Skilled Worker Visa: What to Do If Your Sponsor Is Not Providing Work or Not Paying You

What Your Sponsor Is Legally Required to Do

A Skilled Worker visa is issued on the basis of a specific job with a specific employer who holds a Home Office sponsor licence. The Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) issued to you specifies your role, your salary, and the terms of your employment. When the Home Office grants your visa on the basis of that CoS, it does so in reliance on the accuracy of those terms.

The Sponsor's Core Legal Obligations

Under the Immigration Rules and the Home Office's sponsor guidance, your sponsoring employer has specific obligations toward you as a sponsored worker. They must: pay you the salary stated on your Certificate of Sponsorship for the hours stated; assign you to the role and the duties specified on the CoS; not make deductions from your salary except those permitted by law; maintain your employment throughout the period of your sponsorship; and report changes to your employment status through the Sponsor Management System.

The Employment Contract Obligation

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, every employee has a right to receive a written statement of particulars commonly called a written employment contract or statement of employment within two months of starting work. Failure to provide this is itself an actionable breach, as was found in the Shaji case, where the tribunal awarded a separate remedy for the company's failure to issue a contract.

The Duty to Provide Work

The question of whether an employer has a legal duty to actually provide work as opposed to simply paying wages has been clarified by Employment Tribunal jurisprudence. Where a worker is ready, able, and willing to work and the employer fails to provide work, the employer cannot escape liability by arguing they did not technically withhold pay. The Shaji tribunal found precisely this: the claimant was owed wages for the period during which he was available to work but given no shifts, not merely for periods when he was actively employed.

Your Visa Conditions: The 20-Hour Restriction and Why It Matters

The Critical Restriction That Traps Workers

A Skilled Worker visa ties you to your sponsoring employer. You may work for a second employer for up to 20 hours per week in an eligible role — but you cannot simply leave your sponsor and work for someone else full-time without a new visa. This restriction is what makes the Shaji scenario so harmful: workers are legally prevented from earning a full-time income elsewhere while waiting for a sponsor who provides no work. 

What You Can and Cannot Do on a Skilled Worker Visa

You can work for your sponsoring employer in your sponsored role. You can work up to 20 hours per week for a second employer in the same or a higher-level occupation code, or in a shortage occupation. You cannot work full-time for a different employer without obtaining a new Skilled Worker visa sponsored by that employer. You cannot be self-employed. You cannot work in a role that is significantly different from the one on your CoS.

The Immigration Consequence of Working Without Permission

Taking unauthorised employment working for an employer who has not sponsored you, or exceeding the 20-hour limit is a breach of your visa conditions. It can result in curtailment of your visa and affect your ability to make future immigration applications in the UK. However, being forced into this position by an unscrupulous sponsor who refuses to provide work is a mitigating factor that the Home Office should be made aware of in any subsequent application. 

Immediate Steps: What to Do Right Now

How to Change Employers on a Skilled Worker Visa

Changing employers on a Skilled Worker visa is not a simple internal transfer. It requires a completely new visa application. However, it is a realistic and manageable process if done correctly and within the required timeframes.

Step 1: Find a New Sponsor

Your new employer must hold a valid Skilled Worker sponsor licence. You can verify this on the Home Office's public register. The role must be at RQF Level 6 (degree-level equivalent) or above, and the salary must meet the current threshold £41,700 per year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher, for new applications from July 2025.

Step 2: Obtain a New Certificate of Sponsorship

Once a new employer has agreed to sponsor you, their Level 1 User must assign you a new Certificate of Sponsorship through the Sponsor Management System. The CoS will specify your new role, salary, and start date.

Step 3: Apply for a New Skilled Worker Visa

You must apply for a new Skilled Worker visa before your current visa expires or within the 60-day grace period if your current sponsor's licence has been curtailed or revoked. The application is made online through the UKVI portal. You cannot start working for the new employer until the new visa is granted.

The Costs

The cost of a Skilled Worker visa application falls primarily on the employer the Immigration Skills Charge (now £1,320 per year for large employers following the December 2025 increase) is the employer's legal obligation and cannot be passed on to the worker. The visa application fee itself may be paid by either party depending on the employment agreement, but the CoS fee legally cannot be charged to the worker.

What Happens If Your Sponsor's Licence Is Revoked

If Your Sponsor's Licence Has Been Revoked: Act Within 60 Days

When a sponsor licence is revoked, the Home Office sends a curtailment letter to sponsored workers reducing their remaining leave to 60 days. This is not the end of your ability to remain in the UK but you must act within that 60-day window. Do not wait.

The 60-Day Grace Period

The 60-day grace period runs from the date the curtailment letter is served, not from the date of the revocation itself. During this period you remain lawfully in the UK. You can: apply for a new Skilled Worker visa with a new sponsor; switch to a different eligible visa route; or make arrangements to leave voluntarily. The 60-day period cannot be extended. Allowing it to expire without action means you become an overstayer.

