Health & Social Care – a glimpse into sponsorship with international recruitment

A sponsor licence allows organisations to sponsor workers from overseas who wouldn’t otherwise have the right to work. With the licence comes several duties which sponsors are often unaware of or do not take as seriously as they should.

A recent report from the Work Rights Centre has found that with increase in approved Skilled Worker Licences, there have been flaws and even exploitation by some licence holders. The survey found that 1 in 14 licence holders had breached its obligations and, in some cases, this had resulted in overseas recruits being subjected to extreme hardships, once they are in the UK. The Home Office has taken note and brought in steps to minimise mis-utilisation of granted sponsor licences.

The genuineness of a vacancy has always been a crucial requirement to be met for Skilled Worker sponsors. However, the Home Office has now started requesting evidence to demonstrate an existing genuine vacancy when a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) request is submitted. Very recent observations confirm that for Sponsor License Applications within the Health and Care(H&SC) sector, the Home Office is often reverting to organisations requesting for such evidence of genuineness at the pre-licence application stage.

In addition, there has been a notable increase in compliance visits by the Home Office, pre-licence. It is clear the Home Office is taking more stringent steps from an early stage to ensure organisations granted licences are trusted and found suitable to comply with duties and responsibilities on being a sponsor.

There has also been an increase in compliance visits for licence holders and some of these have resulted in suspension or even revocation. Such decisions have a substantial impact and ripple- effect for the health and care community, it’s clients and employees, holistically. Huge number of individuals are dependent on services of care providers and organisations to lead their daily life, considering the NHS confronting challenges, due to shortage of staff.

It is essential that those organisations with a sponsor licence or those considering applying for one are aware of their obligations as a sponsor and or employment rights and obligations more generally so as to ensure compliance.

RWK Goodman LLP’s Immigration Team have cumulated experience of years to assist organsiations with compliance so as to avoid the risk of suspension or revocation of a licence or curtailment of leave for migrants. Some recommendations are as follows:

• Regarding internal recruitment, if third-party assistance is taken in initial stages, do ensure to work with organisations listed in the latest ‘Ethical Recruiters’ list: Ethical recruiters list | NHS Employers;
• At later stage when DCOS is assigned to an overseas individual, to ensure it is shared with the individual directly and not via any agency or any recruitment company;
• Assessment of overseas recruits to be done effectively and an offer is made to suitable candidates with the required skills and experience only. For example, someone being sponsored as a Senior Care Worker should be suitable to take the role and carry out the full duties of the role. They should not be downgraded to a Care Worker, due to lack of competence;
• Sponsors should be aware of steps to be taken when there is substantial change in their organisational structure/ownership, post grant of sponsor licences or if there is any merger or acquisition.
• Sponsors must have systems and processes in place to meet sponsor duties such as record keeping and reporting.
• Appropriate steps to be taken within a given timeline to ensure compliance.

Our Immigration Team provides the following assistance specially for the sector:

1. Training on: Compliance, Right to Work (RTW) checks, Ethical Recruitment;
2. Mock Compliance audit for Sponsor Licence holding organisations followed with a written report of findings and suggestions;
3. Level 1 user: To execute duties of a Level 1 user as an organisations Legal Representative on their Licence, thus ensure the Sponsor has support and can be at substantial ease regarding compliance.
4. General Immigration advice on queries including assistance with Certificate of Sponsorships [both DCOS and Undefined COS].
5. Individual applications of sponsored migrants applying form overseas or in UK.