What Records Do I Need to Keep for Employees on Skilled Worker Visas?

As of the 1st of January 2021, firms hoping to employ EU workers will now need to apply for a sponsor license in order to employ workers from any country outside of the UK or Ireland. This is because Freedom of Movement from the EU has now ended and these workers are required to apply for entry clearance under the same system as non-EU nationals.

For many companies this will be their first time holding a sponsor license and the duties can seem overwhelming, with serious consequences for even innocent mistakes. One of the most common areas where sponsors are likely to run into trouble is the requirement to keep extensive records for their sponsored workers.

In this article we will provide a brief summary of the document keeping requirements, but there are many other complex aspects to sponsoring overseas workers.

The following is a summary of the documents which you must keep for all sponsored workers. It is not intended to be exhaustive or a replacement for consulting the official immigration rules, which can be located in Appendix D.

We highly recommend you take professional advice when sponsoring overseas workers, as non-compliance can result in your license being revoked, which then results in all sponsored employees losing their right to work for you and indeed to remain in the UK. You may also struggle to become licensed again in the future with a history of non-compliance.

You must keep the following records, and be aware that the Home Office has the right to inspect them so you should ensure they can be accessed easily if requested. You may also be required to keep some other records not listed here depending on your individual circumstances.

• Records of the migrant’s absences, which may be kept electronically or manually.
• Copy of their current passport and both sides of the BRP card. This can be a hard copy or a scanned copy in a format which cannot be manually altered, such as a jpeg or pdf document. You should keep the copies securely for the duration of the person’s employment and for a further two years after they stop working for you. You should also be able to produce these document copies quickly in the event that you are requested to show them to demonstrate that you have performed a right to work check and retain a statutory excuse. You must also make a note of the date on which you conducted the check. This can be by either making a dated declaration on the copy or by holding a separate record, securely, which can be shown to us upon request. This date may be written on the document copy as follows: ‘the date on which this right to work check was made: [insert date]’ or a manual or digital record may be made at the time you conduct and copy the documents which includes this information.
• A history of the migrant’s contact details to include UK residential address, telephone number and mobile telephone number. This must be kept up to date with any changes to these details.
• Copies of the migrant’s payslips, clearly showing the name, NI number, tax code, any allowances paid, and deductions made
• A copy of any contract of employment or for services, or a written statement of employment particulars, between the sponsor and the migrant which clearly shows the names and signatures of all parties involved, the start and end dates of the contract, details of the job the migrant has been contracted to do and an indication of how much the migrant will be paid.

We offer assistance with record keeping and compliance as part of the ongoing support we offer for the duration of your sponsor license, should you instruct us to manage it. If you will be sponsoring migrant workers we advise you take professional advice. Get in touch on 01403 801 801 or at [email protected] for more information about how our experts can help you with all aspects of the license process including application and ongoing compliance.