UKVI has issued version 10/26 of ‘Workers and Temporary Workers: Sponsor a Worker’ guidance, effective immediately. The 150-page document codifies several significant policy shifts: 1. Cost-shifting ban: sponsors that attempt to recuperate Certificate of Sponsorship fees or the Immigration Skills Charge from sponsored workers will face mandatory licence revocation. 2. Right-to-Work expansion: from 1 October 2026 the statutory scheme covers non-traditional employment relationships such as platform work and certain gig-economy arrangements. 3. Modern slavery safeguard: Skilled Workers identified as victims of modern slavery can now change sponsors without meeting usual salary thresholds, effective today. 4. Administrative changes: the Level 2 user role in the Sponsorship Management System will be phased out by March 2027; sponsors must migrate permissions. What HR needs to do now • Audit employment contracts and deduction policies to ensure no immigration fees are clawed back. • Update onboarding checklists to capture expanded right-to-work evidence for contractors. • Plan for SMS role restructuring well before the March 2027 deadline. Failure to comply could not only trigger licence loss but also significant civil penalties under the newly revised Part Suitability rules.
Source: Home Office – GOV.UK
