Hiring foreign workers is often part and parcel of business operations.
For some businesses, it is a regular requirement based on filling an occasional shortfall in skills. For others, it is a regular seasonal requirement.
The eligibility criteria for hiring foreign workers in the UK work on a points-based system. There are several different types of visas employees can provide.
Before that, there is often also a unique recruitment process needed to find the right candidate.
Let's look at how the hiring process works, what requirements employers need to meet, and more.
The foreign worker landscape in the UK
Foreign-born workers are estimated to make up 18% of the UK's employed population.
For the past couple of decades, about 55% of foreign workers in the UK were born in the EU. 
Before the 2016 UK EU membership referendum, this number began declining. And now that Brexit has ended free movement between the UK and EU, it has fallen further.
(Free movement hasn't ended for workers from the European Economic Area or Switzerland that were living in the UK before 31 December 2020.)
It will be a surprise to many that visas to the UK in all categories are at an all-time high. This means that overall, there are more opportunities than ever to hire foreign workers in the UK.
However, this doesn't apply to all sectors. Madeleine Sumption, director of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, recently stated that: "ending free movement has made it harder for employers in low-wage industries to recruit staff".
Where are most foreign workers in the UK from?
Overall, Indian workers make up the highest proportion of recipients of UK work visas (21%), followed by Ukrainians (12%).
However, when you look at different types of visas, different demographic breakdowns emerge.
For example, Ukrainians make up the majority of seasonal workers (61%), whereas Australians make up the majority of Youth Mobility visas (25%).
What is the UK's point-based immigration system?
All UK foreign workers now need to meet the same requirements, regardless of where they are from (excluding Irish citizens, who have no visa restrictions).
Points-based immigration systems (sometimes referred to as 'merit-based systems') exist in many countries, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
As with other nations, the UK's system awards points for each requirement met. An applicant needs to meet a points threshold (70 points) in order to qualify for a visa.
30 of the 70 points are mandatory. These include:
- Having a job offer from an approved sponsor (see below, 'Get a sponsor licence')
- Speaking English to the required level
- A job being at the required skill level
Other requirements are labelled as 'tradable'. These depend on the current demand for certain kinds of work, which may change over time (see below, '1. Overcome labour shortages').
For more information on the points system, see this accessible government introduction to the subject.
Why hire foreign workers?
There are several reasons why businesses hire foreign workers.
These vary depending on the industry and the kind of roles involved. The below list covers most of these reasons.
1. Overcome labour shortages
The first category that often comes to mind for this is seasonal work (see below), especially in the agricultural industry.
However, labour shortages occur across many categories and industries, from IT to music and engineering to archaeology.
There are shortages in many kinds of seasonal agricultural work, but not all. In the poultry sector, for example, there are currently no shortages. (The government maintains a list of shortage occupations).
2. Fulfil specialised or general roles
Specialised roles might need to be filled by foreign workers because of their expertise, experience, or language.
Sometimes these skills are more likely to be held by foreign workers (especially if they are language-related).
The Home Office states that when domestic applicants are available, they should be favoured. So when there isn't a shortage for a particular role, the requirements for a foreign worker will be higher.
3. Create specialised roles
Companies looking to enter new markets often require in-house specialists.
In the long term, this can be cheaper and more efficient for them than hiring outside agencies.
By their very nature, in-house roles that support entry into new international markets (or foreign audiences within a domestic market) often require foreign workers.
4. Develop an international team
Companies with offices around the world will often like or need to transfer some staff between them.
This comes under the Senior or Specialist Worker visa (though formerly it was covered by the Intra-Company Transfer visa).
It comes with its own requirements, such as the worker having been employed by the company for at least 12 months (if they earn less than £73,000 per year).
Hiring foreign workers in the UK: The Process
If employers are looking to employ foreign workers in the UK, there are basic steps they must take.
1. Recruit foreign workers
Finding workers abroad isn't easy. In large part, it depends on where they are.
Using specialist recruitment agencies to find the best workers is often the simplest option. They are often familiar with UK immigration rules and processes, so can offer guidance.
Alternatively, if businesses find the right job posting website or platform, they can directly advertise to potential candidates.
This latter option may save some fees. However, different hiring regulations may apply if businesses are directly recruiting outside the UK.
2. Get a sponsor licence
If an employer wants to employ skilled workers from overseas, they first need to apply to the UK Home Office to secure a sponsor licence.
A sponsor licence is essentially Government authorisation for companies to employ people with non-settled status to work in the UK. Foreign workers with settlement status already have the right to work in the UK.
