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03 Apr COVID-19: Tier 2 guidance update

Posted on April 3, 2020 in Working in the UK by
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On 3 April 2020, the Home Office updated its Coronavirus Guidance for Tier 2, 4 and 5 sponsors to add clarifications as to whether and by how much companies who have a sponsorship licence can reduce the salaries to their Tier 2 G and ICT migrant workers.

This update only applies to companies when they cannot pay the salaries of their sponsored employees due to the fact that they have temporarily reduced or ceased trading on account of the current COVID-19 crisis.

If a sponsor fits in the above category, they are allowed to reduce the pay of their sponsored employees to whichever is the lower of the following two options:

  • 80% of their original salary;
  • £2,500 per month.

 

However, the reduction of salary must be:

  • Temporary which means that the employees’ wages must return to at least the original level of salary once these arrangements have ended;
  • A company-wide policy to avoid redundancies and all workers, including both migrant workers and settled workers are treated equally.

 

What do these rules imply?

  • If a company is still trading as usual, they shouldn’t reduce the sponsored employees’ salaries;
  • The company cannot keep the salaries of settled workers at the original level and only reduce the migrant workers’ wages;
  • The requirement of keeping the salary at the appropriate rate is temporarily omitted.

 

What can a Tier 2 sponsor do now if their business is heavily impacted by the current situation?

  • The employees can take unpaid leave for less than 4 weeks. However, they are allowed to take unpaid leave for more than 4 weeks due to illness, isolations or inability to travel related to the coronavirus pandemic. In the latter case, the sponsor is not required to withdraw sponsorship;
  • Reduce the migrant workers’ salaries to 80% or £2,500 per month whichever is lower in line with the company’s policy applied to settled workers;
  • Place the migrant workers on the Job Retention Scheme.

 

Please note that the new guidance for sponsored workers and the Job Retention Scheme is different. Workers on the Job Retention Scheme are given a “paid leave” and cannot work while being furloughed, whilst in the guidance mentioned above, Tier 2 migrant workers still need to work but at a reduced salary and working hours, if necessary or they can be placed on unpaid leave.

The content of this article is for general use and information only. Since each case should be prepared on its own merit and in light of the constant amendments to the Immigration Rules, it is important to note that the information provided must not be relied upon unless Migra & Co has either given written consent or has been officially engaged in relation to a specific immigration matter. As a result, Migra & Co will take no responsibility for any damage, cost or loss resulting from relying on the information contained in this article, blog and website.