Being a Sponsor Licence holder allows you to recruit from the overseas talent pool for your UK-based company. As a licenced Sponsor you are obligated to follow certain rules and regulations as set out in “Sponsorship: Guidance for Employers and Educators“. This includes reporting relevant information regarding corporate changes and restructuring. If you fail to comply with Sponsor Licence compliance, the Home Office can downgrade or revoke your licence.
One aspect of your responsibilities, which can prove to be a complicated process is ensuring corporate changes and restructuring are reported on your licence. As your Sponsor licence is non-transferrable, it can be confusing to accurately account for corporate changes, mergers and acquisitions.
Acquisitions
As a sponsor, you must keep your company information up to date on the SMS platform. Relevant reporting should be done on the Sponsor Licence if the company has been sold or is undergoing corporate changes and restructuring.
If your company has been sold, or a significant number of shares and asset are changing hands, you should make your Sponsor Licence dormant. You may need to transfer employees that you are currently sponsoring over to a new Sponsor Licence. This will protect their visa status and right to work in the UK. Failure to do so will mean migrant workers are not meeting the conditions of their leave, and also means you are failing to comply with your duties and responsibilities as a Sponsor. Consequently, the Home Office can revoke your Licence and potentially cancel employee’s permission to stay in the UK.
Other changes within the company that you need to report during the course of the licence’s lifetime include:
- Changes to your Authorising officer’s details
- Changes to the company’s details
- Any changes to the size of your company
- You must also report if the nature of your business significantly changes.
Mergers & linking new entities
If your company is merging with another, your Sponsor Licence needs to reflect these changes. To ensure this, you can add or link an entity on the SMS platform by Adding Branches if the entities are linked by way of common ownership.
The Home Office must be notified of a company merger or partial takeover as part of your obligations as a sponsor. This needs to be reported within 20 working days, and you may be required to submit additional evidence.
TUPE or Similar Arrangements
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of employment), also known as TUPE, will protect your sponsored workers’ rights during corporate restructuring. As a result, they do not need to apply for new immigration permission if their role and responsibilities remain the same.
For more information regarding keeping up to date with compliance, visit Sponsor Licence Audits & Compliance
You can contact us at [email protected] to employ our services regarding Licence compliance and reporting.