Hiring and Sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers (SOC Code 5413)

Tailors and Dressmakers, classified under SOC Code 5413, are skilled craftsmen and women who play a crucial role in the fashion and apparel industry. Their expertise encompasses a range of tasks related to garment creation and alteration, ensuring that clothing is both functional and stylish. 

• Customer Engagement: Takes customer’s measurements and discusses required style and material, ensuring a bespoke experience.
• Pattern Preparation: Prepares individual patterns or adapts stock patterns to meet specific client needs.
• Fabric Inspection: Examines fabrics or skins for flaws and prepares materials for cutting, ensuring quality in the final product.
• Cutting Techniques: Arranges the pattern on the correct grain of fabric, marks positions, and cuts out garment parts using hand shears, electric knives, or cutting machines.
• Fitting and Alteration: Pins, tacks, and fits garments on customers or dummy models, making any necessary alterations for a perfect fit.
• Sewing Skills: Sews garment parts together by hand or machine, makes buttonholes, and sews on fasteners and trimmings.
• Finishing Touches: Shapes the garment by pressing seams, pleats, etc., for a polished appearance.
• Custom Alterations: Makes alterations to finished garments according to customer requirements, ensuring satisfaction and comfort.

With the increasing demand for tailor-made clothing in today’s fashion landscape, many businesses are actively seeking talented tailors and dressmakers from abroad. This guide aims to assist HR professionals in understanding the process of hiring and sponsoring these essential craftsmen under the UK’s immigration system.

What is SOC Code 3411 for Tailors and dressmakers?

SOC Code 5413 refers to Tailors and Dressmakers who specialize in creating and altering garments to meet individual client needs. Their responsibilities can include:

• Taking measurements: Accurately measuring customers to establish the best fit for garments.
• Consulting on styles: Discussing desired styles and materials with clients to ensure satisfaction.
• Preparing patterns: Creating individual patterns or adapting existing stock patterns as per customer specifications.
• Examining fabrics: Inspecting materials for flaws and preparing them for cutting.
• Cutting fabric: Arranging patterns on the correct grain and cutting out garment parts using various tools, such as hand shears or cutting machines.
• Fitting garments: Pinning and fitting garments on customers or dummy models, making necessary alterations for the perfect fit.
• Sewing garments: Joining garment parts using hand or machine sewing, and adding buttonholes, fasteners, and embellishments.
• Finishing touches: Shaping and pressing the garment to ensure it meets the design specifications and customer preferences.
• Making final alterations: Adjusting finished garments according to client feedback and requirements.

Tailors and dressmakers play an essential role in fashion and personal styling, helping individuals express their unique identity through custom-made clothing.

Eligibility to Hire Tailors and dressmakers (SOC Code 3411)

1. Job Requirements

Tailors and dressmakers must possess a combination of technical skills and creativity to meet customer needs and produce high-quality garments. The requirements may include:

• Customer Interaction: Ability to take accurate measurements and discuss desired styles and materials with clients.
• Pattern Preparation: Skill in preparing individual patterns or adapting stock patterns based on customer specifications.
• Fabric Examination: Proficiency in examining fabrics or skins for flaws and preparing materials for cutting.
• Cutting Skills: Competence in arranging patterns on the correct grain of fabric and accurately cutting out garment parts using hand shears, electric knives, or cutting machines.
• Fitting Expertise: Experience in pinning, tacking, and fitting garments on customers or dummy models, with the capability to make necessary alterations.
• Sewing Techniques: Strong sewing skills, both by hand and machine, including the ability to make buttonholes, sew on fasteners and trimmings.
• Finishing Touches: Knowledge in shaping garments through pressing seams, pleats, etc., to ensure a polished final product.
• Alterations: Ability to make alterations to finished garments according to customer requirements and preferences.

Ensure the job description aligns with SOC Code 5413 and that the tailor or dressmaker’s experience and work meet the expectations for the role.

