Getting Sponsored Worker Pay Right: NMW, Travel Time, Sleep-ins and the April 2026 Changes
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Getting pay wrong for a sponsored worker isn't just an employment law problem. It's a sponsor licence problem. If a worker's pay dips below the relevant salary threshold in any single pay period, the Home Office now treats that as a compliance failure. And with the April 2026 National Minimum Wage increase, the margin for error just got smaller.
Travel time, sleep-in shifts, and overtime that isn't properly recorded are where most sponsors trip up. Not because they're underpaying deliberately, but because payroll calculations for sponsored workers involve rules that don't apply to the rest of the workforce.
In this 45-minute session, Matthew Bond (CEO, Borderless Immigration) and Lul Salah (Lead Immigration Advisor, Borderless Immigration) walk through the pay rules that apply specifically to sponsored workers, what changed in April 2026, and how to make sure every pay period passes both an HMRC and a Home Office check.
What you'll learn:
- How the April 2026 NMW increase affects salary thresholds for Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visa holders
- The rules around travel time, sleep-in shifts, and on-call hours, and when these count towards the salary threshold
- Why per-period salary compliance means your payroll process needs to change, not just your annual budget
- How to build a pay audit process that catches underpayments before the Home Office does
Who should attend: HR Directors, Payroll Managers, Finance Leads, Registered Managers, and anyone responsible for sponsored worker pay compliance.
Meet the speakers
Why Borderless
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