25 Malayalee care workers’ future uncertain as care home’s sponsorship licence suspended

By A Staff Reporter

LONDON March 31: Twenty-five Malayalee healthcare workers are left in a state of uncertainty as the care home they work for in London has had its licence to sponsor workers from abroad suspended by the Home Office. The suspension is a result of an ongoing investigation into allegations that the care home was breaching migrant worker rules.

For healthcare workers, the risk of losing their job can arise from someone else’s wrongdoing. For instance, if a care home commits an error due to non-compliance with immigration rules or if another healthcare worker reports the care home for any breaches, their licence may be revoked.

In this case it is reported that it was another healthcare worker who reported the care home management to the Home Office for breaking the rules at the care home.

This, in turn, affects all the other migrant healthcare workers in the care home. As these care workers’ COS cannot be renewed by the care home upon expiration, and therefore they are compelled to find employment with another care home or with the NHS or return to their home countries.

The care home is appealing the decision next week and as there are investigations ongoing we haven’t published the name of the care home.

People in the UK who lost their sponsorship will be sent a letter by the Home Office asking them to leave the country within 60 days. 60 days is a very short notice for a family to arrange departure as it could unsettle their children’s schooling, lead to loss of rent or deposit, furnishing costs, air ticket and relocation costs. (Sign Petition to extend this for One Year)

Reports say more care homes are being investigated with the most recent in March 2024, being Support Services First Choice Limited being investigated by the UK government. The revoking of the licence for this firm was reported by The Times. Another report said that there are more than 100 social care businesses who have lost their licence to recruit. Guardian reported that the Home Office granted 275 care worker sponsorship visas after ‘forged’ application

Two recent High Court decisions highlights how precarious is for the staff working within those firms which has had their sponsorship licence revoked.

Two care homes were targeted for compliance visits in the last couple of years by the Home Office and resulted in their sponsor licences being revoked for failure to meet duties as a sponsor licence holder.

Both cases involved care homes who challenged decisions by the Home Office to revoke their sponsor licence.

In Prestwick Care Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Home Office found a significant number of breaches, including evidence workers were not carrying out the role indicated in their visa application, workers being incorrectly told they were not eligible for sick pay, and evidence that the care home was trying to claw back visa fees from workers improperly. The care home argued that the court should consider the adverse impact of the loss of the licence on their employees and the wider community, but were unsuccessful. The court blamed their ‘lack of rigour’ and found that the Home Office was entitled to revoke the licence as the care home ‘could not be trusted to comply with its duties as a sponsor’.

In Supporting Care Ltd, R (On the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the claim was successful but only as one breach remained at issue by the time the case came to court. The court found that the revocation of the licence was disproportionate in light of the negative impact it had on the business and clients.

In the eyes of the Home Office, sponsorship is ‘a privilege not a right’ and it expects licence holders to adhere to certain record-keeping and reporting duties. These include keeping accurate records of right-to-work documents and contact details, ensuring workers have the requisite skills to do the job they are sponsored to do – and reporting if they leave a job early.

Non-compliance can lead to significant consequences for employers and employees. Sponsors need to take extra care when stating job descriptions on certificates of sponsorship. For example, the Home Office can revoke a care home operator’s sponsor licence if they find that a healthcare worker had only been fulfilling 6 out of the 8 duties listed on their certificate of sponsorship. The Home Office can and will check these. If they find a problem, they will revoke sponsor licences affecting all the migrant workers they are sponsoring.

Thousands of care workers find themselves in challenging situations with an uncertain future. Job loss leaves them with the daunting task of securing new employment, an increasingly difficult prospect, or facing departure from the UK with lingering debts incurred to facilitate their journey.