1. Salary Thresholds
2. Use the Minimum Salary Calculator to ensure your salary offer meets immigration requirements.

Sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers: A Step-by-Step Guide for HR Professionals

Once you’ve confirmed that the role and candidate meet the eligibility requirements, follow this step-by-step guide to sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers under SOC Code 5413.

Step 1: Obtain a Sponsor Licence

Before hiring non-UK Tailors and dressmakers, your company or institution must obtain a sponsor licence. This licence enables you to legally sponsor overseas Tailors and dressmakers under the Skilled Worker Visa program.

• Sponsor Licence Application: Submit documentation proving that your business is legitimate and has a genuine vacancy. Visit the sponsor licence application guide for more information. 
• Sponsor Licence Fees: Small businesses typically pay £574, while larger institutions pay £1,579. For more information, visit the sponsor licence fees guide. 
• Processing Time: Applications typically take up to 8 weeks, but using the Sponsor Licence Priority Service can reduce the processing time to 10 working days.

Once your sponsor licence is approved, you will receive a sponsor licence number, which allows you to assign Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS).

Step 2: Assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Once you have your sponsor licence, the next step is to assign a CoS to the Tailors and dressmakers. This document provides key details about the job and the individual being sponsored.

• Defined vs Undefined CoS: Use a Defined CoS for Tailors and dressmakers applying from outside the UK, and an Undefined CoS for those already in the UK. Learn more in the Defined & Undefined Certificates of Sponsorship guide. 
• Required Documents: Provide details such as the Tailors and dressmakers’s portfolio, passport and job offer. Refer to Documents Required for Certificate of Sponsorship for a full list of necessary documents.

Step 3: Apply for the Skilled Worker Visa

Once the CoS is issued, the Tailors and dressmakers can apply for the Skilled Worker Visa.

• Visa Fees: Fees vary depending on the role and visa length—use the visa fees calculator to estimate the costs. 
• Immigration Skills Charge: Employers are required to pay this charge as part of sponsoring non-UK workers. This is separate from visa fees.

Conducting a Right to Work Check for Tailors and dressmakers

Before the Tailors and dressmakers begins working, you must conduct a right to work check to ensure they are legally allowed to work in the UK.

• Manual Right to Work Check: Verify original documents such as the Tailors and dressmakers’s passport and visa. 
• Online Right to Work Check: If the Tailors and dressmakers holds an eVisa, you can use the UK government’s online system to verify their right-to-work status.

For more details on how to perform these checks, see the right to work check guide.

Post-Hiring Responsibilities and Compliance

1. Record-Keeping and Reporting  
2. • Record-Keeping: Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of the Tailors and dressmakers’s employment details, salary and contact information. 
   • Reporting Changes: Report any significant changes to the Tailors and dressmakers’s role—such as promotions or salary increases—via the Sponsor Management System (SMS).
3. Sponsor Licence Duties and Compliance
4. Failure to comply with your sponsor licence duties can result in penalties or sponsor licence revocation, impacting your ability to sponsor future Tailors and dressmakerss.

How Borderless Can Help with Sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers

Sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers under SOC Code 5413 can be a complex process, but Borderless can simplify it for you. We offer comprehensive support to help you manage the entire sponsorship process.

End-to-End Sponsorship Support

At Borderless, we assist with:

• Sponsor Licence Application: Guiding you through the application process and ensuring all required documents are submitted correctly. 
• Certificate of Sponsorship Assignment: Streamlining the CoS process to make hiring easier. 
• Compliance Management: Helping you stay compliant with immigration laws to avoid penalties.

If you need assistance with hiring or sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers, get in touch for personalised support.

Conclusion

Hiring and sponsoring Tailors and dressmakers under SOC Code 5413 can be a rewarding way to enrich the cultural landscape of your organisation. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can successfully navigate the sponsorship process while ensuring compliance with UK immigration laws.

For further guidance, Borderless is ready to assist you with all your sponsorship needs. Contact us for expert advice.