Previous employer

[atier2guy]

Hello,

Scenario:
* Tier 2 employee switches jobs to a new sponsor.
* Previous sponsor gets downgraded to B within the year that follows (reason unknown to the ex employee).

In theory, what implications can this have on the employee who had already left, and on her future ILR application? As stated, the reason for the downgrade is not known.

[atier2guy]

Two additional questions:

- What happens to those still working at the B rated company, can they apply for ILR at the moment (provided the qualifying period has been met)? Or will they have to wait until company is potentially A rated again?

- If the company does not get out the B rating and the licence is lost, but one of the employees completes the 5 years, and they still need him, can he still apply for ILR? The letter required from the employer needs to state they still need him, which is the case. Does the employer need to be an active sponsor at the time of application or it is just the fact they will keep employing him (provided his ILR is successful)?

[Frontier Mole]

Licence B rating is fairly meaningless to currently sponsored migrants. It has no effect on them what's so ever.

Under B rate the licence still operates and essentially the Sponsor has three months to tidy up their HR systems to fully meet their Sponsor Duties. The vast majority of Sponsors return to A rate once they have their check up visit.

For a Sponsor not to return to A rate they would have to have failed to rectify the issue(s) or new issues were found at the check up visit.

B rating has zero impact on ILR

Licence revocation does have an impact as the employer can not issue the letter that says they can and will continue to employe.

[atier2guy]

Thanks Frontier Mole.

I had some further news. The ex-employer seems to be heading towards reducing its number of staff. Subsequently, they are not going to accept the action plan and will surrender the licence (and hence 3 employees will have to find a new employer).

This also worried my friend because she is an ex-employee and left them a bit over a year ago.
She got in contact with the ex-employer now after she heard the news, at least to get a copy of her file before they surrender the licence, and she got to know that they did not keep it!
So what does she do when it's time in the future to apply for ILR?
1- Would payslips, P60 and P45 (which she kept) suffice or does she need anything else from them? Perhaps absence letter at least. But anything else?
2- Apparently one of the reasons resulting in the action plan was record keeping. How can she prove that they 'did' keep records at the time she was there? she had attendance sheets, holiday forms, etc. But this is all probably gone with her file. If the employer failed its duties after she left, would HO assume that he failed his duties while she was employed there and cause her trouble later? She has a few emails here and there regarding business travel, absences, overtime, etc. but the majority of the things were hard copies in her file.
3- What about records of the RLMT that was done prior to her joining them? Can she contact universal job match herself and get a copy of the ad? It's long gone (and does not know the ID of it). At the time of application, I assume HO made copies of this, right? So no need to provide it again? And what if they didn't keep a copy and want to scrutinise all at ILR stage (due to the downgrade of the ex-employer), how can she prove it?
4- One of the existing employees is the one who told her the reason behind the action plan. But he does not know the full details of what records the employer did not keep properly, and whether it is related to existing or previous employees. If it's the latter (or both), then how can that affect her at ILR?

It's sad that the shortcomings of her ex sponsor the past year will put previous years and employees into question.

[Frontier Mole]

Sorry for the very short answer to the questions you have put for your friend.

The loss of a Sponsor licence for a previous employer has zero effect on her ILR.
They do not reference back to previous employers at all. All the documents in relation to pay etc will be verified through HMRC in any case.

[naval1234]

Dear Frontier mole or anyone else who knows the answer to this question.


If an employer is downgraded to Rating B, then in that case are the sponsored migrants allowed to travel to other countries for tourism purposes? Will there be any issue in coming back to UK even if the visa is downgraded?

[Frontier Mole]

There will be no issues during the B rate period.

[naval1234]

Thank you Frontier mole,

I work for a big aerospace company, Is this a common practice to downgrade to B rating. I'm asking because the actions they have asked my company to do are just 2 (contact info not updated since 2015 in hr.net and process for informing ukvi in case an immigrant leaves the company not clear/present).

Will UKVI visit again to check if this has been updated?

How long will the process take generally and likelihood of this being accepted?

I would really appreciate your reply. (apologies for too many questions).

I hope this is solved soon as i've only got less thn a year left for my ilr

[naval1234]

Hi Frontier mole.

Its been more then 4 months when my company got downgraded to B rating. Hr has told me that they have made all the improvements and waiting for next steps.

Does it normally take that long?

Should HR inform UKVI that they have done their improvement plan (I'm pretty sure that they would have done that if it was required)?

What should be the next steps?