UK Employer of Record Services
UK Work Permits & Visas
Employer of Record UK Services
Download our full UK Employment Guide
Find out all about employing in the UK
Do you need a Work Permit or Visa to work in the UK?
You must have a UK work visa or work permit, including for those from the European Economic Area, in order to work in the UK (EEA).
Workers who are coming to the UK as a result of having already accepted a formal job offer from a qualifying UK company with the necessary Licence to sponsor, or if you are being transferred to the UK by your present employer, often need a work permit.
Can an EOR sponsor a UK employee?
It is extremely difficult for any EOR provider in the UK to sponsor a UK employee.
The sponsor licence holder immigration guidance is as follows:
5.6 If you are an employer of record, you can apply for a sponsor licence but only to sponsor migrant workers who will be directly employed by you in connection with the running of your business. You cannot sponsor a migrant if you will then supply them as labour, to another organisation, regardless of any genuine contractual arrangement between the parties involved.
- have genuine responsibility for deciding all the duties, functions and outcomes, or outputs of the job the migrant is doing
- are responsible for agreeing and paying the migrant’s salary.
As you, the client, will be responsible for deciding all the duties, functions and outcomes, or outputs of the job the migrant is doing, an EOR sponsoring the licence would be illegal.
This makes it obvious that an EOR cannot typically use a sponsor licence to hire employees who will work for another organisation. According to the Immigration Office, a sponsor licence will be cancelled if it is found that the licence is being utilised to provide labour to another business after it has been granted. In the list of grounds for licence revocation, the immigration regulations clearly say:
If an EOR therefore says they can sponsor a UK worker on your behalf, treat this with extreme caution and understand your liabilities for undertaking such a risk.
Wondering if expanding
in the UK is right for you?
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We are UK EOR experts
We have extensive experience helping businesses expand their workforce in the UK. Take a look at our areas of expertise to find out more:
Find out how payroll works in the UK and what you can expect when it comes to salaries, bonuses and rates of pay
Wondering what it’s like to work in the UK? We’ve got you covered in our extensive guide
Learn more about how you can attract and retain staff in the UK with both statutory and enhanced employee benefits
We deliver a fully managed EOR Service in the UK, including payroll, hr and legal compliance support
Without Agility EOR, our ability to move quickly and scale would be extremely limited. Superb work from A to Z.
Carol Oliveira
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Frequently Asked Questions
Payrolling the employees is a key part of the service offered by an employer of record company. The EOR will calculate and remit all taxes, social securities and similar payments, on behalf of both employer and employee. The client will be invoiced in advance by the EOR company, for the total cost of the payroll.
Yes. Our clients are free to dictate the structure of the employees’ remuneration including any bonuses or commissions they wish to offer. In some countries, there is a statutory requirement to provide “bonuses”, for example in the form of Christmas or holiday allowances.
Yes. Agility EOR will calculate what pay is due upon termination of an employee, factoring in such things as any untaken leave entitlements.
We find that most of our clients are in the Tech, IT, Finance and Professional Services industries. However, we have acquired the skills, knowledge and experience to help all industries across the globe.
As a private company, we’re not beholden to shareholders or asset-shredding Private Equity targets. We aim to build long-term relationships with our clients. At Agility EOR, our approach is that we never forget that our business is all about people. Our Employer of Record solutions are tailored to each requirement, not a one-size-fits-all tech platform. We do the right thing by our clients and by the laws of each country we operate in. And we believe in openness; if we don’t feel we can offer you the best solution for a specific territory, we’ll say so.
We pride ourselves on our personable-approach so once you enter your new employees details into our dedicated platform, we’ll arrange a call with you to go through the details of the employment contract where together we can review and amend to your requirements. We liaise directly with your employee to build a rapport and obtain the necessary information to hire them compliantly, and set them up ready for their first payroll.
We never stop delivering! Even if you’re employee has been onboarded and is happily working for you and being paid each month, we’re here to partner with you whenever you or your employees need us. Even your ex-employees may need our assistance for tax documents, proof of employment requests etc… Our service never stops!