WARNING – Unannounced Home Office HR Systems Audits

We have recently been advised that the Home Office has changed its policy on how it approaches visits to Sponsor Licence holders to audit their HR Systems. Our understanding is that, in future, most visits by Home Office officials will be unannounced and therefore the Sponsor will not be told of the audit in advance. 

All Sponsors must operate appropriate HR Systems to comply with their obligations as a Sponsor and to ensure that they are appropriately monitoring and recording their migrant workers' activities. If a Sponsor’s HR Systems are not up to the standard required by the Home Office, this could compromise the Sponsor’s licence or result in penalties. 

Previously, the Home Office would notify a Sponsor in advance of the visit and would only rarely turn up unannounced. From experience, when the Home Office arranged visits in advance, this gave the Sponsor time to ensure that their HR Systems and worker records were up to date to avoid there being any problems or penalties. However, with this change in policy, that opportunity may no longer be available to the Sponsor. This means that all Sponsors will have to ensure they maintain a consistently high standard in the operation of their HR Systems at all times, in case the Home Office makes a visit.

Doyle Clayton offers both mock audits and HR Systems review to its clients. This has allowed a number of our clients to have their systems stringently checked, without the risk of losing their Sponsor Licence or incurring penalties. Given the change in policy to move towards making visits to companies without any form of warning, it is more important than ever to make sure that our clients are ready when the Home Office arrives. 

If you would be interested in a mock audit or would like to discuss your current HR Systems further, please contact a member of our dedicated Business Immigration Team.