Before applying, businesses need to meet compliance requirements. These include issues around background checks on the worker, salary and skill requirements, and other employment provisions.
They must also pledge that they will be responsible for continued compliance with the sponsorship. Failure to meet and maintain requirements can lead to a civil penalty or even prosecution.
The Home Office provides the full 48-page document on its website.
How much does a sponsor licence cost?
A sponsor licence currently costs between £536 - £ 1,476. For the latest figures, please check the UK government's visa sponsorship for employers advice.
This cost varies according to two factors:
- What type of worker is needed (skilled, temporary, or agricultural)
- What type of organisation is applying (small or charitable pay less than medium or large sponsors)
This cost does not include the time and internal resources businesses need to invest in the process.
3. Provide a visa
If a business wants to hire foreign workers, it should first understand which visa options are available.
There are essentially two broad types of work visas businesses should think about: long-term and short-term. Each has several different sub-categories.
Below, we have detailed some of the visa types in more detail.
4. Pay your employees
Paying employees that are new to the UK quickly and efficiently can be difficult. As an employer, finding a suitable and practical way to pay employees from overseas can make a big difference to their productivity and financial wellbeing.
Long-term, skilled workers are highly likely to have their own banking arrangements. But short-term workers, especially seasonal ones, might struggle with this.
At OnePay we offer a fast, secure and accessible solution for paying wages to workers from overseas. Applications can be processed without the need for credit checks and accounts provide a multilingual portal and app for users to manage their money.
Visas for foreign workers
Visas may be seen by some companies as the biggest obstacle to hiring overseas workers.
They can take between 3 - 8 weeks to gain (presuming the application and associated documents have no issues). However, sometimes there are delays, such as when the Ukrainian refugee crisis led to waiting times reaching an average of 12 weeks.
Choosing the correct kind of visa is usually a relatively simple task. Below we've outlined the main options.
Short-term work visas
There are more kinds of short-term visas (sometimes referred to as Temporary visas) than there are long-term ones. They include Government Authorised Exchange visas, High Potential Individual (HPI) visas, Youth Mobility visas and more.
Overall, short-term visas made up over 22% of all UK work visas issued back in 2021.
Below, we've listed three of the most common kinds of short-term work visas.
Seasonal Worker Visa
Seasonal Worker visas enable overseas workers to work in the UK horticulture industry, which includes fruit and vegetable picking, for example.
Seasonal Worker visa holders can enter the UK up to 14 days before they begin work and stay for up to 6 months. They cannot take on second jobs or study at the same time.
Graduate Trainee visa
The graduate training visa enables graduates on training programmes for managerial or specialist roles to stay in the UK for up to 12 months.
Eligibility for this visa requires applicants to have worked for their sponsor company outside the UK for the 3 months immediately preceding their training programme.
Long-term work visas
Skilled Worker visa
The Skilled Worker visa (which replaced the Tier 2 Visa), is a visa for occupations that meet government criteria regarding salary and work type.
Skilled visas made up 63% of work visas issued in the UK in 2021.
It requires applicants to:
- Provide proof of identity
- Have the equivalent to the UK's Required Qualification Framework (RQF) Level 3 or above
- Have a job offer from a licensed sponsor
- Be able to speak English to a certain level (proved by a test)
- Earn a minimum salary threshold (often £25,600, but less for shortage industries)
Visit the government's overview of this visa for more information.
Health and Care Worker visa
Health and Care worker visas enable workers from overseas to work long-term in the NHS (or a recognised supplier) or adult social care.
The salary threshold for this visa depends on what kind of work is done, which varies greatly because of the range of different roles within healthcare.
Conclusion
Employing foreign workers often brings great benefits. They can fill roles for which there is a shortage of domestic talent, or create new ones that can help your business grow.
The EU used to provide over half of the UK's foreign labour force. EU citizens now make up a smaller - but still significant - portion of the total figure. However, this decline appears to have begun before the UK EU referendum in 2016.
Either way, all workers from overseas (except Irish citizens and EU nationals working in the UK before 31 December 2020) now have to meet the criteria of the new points system.
Employers need to gain a sponsor licence to offer overseas workers a job. Once they have successfully recruited the right person for the role, they need to meet the appropriate visa requirements with their job offer (these are usually based on skills and salary).
If businesses are employing workers on Seasonal Worker visas, setting up a way to pay them is an essential task. Foreign workers often find UK financial services difficult to understand and can fall victim to scams.
Looking for a salary payment method that can not only be set up quickly whilst offering workers support during their employment in the UK to promote their financial wellbeing and productivity? This is where OnePay can help.
