At the recent webinar from The HR World, entitled Immigration and employment: Are you really compliant? Our panel of Matthew Bond, CEO & Co Founder, Borderless, Kirstie Jones, Chief People Officer, Salutem Care and Education and Gareth Neale, Head of Human Resources, Crimson Hotels gave an insight into the realities and challenges of correctly employing overseas candidates. Here we follow-up with two further questions on the issue:
Q1: How concerned should I be about compliance in terms of what I might be doing wrong? I’m worried there may be small technical errors we’re missing unintentionally – can these still pose large problems for us?
Kirstie Jones: Compliance should be your number one priority, from authorising officer, through key contact and other team members everyone needs to be aware of the compliance, and be checking it. I do think that systems like Borderless are very good to consider if you don’t have a large team. The audit teams from UKVI expect you to know your responsibilities and be able to evidence you have all the compliance elements right.
Matthew Bond: Even small, unintentional compliance errors can create significant risks if left unchecked – from fines to licence suspension. The Home Office takes a “strict liability” approach, meaning intent doesn’t always matter. Using Borderless helps providers mitigate these risks by flagging potential issues early and ensuring robust compliance processes are in place. That way, you can stay confident that nothing slips through the cracks.
Q2: There seem to be new ideas/initiatives/changes for visas and employing immigrants every week. Do you think things will continue to get harder or do you think the government will find more ways to bring this kind of talent to employers? Do you think employers are aware of all the visas that could work for them?
Matthew Bond: The pace of change in immigration policy has definitely accelerated, and while some measures have tightened access, there’s also been a push to create new pathways where labour shortages are most acute. I think we’ll continue to see this “push–pull” dynamic, with rules tightening in some areas and new opportunities opening in others. For employers, the key is staying proactive and engaged so they’re prepared to adapt quickly and make the most of the options available.
Kirstie Jones: I think we will continue to see changes from Government and it is going to get harder to employ talent via this route. I would urge anyone to attend any seminars they can on the subject and sign up to the daily government updates, as this should keep you on top of the changes.
