HMRC Payroll Checks on Skilled Worker Sponsors: What Workers and Employers Should Check

A salary on a Certificate of Sponsorship is a promise. Payroll records show whether an employer is keeping it. For sponsored workers, understanding the gap matters just as much as it does for the business running payroll.

Home Office sponsor guidance Part 2, version 10/26 sets the underlying sponsorship requirements. Alongside it, Birketts’ October 2026 immigration update reports that routine Home Office–HMRC data sharing is now standard practice following a pilot.

What payroll checks can reveal

Birketts identifies five areas where payroll data can flag possible non-compliance:

• Pay below the rate required for the visa or job.
• Unlawful wage deductions.
• Prohibited unpaid leave.
• Secondary employment exceeding the permitted 20 hours.
• Workers no longer employed by their primary sponsor.

These are warning signs to investigate, rather than proof that every lower payment is unlawful. The practical response is to reconcile payroll with contracts, attendance records and sponsorship reports. For the separate salary calculation rules, see our pay-period guide.

Reporting duties: where payroll and HR need to meet

Birketts also highlights missed reports about shift patterns or contracted hours, relevant absences and termination. A sensible internal process is to send any such change to the person responsible for sponsorship before payroll processes it.

Part 3 of the official sponsor guidance, section C1, normally requires reportable worker changes within 10 working days. Check the event-specific rule: unauthorised absence lasting more than 10 consecutive working days must be reported no later than 10 working days after the tenth day of absence. Ending sponsorship is also a reporting event.

For unpaid or reduced-pay leave, use Part 2, section S4. It normally requires sponsorship to stop after more than four weeks in a calendar year unless an exception applies. Maternity, paternity and sick leave are among the exceptions; reporting can still be required. Shorter unpaid or reduced-pay absences do not automatically need reporting. Do not treat every sick day as a sponsor report, or assume approved leave never needs one.

For small employers, a practical monthly review should bring together the payroll contact and the SMS user. Check changes to hours, pay, leave and employment status, then record whether a report was needed and when it was submitted. Our sponsor compliance guide covers the wider HR system.

Record revocations: what the figures actually say

In its 9 October 2026 announcement, the Home Office reported more than 6,600 sponsor licence revocations since the government came to power in July 2024. More than 4,400 were in the year ending June 2026, the highest level on record.

Those are overall revocations. The announcement does not say that all were caused by HMRC payroll checks, and they should not be presented as a count of payroll offences.

Practical checks for visa holders

Keep your contract, CoS details, payslips, bank payment records and explanations of leave or pay changes together. When reviewing them, ask:

1. Does gross pay match the agreed salary and hours? Compare gross pay with gross pay, rather than comparing a sponsored salary with the amount left after tax.
2. Does the payslip’s net payment match the money received? Ask payroll to explain any discrepancy in writing.
3. Can you explain each deduction? Keep evidence of any request to return wages or make a separate payment to the employer.
4. Are reduced hours or unpaid periods documented? Ask how the employer assessed the sponsorship implications.
5. Does your annual tax record agree with your payslips? GOV.UK explains that a P60 records tax on salary for the tax year, with a separate P60 for each job. Use it as a cross-check alongside the individual payslips.

These checks help you identify questions early; they are not a substitute for an assessment of the salary rules applicable to your visa.

If your sponsor loses its licence

The standard GOV.UK position is that the CoS is cancelled and permission is limited to 60 days, or the time remaining if shorter. You need a new visa application within that period or must leave the UK. Involvement in the reasons for revocation can lead to immediate withdrawal of permission.

Read the actual Home Office decision and get advice promptly. Our guides explain changing employer, a sponsor disappearing from the register and the specific care-worker revocation protections. Care workers should check those protections before assuming the standard position applies to them.

A new protection for recognised modern slavery victims

HC 584, APP SW2, effective 8 October 2026, introduced SW 18.3. A Skilled Worker referred through the National Referral Mechanism who receives a positive Conclusive Grounds decision during their most recent permission may have their work conditions amended to permit work for any employer, including self-employment and voluntary work, except professional sport or sports coaching.

The Home Office announcement describes this as freedom to take lawful work for the remainder of the visa. It depends on formal recognition and the applicable conditions; a complaint about an employer alone does not establish eligibility. Seek advice about having your conditions amended before relying on this protection.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check my employer’s sponsor rating?

Search our free Sponsor Directory, then confirm the organisation, route and rating against the current official register of licensed sponsors. Check the legal employer’s name rather than relying only on a trading name. Part 3 explains that a B-rated sponsor on an action plan cannot assign CoS to new workers, although some existing-worker extensions remain possible.

Can I take a second job to make up missing pay?

Do not assume that a shortfall changes your visa conditions. GOV.UK’s additional-work rules require you to continue the sponsored job and restrict the hours and eligible work. Get advice if your main employer has stopped providing work.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Check current Home Office guidance and take regulated immigration advice before acting on a pay dispute or a change to sponsorship.