- Civil Society
Employer responsibilities when a sponsored worker leaves
Understand your responsibilities when sponsorship ends, including when to report, what details to provide, and how to stay compliant.
Does a worker leaving always need to be reported?
Yes. If you are no longer sponsoring a worker, you are required to notify the Home Office.
This applies regardless of how the employment ends, including where a worker resigns, is dismissed, made redundant, or simply does not take up the role. The key point is whether the sponsorship is ending earlier than stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship not the reason behind it.
What circumstances can lead to sponsorship ending?
Sponsorship will usually come to an end where the worker is no longer employed in the sponsored role or no longer requires sponsorship.
This could include situations where the role itself no longer exists, or where the worker moves onto a different immigration status. If the worker is staying within the organisation but changing roles, this should be reviewed carefully to determine whether a new application or further action is needed before the new role begins.
How quickly do employers need to act?
Once sponsorship has ended, employers are expected to notify the Home Office within 10 working days.
Delays can create compliance issues, particularly where there is no clear explanation or record of why reporting was not completed on time.
How do you notify the Home Office?
Reporting is done through the Sponsor Management System (SMS).
In practice, this involves updating the worker’s record to confirm that sponsorship has ended and providing relevant details, such as the final working date and a brief explanation of the circumstances. You can use the report migrant activity function in the Sponsor Management System. The information submitted should be clear and consistent with your internal records.
What information should be recorded internally?
Employers should be able to demonstrate a clear audit trail showing what happened and when.
This will usually include:
- The worker’s final working date
- The reason employment ended
- Any relevant correspondence or HR documentation
- Existing contact details and right to work records.
Accurate record-keeping helps ensure that reporting is consistent and can be evidenced if requested.
What happens if the worker is moving into another role?
If the worker is remaining within the business but taking on a different role, this should not be treated as a simple departure.
Instead, employers should assess whether the new role requires a fresh application or whether it can be managed as a reportable change. This assessment should be completed before the worker starts the new position.
Accurate record-keeping helps ensure that reporting is consistent and can be evidenced if requested.
What are the most common compliance risks?
Issues typically arise where employers:
- Miss the 10 working day deadline
- Assume certain types of departures do not need to be reported
- Fail to keep clear records of the worker’s leaving date
- Do not update the Sponsor Management System at all.
These are straightforward requirements, but they are also commonly flagged during compliance checks.
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FAQs for Employer responsibilities when a sponsored worker leaves
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If the visa is refused or withdrawn, can we get the Immigration Skills Charge back and how long do refunds take?
You get a full refund of the Immigration Skills Charge if the worker’s visa application is refused or withdrawn, or if it is successful but the worker does not come to work for you. Other scenarios which lead to a partial refund are outlined in the guidance (for example, the worker leaves early).
Refunds are usually issued within 90 days of specified trigger events, for example, the Certificate of Sponsorship expiry, if unused, or the refusal or withdrawal date, with additional rules where an administrative review is involved.
Please note that for specified Health and Care visa roles, the refund process differs and has quicker processing times. -
How long must we keep sponsor records and can they be kept electronically, and can compliance visits be unannounced?
Appendix D outlines that you should keep sponsorship documents as paper copies or electronically, with no prescribed storage method, but you must be able to make them available on request when asked to do so by the Home Office. It also sets a baseline to keep documents throughout sponsorship and until the earlier of 1 year after sponsorship ends or the date a compliance officer examined and approved them.
Separately, Home Office compliance-visits can be announced or unannounced, and post-licence visits may be triggered by intelligence, volume trigger points, joint operations or action-plan checks.
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