9. Pay, repayment clauses and other deductions
Government’ s Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel. A copy is available online for your reference: Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England – GOV. UK
It is important to note that the code of practice highlights that it is illegal under section 6( 1) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 for any recruitment organisation, agency or collaboration based in Great Britain to charge a fee for providing a work-finding service to any person seeking a job. Any organisation charging fees to an individual for a work-finding service should be reported to the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
The code of practice is unequivocal that the costs you are liable to pay as the employer as part of the recruitment process must not be reclaimed from health and social care personnel. These costs include, but are not limited to, the:
• Agency fee
• Immigration Skills Charge
• Sponsor license fee
• Certificate of Sponsorship
• Cost of the interview process.
It is clear in the code of practice that any legitimate repayment clauses must be transparent, proportionate, time-limited and flexible. In particular, repayment clauses must be set out in the employment contract or job offer letter and explained to the candidate in full before the job is accepted. An itemised list of costs that are claimed from workers should be provided to show how the amount has been determined, and only genuine, evidenced and auditable expenses incurred can be reclaimed.
Considering the information provided, we believe the fee charged and paid by( insert member’ s name) is illegitimate under the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel and must be returned in full. It is important to note the Home Office is clear that charging for a CoS, or any associated costs, is grounds to revoke the sponsorship license of an employer.
We anticipate your acknowledgment that the sum of( insert sum) will be paid to( insert member’ s name) as a matter of urgency. If you do not hold( insert member’ s name) bank account details, please confirm this with me so they can be provided to you.
Yours sincerely
52 LRD • Supporting migrant workers