As the sector’s recruitment difficulties persist, more providers have embraced overseas recruitment. This has been a lifeline for employers struggling to recruit; however, it creates additional legal risks which require mitigation. A continued focus on domestic recruitment strategies also remains vital.
Challenges remain
The latest Skills for Care workforce data reported a 14.5% year-on-year decrease in the number of vacant posts in the sector. However, there are 131,000 vacancies and the reduction has been driven by international rather than domestic recruitment. Furthermore, the number of overseas workers coming to work in care has significantly reduced since restrictions on bringing dependants were introduced.
Compliance risks
Becoming a sponsor licence holder exposes you to a new and onerous compliance regime and recent enforcement action indicates that providers are struggling to comply, resulting in sponsor licence suspension or revocation.
In addition, HMRC recently announced it was targeting the care sector for National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance audits due to perceived high levels of non-compliance in the sector. An NMW breach in respect of sponsored workers carries the additional risk of sponsor licence revocation.
Sponsor licence duties
Non-compliance is often unintentional and caused by either a failure to grasp the full extent of sponsor licence holder obligations, a lack of care in exercising compliance duties or not keeping up with changing legal requirements.
Common failures include:
- Not reporting changes to sponsored employees’ employment status (within 10 working days). For example, dismissals, maternity leave or where an employee does not start the role within 28 days.
- Not keeping compliant records, including right to work checks, DBS checks and salary and skill level documents.
- Not conducting right to work checks properly or completing follow-up checks when employees’ visas expire.
- Not understanding minimum salary requirements in the context of overall salary and hourly rates.
- Not providing employees with the correct number of hours because work is not available and therefore paying below the minimum salary threshold.
- Not assigning the correct occupation code, such as assigning a senior care worker code when the employee’s duties are more in line with a care worker role.
- Not issuing a new certificate of sponsorship if an employee is promoted to a senior care worker role.
- Allowing employees to undertake other roles not permitted by their visa.
- Allowing employees also sponsored by another organisation to carry out supplementary work without carrying out appropriate checks in relation to the additional role.
- Failing to report an organisational change, such as a change in ownership of the business.
Effective compliance training will help avoid these common pitfalls and regularly reviewing your organisation’s compliance will highlight any errors so that they can be rectified before a Home Office audit.
Over-leveraging
Local authorities are raising concerns about providers being over-leveraged with overseas employees due to the additional risks this poses if a sponsor licence is suspended or revoked. Ensuring that you retain a suitable balance between the number of domestic and sponsored employees is key to mitigating risk.
If you have high dependency on sponsored employees, you should provide assurances and evidence that you have sought to mitigate the risk, to avoid funding contracts being suspended or terminated. Appropriate business continuity plans and evidence that you have undertaken compliance training and mock audits to minimise the risk of non-compliance, will help to alleviate concerns.
Licence revocation
If your sponsor licence is revoked, the Home Office will write to your sponsored employees curtailing their visa. They will be given 60 days to find alternative sponsorship or must leave the UK.
Home Office guidance requires revocation in a number of circumstances, some of which may be caused by a simple administrative error or oversight. However, the Home Office must act proportionately in implementing its enforcement powers, so it is worth taking advice on whether you have grounds to challenge a decision.
A licence is usually suspended before being revoked and you will have the opportunity to make written representations before a final decision about revocation is made. It is crucial to provide a substantial response at this point as it the only opportunity.
If the licence is subsequently revoked and you wish to challenge this through a judicial review application, the court will only consider what has already been submitted. New arguments cannot be raised at that stage.
NMW compliance
This affects domestic and sponsored workers equally. However, non-compliance for sponsored employees can lead to sponsor licence revocation.
Common areas of non-compliance include:
- Making deductions from pay which reduce it below the NMW, including deductions for uniform, mandatory training, UK driving assessments and vehicle costs where driving is a requirement of the role and certificate of sponsorship costs.
