Can a Skilled Worker move to part-time hours without a new visa?

01 / Define the request

A 4 day week describes several different arrangements.

Compressing unchanged weekly hours into 4 days is different from reducing both hours and pay. Fewer hours at unchanged annual pay is different again. Start with the contractual hours, actual expected hours, qualifying annual salary, duties and work location before and after the change. A percentage or a label conceals too much.

The distinction also prevents an absence problem being disguised as a contractual one. A permanent part-time pattern is not the same as remaining contracted for 5 days while taking recurring unpaid leave. Existing UKIC analysis deals separately with unpaid absence and maternity or sick leave; neither is a general permission to reduce ordinary pay.

For a compressed week, test whether the employee will really work the agreed hours. A document showing fewer hours offers no protection if managers continue to expect the previous workload and working pattern. Record a workable arrangement rather than a calculation devised only to meet an immigration figure.

02 / Calculate actual pay

The going rate can fall while the annual floor remains unchanged.

Home Office caseworker guidance distinguishes the general annual threshold from the occupation going rate. The former is not pro-rated for part-time work. The latter is adjusted to the hours, using the relevant occupation table and any permitted percentage. Do not assume every occupation uses the same full-time basis. [1]

Illustration only: assume the applicable annual floor is £41,700 and the full going rate is £50,000 for 37.5 hours. Moving to 30 hours reduces that going-rate calculation to £40,000. An 80% salary of £40,000 still falls short of the assumed annual floor. Preserving the hourly rate has not preserved eligibility.

If the employer instead proposes £42,000 for those 30 hours, both illustrated salary figures are exceeded. That resolves the arithmetic, not the complete case: the existing salary option, grant history, qualifying remuneration and any other employment change still need examination. These assumed figures are not a universal threshold or a rate attributed to a particular occupation.

Appendix Skilled Worker governs qualifying remuneration and the going-rate calculation. It also tests pay actually delivered across specified periods. Do not build a compliant annual figure from discretionary bonuses or assume a year-end adjustment will repair earlier payroll failures. [2]

03 / Read the grant history

Eligibility under some salary option is not enough.

For an ordinary salary reduction during existing permission, sponsor guidance SK8 distinguishes remaining within the same salary points option from moving to another. Where no exception applies but a different eligible option is available, the sponsor must assign a new CoS and the worker must obtain successful permission before lower pay begins. [3]

The adviser should retrieve the last CoS, grant and supporting salary assessment. That is a different exercise from typing the proposed salary into today's recruitment calculator. Historical and transitional provisions may matter; the case should identify the actual provision rather than assume every existing worker is governed by the headline figure for a new recruit.

Part Suitability separately addresses cancellation where a worker no longer meets relevant salary or going-rate requirements, with specified exceptions. An employer's consent is not one of those exceptions. Conversely, a proposed reduction is not automatically a cancellation event if the applicable requirements and exceptions are satisfied. [4]

04 / Control the effective date

The SMS report belongs after the legal decision, not instead of it.

Sponsor duties guidance requires salary reductions and significant employment changes to be reported, normally within 10 working days. The record should state what changed and when, and distinguish the change from one requiring a new application. Retain the contract variation, assessment and payroll evidence together. [5]

Allocate responsibility before the variation is signed: HR owns the proposed terms and employment process; the immigration reviewer records the permitted basis and any application dependency; payroll receives a cleared effective date; the Level 1 User submits the appropriate report. A submitted SMS report does not certify that the calculation was right.

If new permission is required, distinguish assignment, submission and approval. None should be described internally as interchangeable milestones. Build the implementation date around the required legal event and explain to the employee why a payroll deadline cannot override it.

05 / Classify exceptions

A health-related reduction is not the model for ordinary flexible working.

A temporary health-related reduction or phased return has a specific route in the sponsor guidance, requiring occupational health support and protection of the applicable hourly rate. Qualifying statutory leave is another distinct category. An employee choosing fewer ordinary working hours should not be placed within either simply because doing so produces an easier salary answer. [3]

Where the facts genuinely involve health, leave or caring responsibilities, employment and immigration advisers should coordinate the classification and evidence. Do not use the immigration review to prejudge a flexible-working request or an adjustment obligation. Establish what is legally possible, then advise on the employer's separate obligations and available terms.

06 / Commission the right review

Ask for a conclusion on the proposed terms, not a generic eligibility letter.

A focused instruction should supply the current grant and CoS, occupation and duties, present and proposed hours, basic pay and other remuneration, reason for the change and intended date. Include any approaching extension or settlement application so that an arrangement lawful during existing permission is not mistaken for assurance about a later application.

The useful output is a reasoned conclusion: proceed and report; revise the terms; obtain new permission before implementation; or address an arrangement that cannot support continued sponsorship. Quastels can coordinate that assessment with the employer's HR and employment advisers. Advice cannot guarantee Home Office approval or give preferential treatment.

Practical questions.