FAQ

The Worker Licence is divided into four different categories :

• Skilled Worker
• Intra Company Transfer
• Sportsperson
• Minister of Religion

Your company will need to apply for a Worker Sponsor Licence to be able to hire overseas staff. You will need to show that your business is trading in the UK and has genuine need for skilled positions.
You will need to provide evidence that you are a genuine organisation in the UK. Some acceptable documents include:

• Business bank statement (mandatory for Start-ups)
• VAT certificate
• HMRC letter showing PAYE reference number and accounts office reference
• Employer’s liability insurance certificate, at £ 5 million minimum coverage
• Lease agreement or evidence of ownership of your premises
• Organisation chart
• You will also require a letter from your company confirming why you need a Sponsor Licence.
• Once you have gathered your supporting documents, you will be in a position to submit your online application form and pay the fee for the sponsor licence.

The fees to obtain a sponsor licence are as follows:
Small or charitable sponsor

• To apply for a Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor licence simultaneously, you will have to pay £536.
• If you apply to add a Worker licence to an existing Temporary Worker licence, there is no fee.
• If you apply Temporary Worker licence to an existing Worker licence, there is no fee.

Medium or large sponsor

• To get a Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor licence simultaneously, you will have to pay £1476.
• To get a Worker licence, you will have to pay £536.
• If you apply to add a Worker licence to an existing Temporary Worker licence, you will have to pay £940
• If you apply to add Temporary Worker licence to an existing Worker licence, there is no fee.

The “Register of licensed sponsors: Workers” the list of UK organisations and businesses who have been approved as Sponsors by the Home Office, under the Worker and Temporary Worker categories.
When your Licence is approved your name will appear in the list as an approved Sponsor.
On the register, you can find the following details –

• Name of the company
• Location of the company
• Category of Worker Visa, which a company can sponsor
• The sponsor’s rating

A Sponsor Licence number is a unique reference number or code which is assigned to a Sponsor Licence holding employer. If you are a Worker or Temporary worker, you can check your company’s Sponsor Licence number on your Certificate of Sponsorship.

The Sponsor Licence is valid for 4 years from the date of approval. The Sponsor can apply to renew their licence if they would like to continue to sponsor migrant workers.

From 1 January 2021, employers wanting to sponsor EEA nationals will need a Sponsor Licence. The same applies if you wish to sponsor NON-EEA nationals.

You will need access to your Sponsor Management System (SMS). You will then need to access the relevant section “Renew your Sponsor Licence” and pay the relevant fee depending on the size of your organisation.
When renewing the Sponsor Licence you should also have had an internal audit on your HR systems, to ensure you continue to meet the duties as a Sponsor. This will assist you in the event you were to be visited by a Compliance Officer following the renewal of your Sponsor Licence.
To know more about the renewal of a sponsor licence, check Tier 2 Sponsor Licence Renewal.

As above, applying for Sponsor Licence costs between £536 and £1,476, depending on the size of your organisation.
Certificate of Sponsorship Assignment for a Worker – £199
Certificate of Sponsorship Assignment for a Temporary Worker – £21
Immigration Skills Charge (Skilled Workers and Intra-Company Transfers):
For a small or charitable sponsor, the Immigration Skills Charge is £364for the first year and £182 for each additional six months. So the cost of sponsoring someone for five years would be £1,820.
For a medium or large sponsor, the charge is £1,000for the first year and £500 for each additional six months. The cost of sponsoring someone for five years would be £5,000.

These are regulations which arise out of the European Agency Workers Directive. They came into force on 1 October 2011 and give temporary agency workers the right to the same pay and working conditions that they would have been entitled to had they been directly employed into the same role by the hirer. These are regulations which arise out of the European Agency Workers Directive. They came into force on 1 October 2011 and give temporary agency workers the right to the same pay and working conditions that they would have been entitled to had they been directly employed into the same role by the hirer.

All temporary agency workers including those employed through umbrella limited companies. Workers who are genuinely self-employed, such as some single person personal service companies, are excluded.

If you are already in a temporary agency role when the AWR come into force, the qualifying period will start on 1 October 2011. For all temporary workers starting assignments on or after 1 October 2011, the qualifying period will start on the first date of your assignment. Note that under certain circumstances the qualifying period will be paused.
Type of absences that affects the 12 week qualifying period

-Where there is a break in an assignment for whatever reason of less than six weeks.
-Certified sickness absence – this pauses the clock for up to 28 weeks.
-Annual leave.
-Seasonal shutdowns.
-Jury service – pauses the clock up to 28 weeks.
-Industrial action.
-In the case of pregnancy/maternity-related absence or paternity, maternity, adoption leave the clock carries ticking throughout the absence or statutory protected period as if the temporary agency worker was at work.

Upon completion of 12 calendar weeks within the same role with the same hirer, you will be entitled to the same amount of paid holiday as if you had been directly recruited by the hirer for the assignment. You are already entitled to the statutory minimum paid holiday of 5.6 weeks per year (which will be calculated pro rata depending on the proportion of the holiday you work). Under AWR you will also be entitled to any contractual paid holiday over and above the statutory minimum which you would be entitled to if the hirer was to engage you directly.
Under the working Time Regulations statutory, paid holiday cannot be rolled up into a single pay rate but must be paid separately in addition to your pay rate. However under the AWR any additional contractual paid holiday entitlement can be rolled up into your pay rate.

Firstly, if you are pregnant you will need to notify Michael Page in writing of that fact. We will then notify the hirer, who will conduct a workplace risk assessment with a view to removing any risks. If removing the risks or making an adjustment is neither possible nor reasonable, the hirer will then notify Michael Page and we will endeavor to find you suitable alternative work. In the context of office based work we consider the likelihood of this to be low. Furthermore, after completing a 12 week qualifying period the agency worker will be allowed paid time off for antenatal medical appointments and antenatal classes during the assignment. Evidence must be provided to confirm such appointments.