- Providing accommodation to a worker and deducting rent (including the cost of utilities) over the Accommodation Offset Allowance of £69.93 per week could reduce pay below the NMW.
- Including ineligible payments within NMW calculations. For example, overtime enhancements and shift premiums cannot be included, neither can on-call or sleep-in allowances.
- Failing to account for all working time within NMW calculations. For example, working outside rostered time (e.g. to do a handover), training time, relying on estimated travel time records that do not reflect actual travel time and failing to account for waiting time between home care assignments.
Domestic opportunities
Appropriate risk management requires a balance between international and domestic recruitment. The first way to improve your domestic recruitment strategy is to invest in better recruitment activity.
Boost your recruitment efforts within the local talent market. Get to know your communities locally, and make sure you are known to offer opportunities that reflect local needs. Good recruiters know how to understand the local market and workforce, create compelling recruitment messaging and tell you how you compare to other local employers.
Local community-based recruitment should not just focus on those actively seeking a job; you also need to reach those who are not actively seeking a change of career or had not considered social care. Finding people with the right values should be a core part of your attraction strategy.
Be flexible and accept feedback
Prioritise flexibility, ensuring you have a diverse range of people who can adapt to changing demands. Implementing flexible working hours, offering part-time positions and creating a supportive environment can help attract and retain a more versatile workforce. Target hotspot locations with bank recruitment campaigns to keep agency spend down.
Make sure you know the reasons people leave. New starter, retention, stay and exit interviews are non-negotiable. Partner with a third-party retentions expert for consistency and honesty and act on feedback. Consider if the majority of those leaving your organisation are staying in the sector rather than leaving it. If so, could there be a problem with your culture?
Futureproof with early talent
Invest in the next generation by creating flexible part-time work for young people as a preview of the sector. Consider work experience, apprenticeship programmes, placements and partnerships with educational institutions.
Early engagement with young talent helps secure a steady pipeline for the future. Many students already studying health and social care cannot secure jobs in our sector and are too often told that they are too young, do not have enough experience, or are not flexible to meet the needs of a full rota pattern.
Gen Z unemployment is 13.4%, and it is significantly higher than that in some parts of the country. As a sector we need to create opportunities for positive pass through and a well-managed bank is a proven way of doing this, as exemplified by the NHS.
Look at the data
Utilise data to identify trends, strengths and areas for improvement within your organisation. What are your current recruitment metrics telling you (cycle times, conversions, pipeline)? At what point do people leave (experienced vs. new to care)?
How diverse is your employee pool? Analysing this information can guide your recruitment and retention strategies, ensuring they are data-driven and effective. Demographics paint a grim picture for the future. 29% of the workforce are over 55 and only 8% are under 25.
Optimise your process
Streamline your recruitment and onboarding processes to enhance efficiency and candidate experience. This could involve leveraging technology, simplifying application procedures and ensuring a smooth transition for new hires, which can significantly improve retention rates.
Start by polling those who have recently joined. What could be improved? Try to break down each recruitment stage and identify improvements – aim for incremental gains.
Prioritise existing connections
People who have some kind of connection to social care are many times more likely to apply and then go on to enjoy the work. The two main examples are people who were recommended to try care work by a friend or family member, or people who have current or previous family caring responsibilities.
A core part of any attraction strategy should therefore include operating an effective employee referral scheme and outreach to those with family care experience.
One thing is clear – international recruitment has made a significant impact recently, but it is only one piece of the puzzle and with reducing supply and the associated legal risks, a continued focus on optimising domestic recruitment is crucial.
What strategies have you implemented to avoid over-reliance on international recruitment? Leave a comment on this feature or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
James Sage is a HR and Employment Partner and Head of Health and Social Care at RWK Goodman.
Email: [email protected] X: @RWKGoodman
Amanda Marques is a Director at Cohesion Recruitment.
Email: [email protected] X: @Cohesiontalk
Neil Eastwood is the author of Saving Social Care and Founder of Care Friends.
Email: [email protected] X: @CareFriendsApp