Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and
Citizenship (): The Home Office is
committed to minimising abuse of the visa and immigration system
by unscrupulous employers. We are now setting out our first steps
to deliver on our manifesto commitment to ban rogue employers
from sponsoring overseas workers. We are setting out stronger
controls to prevent employers who flout UK employment laws from
sponsoring overseas workers, alongside going after those who show
signs of non-compliance. No organisation is above the law or too
big to fail.
For the first time, visa and employment laws will be brought into
close alignment which will ensure those who come to work in the
UK will have strong protections, especially in important areas of
our economy such as Adult Social Care.
The government will deliver legislation for the flagship Fair
Work Agency, ensuring fair and strong employment rights for all.
Through this legislation, we will ensure that any business found
guilty of serious employment law breaches, such as failing to
comply with National Minimum Wage, will have robust action taken
against them – up to and including having their visa sponsorship
licences refused or revoked. Alongside this, we are strengthening
powers to ensure the compliance of those on the register of
licenced sponsors.
Over the last 2 years, there have been a growing number of
allegations about sponsors seeking to charge workers for
sponsoring them, particularly in the care sector. Where these
charges are inappropriate, individuals can fall into work-related
debt and experience a significant amount of harm. To combat this,
we are now taking action to ensure that if a business wishes to
recruit internationally, they will be required to pay for
certificates of sponsorship, sponsor licences and the associated
administration themselves. This will end the intolerable practice
of recovering these costs from workers, which has led to the
exploitation and unfair treatment of staff, particularly care
workers who have been left in debt to their employers. These
rules will apply to the Skilled Worker route first and will be in
force by the end of the year. We intend to build on this in due
course, widening it to other sponsored employment routes.
This government is also taking robust action against businesses
that show signs of non-compliance such as committing minor visa
rule breaches. Current rules impose Action Plans on businesses
for only 3 months, but today we are committing to extending this
to up to 12 months. While these longer Action Plans are in place,
employers will be restricted in how they can use their licence,
including limiting or removing the ability to sponsor overseas
workers. If they do not comply with the Action Plan, fail to pay
for the plan or make the necessary improvements by the end of
their Action Plan, their sponsorship licence will be revoked.
We will take strong action against employers who do not comply
with the rules, where necessary revoking their sponsor licence.
We will strengthen this by making it harder for those with a
long-term record of noncompliance to return to the sponsor
register. The current penalties for breaking visa rules are too
weak, with all revoked businesses only facing 12 months of
sanctions - regardless of their track record. That is why we will
be introducing longer cooling off periods for businesses that
repeatedly flout these rules or commit serious immigration
breaches, barring them from applying for a sponsorship licence
over this period and therefore hiring overseas workers.
This set of new measures shows how seriously the government takes
maintaining the integrity of the visa and immigration system, and
ensuring those who would seek to abuse the system face strong
consequences. These measures are part of wider efforts to tackle
the root causes behind the UK's long-term reliance on
international workers and wider action to link migration policy
with skills and wider labour market policy. All those who work in
the UK deserve decent employment with decent employers - this
Government is working to ensure that happens.
