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- Date:
- 8 June 2026
- Type:
- News
As immigration and sponsorship rules tighten and pay rates determine whether workers can be employed in the UK, a recently highlighted tribunal case has cast light on whether an employer can lawfully pay a sponsored worker more than a non-sponsored worker doing the same role.
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- Date:
- 28 May 2026
- Type:
- News
Immigration law specialists have welcomed a u-turn on Home Office guidance requiring employers sponsoring migrant workers to conduct right-to-work checks on anyone they "directly engage". In the past three months there have been three updates to the Home Office guidance about whom sponsors should conduct right-to-work checks on - the latest, published on 20 May, could bring much relief to employers with licences to sponsor workers.
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- Type:
- Employment law guide
The Home Office will assess skilled worker and global business mobility applications to ensure jobs are genuine and meet eligible role requirements. Companies must maintain compliance throughout the sponsorship period.
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- Type:
- How to
On 20 May 2026, the Home Office amended its guidance for sponsors, reversing previous guidance it had issued on 6 March 2026, which appeared to require sponsors to check the right to work of all workers they engage, including those they do not employ directly. The new guidance confirms that checks on workers who are not direct employees are only required if they are sponsored by the employer.
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- Type:
- How to
This guide has been reviewed and updated with further detail, including confirmation that permitted weekly working hours must not be averaged out and further detail on managing working hour restrictions for research students without clearly defined vacation periods.
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- Type:
- Quick reference
From 6 April 2026, employers must keep records that are “adequate” to show compliance with statutory annual leave and holiday pay entitlements, including carried-over leave.
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- Type:
- Legal timetable
Fees payable to the Home Office when recruiting and sponsoring foreign nationals increase on 8 April 2026.
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- Date:
- 16 January 2026
- Type:
- News
The government has dropped plans to make it a mandatory requirement for workers to sign up for digital ID to prove their right to work in the UK.
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- Date:
- 17 December 2025
- Type:
- Commentary and insights
Volunteers, agency workers, consultants, students, contractors - are there different requirements to consider when conducting right to work checks for different worker types?
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- Date:
- 17 December 2025
- Type:
- Commentary and insights
Conducting right to work checks can be a complicated business, with requirements varying depending on factors such as an employee's immigration status, nationality and start date, and mistakes proving increasingly costly as a result of a Government crackdown on illegal working.