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ARTICLE · 20 APRIL 2026

Salaries Under Scrutiny: Sponsors Face Increased Compliance Risk

Lewis Silkin
Lewis Silkin
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Lewis Silkin

Lewis Silkin

Joint managing partners: Jo Farmer, Richard Miskella International offices: Dublin, Hong Kong...

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The Home Office's April 2026 updates to Skilled Worker sponsor guidance introduce stricter salary compliance requirements and increased scrutiny through HMRC data cross-checking. Sponsors now face heightened risks of licence revocation for salary-related breaches, making it essential to understand permitted deductions, reporting obligations, and the new 'pay per period' rule. This analysis examines common compliance pitfalls and provides practical steps to minimize exposure to enforcement action.

United KingdomImmigration
Andrew Osborne
Andrew Osborne
David Ritchie
David Ritchie
Pip Hague
Pip Hague
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The Home Office's April changes to the Skilled Worker sponsor guidance confirm that the stakes are now higher for sponsors regarding salary compliance. The Home Office has re-emphasised that sponsors must understand and correctly apply the rules on salary payments. Compliance action is also more likely to be taken in practice because of data cross-checking between the Home Office and HMRC. In this article, we summarise the updated requirements, outline some practical pitfalls and make some suggestions for how to minimise risk exposure.

The Skilled Worker sponsor guidance was updated on 8 April 2026.

What does the new guidance say about salary compliance?

The updated guidance underlines that you as a sponsors must understand the rules on salary calculation, including:

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