Do your contracts with migrant workers contain a clause requiring repayment of immigration fees?

In a post-Brexit world, many employers will now find that they need to engage workers who are subject to immigration control, for example, as sponsored workers under the points based system.

In many cases, employers will agree to pay (or reimburse) some, if not all, of the costs associated with a migrant worker, and sometimes their dependants, obtaining permission to live and work in the UK.

Covering a migrants worker’s immigration fees is not a decision to be taken lightly as they can be significant, often running to tens of thousands of pounds for migrants with numerous dependants. That said, many migrant workers are well worth the investment.

If you do decide to cover a migrant worker’s immigration fees, you should ensure that their contract contains a provision to enable you to claw them back, if the worker decides to leave your employment prematurely. The purpose of such a clause, just like a repayment of training costs clause, would be to protect you from the cost of significant immigration fees, when you’ve not had the opportunity to benefit from them.

If the employment of migrant workers at your organisation is in the pipeline, we’d be very happy to have a chat with you and, if necessary, draft a bespoke repayment of immigration fees clause for your contracts to protect your business.