The Home Office previously provided details of Business Immigration changes, which were due to come into force on 9 April 2025. The new rules are now in force, and the Home Office have released more practical guidance on the ‘care worker recruitment requirement’.
If you are a sponsor of care workers, read on as Partner, Alex Christen and Trainee Solicitor, Alexandra Jones provide guidance for recruiting under the new rules.
What is the ‘care worker recruitment requirement’?
This requirement was brought in by the Home Office to ensure that employers attempt to recruit from care workers that are already existing in the UK workforce before hiring overseas. Their aim is to reduce the dependence on overseas recruitment and support employees who are already in the UK care sector.
Recruiters of care workers must engage with their ‘regional care partnership’ and attempt to recruit from the ‘displaced worker pool’ before being able to sponsor a care worker to work in England. The regional care partnership is a regional or sub-regional partnership that aims to prevent and respond to exploitative employment practices in the international recruitment of workers. You can find details of your relevant regional care partnership here. The displaced worker pool is a list of workers held by the regional care partnership and meet the following requirements:
- Are in the UK;
- Were last sponsored as a skilled worker under occupation code 6135 (care worker) or 6136 (senior care worker) or the equivalent 2010 SOC occupation codes; and
- Require a new sponsor either because their previous sponsor lost their licence, their current sponsor is unable to provide work for them or they have been identified as requiring assistance in getting new sponsorship.
The care worker recruitment requirement will apply to a sponsor if:
- They wish to sponsor a care worker or senior care worker;
- They assign a Certificate of Sponsorship on or after 9 April 2025 to the worker; and
- The worker is outside the UK and will be working in England or, is in the UK and an exception does not apply.
The care worker recruitment requirement will not apply where the worker is in the UK and was last granted permission as a skilled worker under occupation code 6135 or 6136 – this applies where the sponsor is changing sponsor or continuing with the same sponsor. It will also not apply if the worker is already working for the sponsor as a care worker or senior care worker, with permission, for at least three months before the date of the application. However, these exceptions do not apply if the worker is outside of the UK. If an exception does apply, the sponsor will need to explain this when assigning the Certificate of Sponsorship to the worker. They can do this by either adding it in to the job description field on the form, or adding a sponsor note after the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned. If a sponsor fails to include this in the application, it may be refused.
Practical guidance for the care worker recruitment requirement
If the requirement applies, an employer must contact their relevant regional care partnership to be provided with details of displaced workers. They must then consider whether any of these workers are suitable for their role, which can be done by interviewing them or reviewing their experience and qualifications. The employer is responsible for assessing the suitability of a displaced worker and should retain evidence of how they did this.
What to do if you identify a suitable worker from the displaced worker pool
If a suitable worker has been identified and a decision is made to sponsor them, the sponsor must assign an Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship so that they can apply for permission to stay.
When the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned, the following statement must be included in either the job description field or in a sponsor note – ‘candidate has been recruited from the displaced worker pool’. If a sponsor fails to do this, the relevant worker’s application for permission to stay in the UK may be refused.
What to do if you don’t identify a suitable worker from the displaced worker pool
If a suitable worker is not identified and a decision is made to sponsor a worker from outside the pool (and they are not covered by an exception), the sponsor must ask the regional care partnership they have engaged with to provide confirmation to the UKVI that they have been contacted by the sponsor to obtain details of displaced workers. The Home Office will then record this information on their database. The name of the relevant regional partnership(s) and confirmation of not being able to identify a suitable worker from the displaced worker pool must be included when a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned or requested, or a Defined Certificate of Sponsorship is applied for. This can be included in the job description field of the Certificate of Sponsorship form or in a request for an additional Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship. The Home Office will check the information provided against the database.
If this is not included or the Home Office database confirms that a sponsor has not engaged with the regional care partnership, any application for a Defined Certificate of Sponsorship or a request for an Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship will be rejected. If a sponsor is found to have given false or misleading information about their attempts to recruit from the displaced worker pool, the Home Office are likely to revoke their licence.
New rules on taking loans into account when calculating minimum salary
On 9 April 2025 the minimum salary for skilled workers was increased to £25,000 per year. The Home Office confirmed that amounts taken from an employee’s salary, including the repayment of loans will be considered when assessing whether their pay meets the minimum salary requirement. However, the Home Office have not yet provided any further guidance in relation to this rule.
How can we help?
The new care worker recruitment requirement has increased the difficulty for sponsors to hire into vacant roles in the care sector. If you have any queries following the guidance or need assistance in applying the changes practically, please get in touch with our Business Immigration Team.
