Employer Duties |
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 Employer Duties
In order to employ migrants in the UK, an employer will require a licence. No business will be granted a licence without being approved in advance by the UK Border Agency. Stage 1. Key Personnel A company applying to be a sponsor will need to allocate the following personnel:
The sponsor will need to allocate the following responsibilities to members of its staff, though a single individual can play more than one role. All of these people must be based in the UK. The UK Border Agency may make checks on any of these people before granting a licence. These will include checks against our own records and against the Police National Computer, and will, as a minimum, be made against the Authorizing Officer and Level 1 User The Key Contact is the person who will act as the main point of contact between the UK Border Agency and the Sponsoring organisation. The key contact will be the person who will be called upon if there are any queries with the application form, the documents submitted or the payment which accompanies the application form. If the Authorizing Officer does not wish to act as the Key Contact then another person within the organisation must be appointed to this position. They will also act in a liaison role with the UK Border Agency for Account Management or Compliance purposes. The Authorising Officer (AO) The AO is responsible for the sponsor licensing application, and for ensuring that the sponsor meets all its duties under the PBS. The sponsor will be held fully responsible for the actions of the AO. This is an important role, and needs to be fulfilled by a responsible, honest and competent member of staff. The Authorising Officer must be based in the UK and must be a permanent member of the sponsor's staff. He or she should not be a contractor, consultant who is being contracted to undertake a specific project, or an agency member of staff. Import A sponsor's representative, i.e. Universal Migration cannot act as its AO and an un discharged bankrupt cannot act as the AO. The AO will be responsible for the activities of anyone acting on behalf of the sponsor to issue Certificates of Sponsorship (COS). This includes both employees of the organization and external representatives. Any non-compliance will result in appropriate account management or compliance activity being carried out which may result in sponsors losing their licence or being given a B-Rating. Stage 2 Documents Needed: You will need the following documents for a licence application for the new Points Based System: The Primary Documents (Mandatory) Organisations latest Audited Annual Accounts with the name of the Accountant clearly shown. Secondary Documents (Minimum 5 of below mentioned documents)
Duties of a sponsor; Record Keeping Duties: All sponsors must keep the following records or documents, and make them available to officials of the Border and Immigration Agency on request: A photocopy or electronic copy of each of the sponsored migrant’s passport or UK immigration status document (and, in time, his or her ID card), showing evidence of his or her entitlement to work or study For employers this is in line with the responsibilities laid down for them by Regulations made under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Each sponsored migrant’s contact details (address, telephone number, mobile telephone number). These details must be updated as necessary. Reporting Duties All sponsors must report any migrant worker not turn up on his first day of work. This must be provided within 10 days must include a reason for his/her non attendance, such as missed flight etc. If a migrant worker is absent from work for 10 or more working days without the sponsors reasonably granted permission, they must be reported within 10 days of the 10th day of absence. If the migrant workers (MW) contract has been terminated, (resigns or dismissed) report within 10 working days. If the sponsor stops sponsoring the migrant worker i.e. if the worker switched to another category of immigration. Any significant changes to the workers working conditions. Any suspicions that the migrant worker may be breaching the condition of his employment. If there are any substantial changes to the Sponsors circumstances. Details of any third party or intermediary that has assisted in the recruitment of the migrant employee. The Sponsor must also give the police any information where they suspect that the worker may be engaging in any terrorism or criminal activity. Complying with the Law Sponsors must ensure that a migrant who is coming to work is legally entitled to do the job in question and has the appropriate registration or professional accreditation where this is legally required. For example, if the migrant is coming to work as a doctor, the sponsor will need to ensure that he or she has the correct registration to entitle him or her to practice as such in the UK. The sponsor must keep a copy of any appropriate registration document or certificate, and supply it to the Border and Immigration Agency on request. The sponsor has a duty not to employ a migrant if the conditions on the migrant’s leave (or the migrant’s lack of leave) mean that he or she is not allowed to undertake the work in question, and to stop employing any migrant who ceases, for any reason, to be entitled to undertake the work. Sponsor must only issue certificates of sponsorship to migrants who, to the best of the sponsor’s knowledge and belief, will meet the requirements of the tier or category of PBS under which the certificate is issued, and are likely to comply with the conditions of their leave. The requirements and conditions of leave are set out in the immigration rules. For further information please contact one of our immigration advisors.
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