Can You Bring a Tribunal Claim After Revocation?

Yes. The revocation of your sponsor's licence does not affect your right to bring an Employment Tribunal claim for unpaid wages, holiday pay, or other employment law breaches. Your employment law rights as a worker in the UK exist independently of your immigration status. The Shaji case was decided in the Employment Tribunal not the Immigration Tribunal precisely because wage claims are a matter of employment law, not immigration law.

Reporting the Sponsor to the Home Office

Where a sponsor has acted abusively failing to provide work, suggesting illegal cash-in-hand arrangements, or otherwise exploiting a worker's visa dependency this should be reported to the Home Office. Reports can be made through the Home Office's anonymous reporting line. Evidence of exploitation is taken seriously and can accelerate the Home Office's compliance investigation against the sponsor.

Bringing an Employment Tribunal Claim for Unpaid Wages

If your sponsor has failed to pay you wages to which you were entitled including wages for periods when you were available to work but not given shifts you may bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal for unlawful deduction from wages under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

What You Can Claim

You may be entitled to claim: unpaid wages for the period you were available but not given work (as in the Shaji case); unpaid holiday pay; a remedy for failure to provide written particulars of employment; compensation for breach of grievance procedures; and in some cases, additional awards for failure to comply with Acas early conciliation or tribunal orders.

The Time Limit

Employment Tribunal claims for unlawful deduction from wages must be brought within three months (less one day) of the last deduction, or within three months of a series of deductions ending. Before issuing a claim, you must submit an Acas Early Conciliation notification this pauses the limitation clock. Do not delay. The three-month limitation period is strictly enforced.

Acas Early Conciliation

Acas Early Conciliation is a free pre-claim process during which Acas attempts to facilitate a settlement between you and your employer before the case reaches the Tribunal. You must contact Acas before submitting your claim form (ET1). If conciliation does not result in settlement within the conciliation period, Acas issues a certificate which you include in your ET1 submission.

Recruitment Fee Claims

Mr Shaji paid £17,000 to recruitment agents before arriving in the UK. The charging of recruitment fees to overseas workers is prohibited under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the UK's obligations under the International Labour Organisation's Forced Labour Convention. Where recruitment fees were charged, this should be reported to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and may form the basis of a separate civil claim.

What the Shaji Case Means for Sponsored Workers

The Shaji tribunal decision is significant not because it established new law the right to wages for work you were ready to do has existed for decades but because it confirmed that those rights apply fully to Skilled Worker visa holders, regardless of their immigration dependency on the employer who is breaching them.

The decision also confirms that the combination of a Skilled Worker visa's 20-hour secondary employment restriction with an unscrupulous primary sponsor creates a particular form of vulnerability that the Employment Tribunal will not ignore. Workers in this situation are not powerless but they must act, document carefully, and seek both immigration and employment law advice simultaneously.

The Work Rights Centre's chief executive, Dora-Olivia Vicol, stated following the decision that thousands of workers have paid money to recruiters only to arrive in the UK and be ghosted. The Shaji case will not be the last of its kind and the legal framework for addressing it is clearly established.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I be deported if my sponsor stops providing work?

Not immediately. Your visa remains valid until its expiry date or until a formal curtailment letter is issued. However, if your sponsor's licence is revoked, a curtailment letter will reduce your remaining leave to 60 days. You must act within that period.

Can I resign and find a new sponsor without losing my visa?

Not without a new visa in place. You must apply for a new Skilled Worker visa with your new sponsor before leaving your current one, or within the 60-day grace period if your current sponsorship has been curtailed. Leaving your current employer without a new visa or curtailment period puts your lawful status at risk.

What if I cannot find a new sponsor within 60 days?

If no new sponsor can be found within the 60-day curtailment period, you must consider other visa routes for which you may be eligible, or leave the UK voluntarily. Overstaying has serious consequences for all future UK immigration applications. Seek legal advice immediately do not allow the 60 days to pass without taking a definitive step.

Does bringing a tribunal claim affect my immigration status?

No. Employment Tribunal proceedings are a civil matter. They do not trigger any immigration enforcement action. Your immigration status depends on your visa, not on whether you have raised a complaint against your employer.

What if I paid recruitment fees to get my job, can I recover them?

Potentially. The charging of recruitment fees to workers is prohibited in the UK and under international law. You should report the fee charging to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and take legal advice on whether a civil claim against the recruiter or employer is available.

My employer suggested I take cash-in-hand work. Should I?

No. Cash-in-hand work is almost certainly a breach of your visa conditions. It also removes the paper trail that would support an Employment Tribunal claim. Document the suggestion carefully as the Shaji tribunal showed, it is powerful evidence of the employer's bad faith.