Recruitment agency use and sponsor responsibilities

Using a recruitment agency does not automatically remove the licensed sponsor’s responsibilities for genuine roles, worker records and compliant employment arrangements. Establish the actual contracting chain and who performs each task before relying on an agency assurance.

Establish what the agency is being asked to do Define the service before signing recruitment terms. An agency introducing candidates for your direct employment is different from an organisation supplying labour to a customer. Identify who will employ the worker, who proposes to sponsor them and who controls the work. Do not let the word recruitment conceal an arrangement that has not been assessed for the intended immigration route.

The sponsor guidance identifies supplying sponsored workers to third parties as labour through an employment agency or employment business as a serious compliance issue. ^[1] This makes the contracting and operational facts important. Obtain a clear account of the arrangement rather than relying on a general statement that the agency handles immigration for many clients.

Give the recruiter an accurate vacancy brief Provide the real duties, proposed salary, hours, location and employing entity. Explain which requirements have been assessed and which remain open. The recruiter should not rewrite the role to make it appear suitable for sponsorship without the employer's informed review. Keep the approved brief and require material changes to be referred back to the hiring manager.

Use Genuine vacancy evidence for a sponsored role to prepare the evidence of the vacancy itself. If the agency sends candidates with different experience or proposes an alternative job title, assess whether the recruitment plan has changed. A successful introduction should result in someone capable of doing the genuine job, not a paper description created around whichever candidate happens to be available.

Verify the division of responsibility Write down who conducts each recruitment and onboarding task, who checks the result and who retains the evidence. This includes obtaining candidate information, assessing qualifications where relevant and arranging the employer's required checks. A contract can allocate practical work, but the licensed sponsor still needs to understand and fulfil its own obligations. [1]

Avoid vague assurances such as all checks completed. Ask what was checked, by whom, when and what evidence is available. Where the employer must perform a prescribed process itself, ensure that it does so. An agency's screening report may be useful background, but it should not be treated as a substitute without establishing that the applicable requirement permits reliance on it.

Understand the candidate's journey and communications Ask how candidates are informed about the job, pay, location and recruitment process. Review the material used in the employer's name, including any overseas agent's role in the chain. A worker arriving with expectations materially different from the approved offer is a sign that the recruitment process needs investigation, even if the employer did not write the misleading message.

Provide a direct channel through which candidates can confirm key employment terms with the employer. Make clear who is authorised to make an offer and who can explain immigration-related next steps. Do not allow a recruiter to promise a guaranteed visa or guaranteed start date on the organisation's behalf when the outcome depends on separate decisions.

Review charges and repayment arrangements Obtain a transparent explanation of fees charged to the employer and any amounts candidates are asked to pay. Identify who receives each payment and what it is said to cover. Assess the relevant recruitment, sponsorship and employment rules before accepting the arrangement. A charge routed through another business should not escape scrutiny simply because it does not appear on the employer's invoice.

If a proposed contract includes repayment on leaving employment, separate the different cost categories and obtain a specific assessment. Do not assume that one broad clause makes every cost recoverable. Keep finance informed of the approved position so a recruiter or payroll instruction does not create a deduction inconsistent with the assessment.

Keep oversight after the introduction The agency relationship may continue through onboarding or later recruitment, so review actual performance against the agreed responsibilities. Check whether promised records arrive, candidate details are accurate and concerns are raised promptly. Record problems with sufficient detail to identify whether they are isolated mistakes or a pattern requiring a change of supplier or process.

Where a concern arises, preserve the relevant correspondence and candidate account. Investigate before making unsupported accusations, but do not ignore a credible discrepancy because a vacancy is difficult to fill. The business should be able to pause an unresolved recruitment step and obtain clarification without pressure to proceed merely because an agency fee has become payable.

Prepare a focused assessment of the arrangement Bring together the agency contract, vacancy brief, contracting chain, proposed worker terms and division of responsibilities. Mark any overseas intermediary, third-party placement or unusual payment arrangement clearly. This gives an adviser a factual basis for considering the immigration and operational issues, rather than a broad question about whether using agencies is allowed.

Through Sponsor compliance readiness review, request an assessment of the actual model and the controls the employer needs to maintain. Record the resulting actions in the recruitment process and supplier agreement where appropriate. The aim is a relationship in which the employer can verify the work done on its behalf and explain the employment arrangement accurately throughout sponsorship.

Illustrative example

A sponsor receives candidates from an agency for work at a client site. The adviser reviews the real employment and control arrangements before sponsorship proceeds.

Preparation checklist

• Map the contracting chain
• Define agency responsibilities
• Review placement conditions
• Retain the sponsor’s required evidence