Skilled Worker redundancy: notice, sponsor reporting and the 60 day position

A worker may remain employed and sponsored while a proposed redundancy is being consulted upon. The role may be retained, an alternative may be identified or the eventual termination date may remain undecided. Reporting a possible outcome as if it had already occurred would make the sponsor record inaccurate.

The sponsor should nevertheless begin the immigration analysis at the outset. The worker's current permission expiry, Certificate of Sponsorship end date, contractual notice, proposed last working day and any dependent family members determine how much practical room is available if redundancy is confirmed.

Employment and immigration decisions should therefore run in parallel. A fair employment process does not answer the sponsor-reporting question, and an immigration timetable should not be allowed to dictate an artificial employment position.

Where notice is worked, sponsored employment ordinarily continues while the worker performs the sponsored role. The position may be less straightforward where duties, hours, salary or workplace change during the notice period, because those changes may carry their own reporting or route consequences.

Garden leave describes an employment arrangement, not an immigration exemption. Whether sponsorship can properly continue depends upon the actual contract, the continuing employment relationship, pay, the reason the worker is not performing duties and the sponsor's genuine position. There is no published Home Office rule stating that every period labelled garden leave preserves sponsorship until its contractual end.

A payment in lieu of notice may bring employment to an earlier end even though the worker receives a sum representing the notice period. A settlement agreement cannot, by wording alone, convert compensation into continuing sponsored employment. HR, employment advisers and the sponsor team should identify the legal and factual end date before the agreement is signed and the SMS report is made.

An employer does not cancel a Skilled Worker's permission. Under Part Suitability, the Home Office may cancel permission where sponsorship is withdrawn, where the worker ceases employment or where the worker ceases to work. The use of “may” matters: cancellation is a Home Office decision, not an automatic legal consequence taking effect at the redundancy meeting.

The Home Office guidance states that the burden is on the Home Office to show that a ground for cancellation applies. It should normally give the person an opportunity to respond, although the process and effective date depend upon the facts and the information available.

The period between termination and a cancellation decision should not be treated as unrestricted permission to work. The person's existing conditions remain relevant, and the former sponsored role has ended. A new employer and new role ordinarily require a fresh Certificate of Sponsorship and an application to update Skilled Worker permission.

Home Office cancellation guidance says that where the reason is not the applicant's fault, for example because of the sponsor's actions, the person should normally be allowed 60 days to find a new sponsor. That is guidance concerning the effective date of a cancellation decision. It is not a separate immigration status granted by the employer and it does not ordinarily run from consultation, dismissal or the final salary payment.

Where permission is cancelled to 60 days, the period is calculated from service of the decision. An email decision is treated as served when sent; postal service is calculated under the service rules described in the guidance. If the existing grant expires sooner, the Home Office cannot extend it merely by cancelling it to a later date.

The outcome remains fact-sensitive. The guidance permits immediate cancellation in appropriate circumstances and says the position depends upon why sponsorship was withdrawn and whether the worker was at fault. A worker should therefore act from the moment redundancy becomes likely and should not wait for a cancellation notice before seeking a new route.

A Skilled Worker changing employer must ordinarily obtain a new Certificate of Sponsorship and apply to update their permission. The new role must satisfy the occupation, skill, salary and other requirements applying to that application; eligibility does not carry across merely because the previous sponsored role was compliant.

An application can be made up to 3 months before the proposed start date. Official guidance permits the worker to continue in the current sponsored job, including working out notice, while an in-time application is pending. It also says that the worker should not start the new job until confirmation of the new permission has been received.

The change should be planned around the new sponsor's licence, allocation and recruitment timetable. Where another route may be stronger, such as Global Talent, a partner route or an application based on private or family life, the requirements and timing should be compared rather than treating replacement sponsorship as the only possible answer.

Part Suitability permits dependent permission to be cancelled in line with the main applicant. A redundancy plan should therefore identify each family member's permission, expiry date and any independent basis on which they may remain. The main applicant's next application does not automatically update a partner or child's permission.

Travel can create additional risk while a new in-country application is pending. Official Skilled Worker guidance warns that an application to update permission will be withdrawn if the applicant travels outside the Common Travel Area before a decision. Urgent business or family travel should be settled before the filing timetable is fixed.

Redundancy does not necessarily erase lawful residence already accrued towards settlement. It can, however, affect whether the person can make a valid future application and satisfy the current sponsorship and salary requirements at that date. The settlement objective should be considered before choosing between a hurried replacement role and a different long-term route.

The working record should begin with the proposed redundancy and end with the new permission, another lawful route or departure. It should identify consultation dates, decision, termination method, contractual and actual end dates, final payroll, sponsorship report, current permission expiry, any Home Office notice and every application deadline.

For the employer, the record supports an accurate SMS report and later compliance scrutiny. For the worker, it establishes when they first became aware of the position, what permission remained, when any cancellation notice was served and what action was taken.

The strongest process assigns responsibility early. HR settles the employment facts, the sponsor team controls the immigration record, payroll confirms the financial treatment and the worker receives a clear statement of what has and has not happened to their permission. Ambiguity between those functions is where avoidable risk develops.