Five sponsor compliance questions to ask your HR system every week

Sponsor licence compliance is rarely lost to a single dramatic failure. It is lost to small things that were not noticed in time: a right to work check that lapsed, a change of address that was never reported, a worker whose hours drifted below what their CoS says.

The fix is boring and effective: ask the same questions every week. Here are the five we suggest, each phrased the way you would ask roothr.ai.

1. “Whose right to work expires in the next 60 days?”

Time-limited permission needs a follow-up check before it expires. Sixty days gives you time to ask for a new share code, chase it and record the recheck without a last-minute scramble.

2. “Which CoS end dates fall in the next 90 days?”

Workers approaching the end of their sponsorship either need an extension started or you need to plan for their leaving date and the report that follows it.

3. “Has anything happened this month that I need to report to UKVI?”

Changes to a sponsored worker's job, salary, hours, work location or absence pattern can be reportable within 10 working days. The assistant checks the changes recorded in Root HR against that list and tells you which ones need a report.

4. “Is anyone's recorded salary or hours different from their CoS?”

This is the one that catches drift. A rota change or a pay review that nobody connected to the CoS is exactly what an audit finds.

5. “Are all sponsored workers' contact details and documents up to date?”

You must hold current contact details and copies of specified documents for every sponsored worker. Ask, and get a list of who is missing what.

Make it a habit

Pick a day, ask the five questions, action the answers, and export the audit snapshot so there is a dated record. Fifteen minutes a week is a small price for a licence that stays intact.