How does redundancy affect sponsored employees in the UK?

Recently, many well-known global organisations, most notably in the tech sector, have been making cuts to their workforce.

Redundancies are always a deeply worrying time for anyone affected. It may cause additional anxiety for sponsored employees, because workers will be worried about their ongoing ability to work in the UK and whether they will be forced to leave the UK. In this blog, we take a look at how redundancy affects sponsored employees.

Consequences for the employees

Sponsored migrants can be made redundant in the same way as non-sponsored workers, as long as the employer follows the correct process. Employment law advice should be sought to ensure the process and all outcomes have been arrived at fairly and in a non-discriminatory manner.

If a sponsored employee is made redundant, the employer must report the end of the employment via the online sponsorship management system (SMS) within 10 working days of the last date of employment.

Once a sponsored worker’s employment terminates before the visa end date, the worker’s right to work in the UK ends on the last day of employment, even if there’s still months or years left on the visa. The end of sponsored employment means the clock starts running for the worker to seek new employment that can be sponsored to avoid having to leave the country. They have to find new sponsorship within 60 days of their last day of working.

Until new immigration permission is granted, the individual cannot work in the UK. They don’t need the decision by that date. In many cases, Priority or Super Priority processing can expedite the processing to a week or one to two business days respectively from biometric appointments.

Employers should ensure they keep all documentation relating to the redundancy process and SMS notifications on the employee’s file.

Alternative solutions

The employer may be able to find an alternative position in the organisation for the sponsored worker. If the role is sufficiently similar enough to the current one, only an update on job title and duties (if applicable) via the SMS will be required. If, however, the job title and description changes to such a degree that the assigned government job code changes, a new visa application will be required. The new job must still meet all relevant requirements of the sponsored visa.

It may be possible to keep the sponsored worker employed by reducing their contracted hours and/or pay. The employer needs to ensure that any reductions do not cause the salary to fall below the minimum required by the visa category or job code, whichever is the higher. This change will also have to be reported via the SMS within 10 working days

Another alternative for the employee may be to check if their circumstances have changed to such an extent that they may qualify for a different type of visa. For example, have they entered into a qualifying relationship with a British or EU national, an ancestry visa holder, or even another sponsored worker? This would mean they could become a dependant on their partner’s visa and would no longer require sponsorship.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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