Adjustments are being made to the provisions for care workers and senior care workers in response to the increasing number of workers in this sector who no longer have sponsorship. This is due to their sponsors being unable to provide enough work or having lost their sponsor licenses.
The changes mandate that sponsors must first attempt to recruit from this pool of workers who are seeking new employment before looking to sponsor new recruits from other immigration routes or abroad. To ensure compliance, sponsors must provide confirmation from the relevant regional or sub-regional partnership that they have made this effort and confirm that no suitable workers were available from this pool.
These changes apply only to care jobs based entirely in England. Applications for positions in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland are not affected. Additionally, the changes do not apply to workers in England who were already sponsored in these occupations before the changes take effect (including those changing employers), or to those switching from other immigration routes who have been working lawfully for their sponsor for at least three months.
Changes are being made to raise the minimum salary floor from £23,200 per year (or £11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per year (or £12.82 per hour). It is common practice to update this and other salary requirements across work visa routes annually, based on the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This ensures the salary requirements remain aligned with the current pay trends for UK workers. As the Government plans to publish an Immigration White Paper soon, these changes are limited to updating the minimum salary floor to reflect the latest ASHE data and ensure it remains well above the National Living Wage, which is also set to increase in April 2025.
The going rates for individual occupations in healthcare and education, where they are based on national pay scales, are also being updated to reflect the latest pay scales. Updates to the going rates for other occupations are being made solely to align with the new minimum salary floor of £25,000 per year / £12.82 per hour.
Changes are also being made to the rules regarding salary deductions. These adjustments are being made to:
Ensure consistency with how paid allowances for the same purposes are treated,
Prevent sponsorship costs from being passed on to applicants, and
Close an unintended loophole that allowed applicants to effectively contribute to their own salary by investing in their sponsor’s business.
Comments