Substantial Changes to Employment categories

Skilled Worker route

This Statement will implement significant changes to the Skilled Worker category, to be implemented from 4 April 2024. Some main changes are summarised below:

• the general salary threshold under Skilled Worker is being raised from £26,200 to £38,700 per year;
• individuals already in the UK in the Skilled Worker route who wish to extend their permission to stay will be subject to a lower general salary threshold  of £29,000 (up from the current £26,200) and will be subject to occupation going rates at the lower 25^th percentile level (as is the case under current rules);
• workers sponsored in Health and Care roles or occupations where going rates are set using national pay scales will also be subject to the lower £29,000 threshold; and
• all other existing Skilled Worker salary discounts, relating to holders of relevant PhD qualifications, new entrants to the labour market, and national pay scale occupations, are being retained but salary thresholds increased based on the latest UK earnings data.

Supplementary employment – widening range of roles

Skilled Workers are already permitted to undertake up to 20 hours per week of supplementary employment – that is, employment in addition to the main job they are sponsored to undertake – if that work is in the same occupation and at the same level as their main job, or is in a shortage occupation. The new Skilled Worker provisions will widen the range of supplementary employment that Skilled Workers can undertake to include any eligible role under Appendix Skilled Occupations (rather than the role needing to be in a shortage occupation or the same occupation as the main role).

Implementation date – 4 April 2024

The new Skilled Worker rules will apply to any applications where the migrant’s Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) has been assigned from 4 April 2024. Employers who wish to avoid being subject to these new rules and higher salary thresholds will need to assign CoS before 7pm on 2 April 2024.

Many sponsors have annual CoS allocations that expire around the end of the tax year on 4 April. Such sponsors should consider prioritising the renewal of their CoS allocations now so that they have an allocation available to assign to individuals in the weeks before these changes come into force.

Other work routes

Salary thresholds are also being raised across other work routes. Some examples are as follows:

• under the Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker route, the general salary threshold is being updated from £45,800 to £48,500, and going rates are being updated in line with the latest earnings data;
• under the Global Business Mobility: Graduate Trainee route, the general salary threshold is being updated from £24,220 to £25,410, and going rates remain based on 70% of the 25^th percentile, updated to the latest earnings data; and
• for the Scale-up route, the general salary threshold is being increased from £34,600 to £36,300, and going rates are being updated using the latest earnings data.

New occupation codes – shift from SOC 2010 to SOC 2020

Work routes such as Skilled Worker use the Office for National Statistics’ Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to classify occupations. The Home Office is implementing sweeping amendments to the Rules to update occupation data from the previous SOC 2010 system (currently in use) to the newer SOC 2020 system.

As a result, the classification of many skilled roles will change significantly. Sponsors will need to ensure they assign all CoS under the correct, newly defined occupation codes applicable to the relevant role to ensure that they remain compliant with Home Office sponsorship requirements.

Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, feel free to contact us: info@immigrationone.com