from a worker can initiate scrutiny. Any of the practices described in this article — charging workers for sponsorship costs, failing to report salary changes, misleading workers about their right to change employer, or using visa status as a disciplinary tool — is grounds for licence suspension or revocation.

Revocation means you can no longer lawfully employ sponsored workers, and your current sponsored workforce faces curtailment of their leave. The operational and reputational consequences are severe. Compliance requires ongoing HR policies aligned with current sponsor guidance and a clear understanding of where employment law and immigration law intersect.

Get Legal Advice Now

For Sponsored Workers

If your employer is using your visa status as leverage, threatening to withdraw sponsorship in response to a complaint, deducting money from your wages for immigration costs, or telling you that you cannot leave — those are not HR problems to resolve internally. They are potential legal claims.

Call NA Law Solicitors — your rights do not expire with your leave. Our team advises sponsored workers on employment claims, discrimination, whistleblowing, and the immigration consequences of leaving a role. We are SRA regulated and treat every matter in strict confidence.

• Phone: 0203 524 5439
• Email: admin@nalawsolicitors.co.uk
• Website: nalawsolicitors.co.uk

For Employers

If you are unsure whether your HR practices comply with your sponsor duties — or if you have already received a Home Office request for information — contact NA Law for a compliance audit. Early advice is far less costly than a licence suspension.

• Phone: 0203 524 5439
• Email: admin@nalawsolicitors.co.uk
• Website: nalawsolicitors.co.uk

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. NA Law Solicitors is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. For advice specific to your situation, please contact us directly.