Last week, for the first time in the history of the Royal College of Nursing, nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike. Another day of action is planned for tomorrow on 20 December 2022, and there may well be more to come should the talks fail to progress. The healthcare sector has seen difficulties in recruitment for some time, and over the last 2 years, the government has attempted to promote the migration of medical and care professionals to the UK through the Health and Care Worker visa, which was introduced in August 2020. Nurses who have come to the UK on this visa may now be wondering whether taking part in the strikes will have an impact on their immigration status. Sponsors, who are required to report certain unauthorised absences, may also be concerned as to what this means for their duties. This blog will provide an outline of what the Health and Care Worker visa is, and the impact that striking may have on workers and sponsors alike.
The Health and Care Worker visa allows medical practitioners to come to the UK to work for the NHS, an NHS supplier, or to undertake a role in adult social care. Successful applicants can stay in the UK for up to 5 years, with the possibility to extend or apply for settlement, providing certain criteria are met. All applicants must be a qualified doctor, nurse, healthcare professional or adult social care professional, and must have sufficient knowledge of English and a job offer from an eligible employer. The Home Office provides a list of the roles, which can be sponsored, including pharmacists, speech and language therapists, dental practitioners and podiatrists. Any role, which is not on this list, cannot be sponsored under the Health and Care Worker visa. In February 2021, responding to pressures on the care system, the Home Office added care staff to the list of eligible roles for the Health and Care Worker visa. Care jobs are now also capable of being sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route, which is beneficial for sponsors working in the healthcare industry but who do not qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa licence.
Perhaps surprisingly, care workers are not included on the Healthcare and Education Shortage Occupation List (HESOL), which is devised by the Home Office and lists the roles for which there are chronic vacancies in these two sectors. While care workers are not included on the HESOL, they are included on the general Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which is relevant to the Skilled Worker visa. This is beneficial as the minimum salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa route is £25,600 or the ‘going rate’ for the relevant role, whichever is higher. The benefit of being listed as a shortage occupation is that while a minimum salary threshold must still be met, the baseline can be reduced by up to 20%.
One benefit of the Health and Care Worker visa is that all applications are fast-tracked, meaning there is a 3 week turnaround from the date that biometrics are given, compared to the general visa processing timeframe of 8 to 20 weeks. It is also one of the cheaper visas, costing from £247 to £479 depending on the length of stay, with an exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge. Additionally, the Home Office has set up a specialist support team to assist with application enquiries.
Only certain employers are eligible to provide sponsorship on the Health and Care Worker route; the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, an organisation providing adult social care, or a person employed by, engaged by or registered with a particular regulatory body, such as the General Medical Council or the General Optical Council. Any employer looking to sponsor an individual on the Health and Care Worker visa must first apply for a Sponsor Licence. For small or charitable companies, this costs £536 for 4 years of sponsorship and for larger companies; the application fee for a sponsor licence is £1,476. Employers may also have to pay the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) to sponsor an individual and the amount payable will be subject to their size. For small or charitable organisations, this is £364 for the first year and then an additional £182 for every following 6 months; and for medium or large sponsors, the ISC fee is £1,000 for the first 12 months of sponsorship and then £500 every 6 months thereafter. Sponsors must always assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to any sponsored worker, which costs an additional £199.
Holding a Sponsor Licence comes with a host of responsibilities, including but not limited to reporting reductions in sponsored employees’ salaries and unauthorised absences to the Home Office. However, the Home Office has confirmed that a temporary reduction of pay as a result of legal strike action will not impact the overseas worker’s immigration status, and does not need to be reported. Normally, sponsors must withdraw sponsorship of any employee who is absent for more than 4 weeks, consecutively or cumulatively. Where these absences are due to the employee taking part in industrial action, this rule will not apply. However, this makes it crucial that all sponsored employees who plan to strike inform their employer of their intention to do so. Failure to communicate the reason for the absence could have very serious consequences.
If you hold a Health and Care Worker visa and you would like to discuss your rights, or if you are a sponsor and wish to discuss your duties, or have any other questions relating to Immigration Law, please contact our specialist Immigration team on 03330 430350. At Thorntons, we have extensive experience of all aspects of the sponsorship process, and will be happy to assist with any enquires you may have.
