Your pay and hours rights

Two sets of rules protect your pay. The Immigration Rules set what a sponsor must pay. Employment law protects almost every worker, whatever their visa.

Your sponsored salary

The salary on your CoS

A sponsor is an employer with a Home Office licence to employ people from overseas. A certificate of sponsorship (CoS) is the electronic record a sponsor creates for each worker. It shows the gross salary (pay before tax) and the weekly hours.

The Home Office checks with HMRC that sponsors pay at least the salary they stated. If a sponsor pays less and the amount does not meet the rules, the Home Office can cancel the worker's permission. It can also act against the sponsor, including revoking its licence.

A sponsor can only lower a sponsored worker's salary in limited cases, and must tell the Home Office. Sometimes a new CoS and visa application are needed first. Pay must go into the worker's own bank account, not be paid in cash.

What counts towards the salary

The Immigration Rules only count guaranteed basic gross pay. This is pay before income tax, including the worker's own pension and National Insurance contributions.

These do not count, even when they are guaranteed:

• overtime, shift and bonus pay
• pay that cannot be guaranteed because hours go up and down
• allowances, such as accommodation or cost of living allowances
• the employer's own pension and National Insurance contributions
• benefits in kind, such as food, health insurance or a company car
• one-off payments, such as a "golden hello"
• payments for immigration costs or business expenses

Money a worker must repay the sponsor for business or immigration costs is taken off the salary when the Home Office checks it.

Hours used to work out pay

The minimum salary threshold only counts pay for up to 48 hours a week. So someone working 60 hours a week at £15 an hour is treated as earning £37,440 a year (£15 x 48 x 52).

Each job also has a "going rate", the usual pay for that type of work. This is adjusted to the full weekly hours on the CoS, even above 48 hours.

At the time of writing (October 2026), care workers and senior care workers on the Health and Care visa must get at least £25,000 a year and £12.82 an hour.

Rights almost all workers have

Minimum wage

From 1 April 2026, the minimum hourly rates are:

• £12.71 for people aged 21 and over (the National Living Wage)
• £10.85 for people aged 18 to 20
• £8 for people under 18
• £8 for apprentices under 19, or in the first year of an apprenticeship

The rates usually change each April. Employer accommodation can count towards the minimum wage, up to £11.10 a day (£77.70 a week). No other benefit counts.

Travel time for home care workers

For the minimum wage, time spent travelling between work appointments counts as working time. Travel between home and work does not. If a care worker goes home for a break between visits, that travel does not count either.

Payslips

Employers must give workers a payslip on or before payday. It must show pay before and after deductions, and any deductions that change, such as tax. If pay depends on time worked, it must also show the hours.

Deductions from wages

An employer can only take money from wages in certain cases, such as tax, written agreement, or a contract term allowing it. Most deductions cannot take pay below the minimum wage, even with agreement.

The 48-hour week

Under the Working Time Regulations, most workers cannot work more than 48 hours a week on average. This is normally averaged over 17 weeks. Jobs needing 24-hour staffing are among the exceptions.

Workers aged 18 or over can choose to "opt out" and work more. The opt-out must be voluntary and in writing. An employer cannot sack or punish a worker for refusing. An opt-out can be cancelled with at least 7 days' notice, or up to 3 months if the agreement says so.

Rest breaks

Workers over 18 usually have the right to:

• one 20-minute break when they work more than 6 hours a day
• 11 hours' rest between working days
• 24 hours off each week, or 48 hours off each fortnight

Some shift workers, and jobs needing round-the-clock staffing, get "compensatory rest" instead, of the same length.

Holiday pay

Almost all workers have the right to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year. For someone working 5 days a week, this is 28 days. Bank holidays can count as part of it. For regular-hours workers, at least 4 weeks must be paid at the "normal" rate. This includes regular overtime and commission.

Free help

• [Acas](https://www.acas.org.uk/contact/get-advice) gives free, confidential information on pay, hours, breaks and holiday. Helpline: 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Interpreters are available.
• HMRC minimum wage complaints: the complain about pay and work rights form covers the minimum wage, the 48-hour week and employment agencies. HMRC enforces the minimum wage on behalf of the Fair Work Agency. Complaints can be about a past employer, and can be kept anonymous from the employer.
• The [Fair Work Agency](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/contact-the-fair-work-agency) began operating on 7 April 2026. It enforces workers' rights and takes reports of serious abuse at work on 0800 432 0804 (free).
• Trade unions negotiate pay and conditions and support members at meetings. Government guidance for health and care workers lists UNISON, GMB, Unite and the Royal College of Nursing, among others. It notes that unions find it harder to help with a problem that began before someone joined.

A regulated adviser can look at how these rules apply to a particular job or visa.