Summary: Employment Rights Act 2025 & Home Office Inspection Readiness Webinar
This webinar addressed the critical intersection of employment law and immigration compliance following the March 2026 sponsor guidance updates. Watch video or read summary below
Key Changes from the March 2026 Sponsor Guidance
Authorising Officer Personal Duties Authorising Officers must now personally read and track sponsor guidance updates this responsibility cannot be delegated to HR, compliance teams, or external advisers. AOs must also log into the SMS monthly.
New Worker Rights Notification Duty Sponsors must inform sponsored workers of their UK employment rights and retain evidence of having done so (signed acknowledgments, contracts with rights sections, onboarding materials). This is now an Appendix D recordkeeping requirement.
"Eligible Role" Replaces "Genuine Vacancy" The Home Office now assesses whether a role is appropriate for the organisation's size, business model, and scale—not simply whether the job exists.
Salary Must Be Correct Every Pay Period No averaging across the year. If a sponsored worker's pay falls below the required level in any single pay period, this is a breach.
Paid Breaks Included in Weekly Hours When calculating hourly rates against salary thresholds, paid breaks must be factored into total weekly hours.
Lower Threshold for Enforcement The Home Office can now act on reasonable suspicion rather than waiting for a proven breach. Licence revocation can occur even for unintentional breaches.
Employment Rights Act 2025 Interactions
The webinar explored how ERA provisions create immigration reporting triggers:
Guaranteed hours – Offering increased hours may require CoS updates and salary recalculations
Day-one unfair dismissal rights – Terminations must still be reported within 10 working days
Zero-hours restrictions – Variable-hours workers present heightened compliance risk
Fire and rehire restrictions – Restructuring affecting sponsored workers requires both ERA compliance and Home Office reporting
The Fair Work Agency's information-sharing powers with the Home Office mean ERA breaches can quickly escalate into immigration compliance investigations.
Practical Steps Covered
Brief your Authorising Officer on their personal, non-delegable duties
Implement a worker rights notification system with documented evidence
Reconcile hours and salary for every sponsored worker (including paid breaks)
Conduct a mock audit to stress-test your processes
Establish a guidance tracking system so the AO stays current
Coming Soon: Full-Day Compliance Workshop
Building on this webinar, we are hosting a full-day workshop designed to help you implement these requirements in practice.
The workshop will include:
Deep-dive sessions on each compliance area
Practical exercises to audit your current processes
Workbooks with checklists, templates, and step-by-step guides
Downloadable resources including worker rights notification templates, AO briefing packs, salary reconciliation spreadsheets, and mock audit frameworks
This is a hands-on session, you'll leave with the tools and documentation you need to demonstrate compliance at your next Home Office inspection.
Details on dates, venue, and registration to follow.
Email marketing@tulia.org.uk if interested to attend this workshop and be the first.
