Does a sponsor need to report a change in workplace if a Tier 2 visa holder is working from home as a result of Covid-19?

• Do not require them to work
• Continue to communicate with and support them
• Allow them to work from home, is there alternative work for them to do if they can’t do their work from home
• Offer SSP or allow them to take holiday if they want to.

On 25th June 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act, among other things, introduced new restrictions on suppliers of goods and services to terminate the contract in the event that the customer enters an insolvency process.  This has very important consequences for many businesses as it could expose them to greater financial risks.

If the debts owed to you pre-date Covid-19 and your debtor seemed unable to pay well before the Covid-19 pandemic took place, it is entirely possible that you will be able to present a petition on the grounds that the debtor would have been unable to pay its debts even if the Covid-19 had no effect on its financial position. We do not yet have any reliable precedent as to how the Courts are likely to deal with such cases.  Whether you are likely to succeed will depend on the exact circumstances of the debt and your debtor. There has been one case decided in August 2020 where the Court concluded that Covid-19 did not have a financial effect upon the debtor and that the circumstances which gave rise to the petition had arisen long before Covid and would have occurred in any event.  A winding up order was made in that case.  What we do know about the court’s approach is that the purpose of the Act is to allow viable companies to trade through the current times and the Court is likely to set the bar high.

Please contact us if there a debt you would like to discuss. Even if presenting a winding up petition is not available for now, there may still be other forms of legal proceedings that you can use to collect money owed to you, like county court proceedings.

If an employee is required under government guidance to wear a face mask during the course of their employment and there is no applicable exemption, any fine issued would be payable by the employee, not the employer.

We have developed a toolkit to assist with compliance. The Toolkit contains a specimen contract; detailed guidance; step by step guides and flowcharts; details of the factors to take into account for the status determination test; procedures for challenging the determination; and standard letters for the process.  Click here to fill in a form and register your interest in the Toolkit, which contains:

1. Detailed guidance in the form of Key Facts
2. Employment status checklist
3. Employment status assessment flowchart
4. Status questionnaire and guidance
5. Letter confirming self-employed status (agency)
6. Letter confirming employed status (agency)
7. Letter confirming self-employed status (direct with PSC)
8. Letter confirming employed status (direct with PSC)
9. Status disagreement process guidance
10. Status disagreement process flowchart
11. Letter confirming outcome of status disagreement process
12. Consultancy agreement