The Immigration Solicitors’ Guide to Skilled Worker Visas and Supplemental Employment or Overtime Work
In this article, our UK Immigration Solicitors outline the immigration rules governing what additional work Skilled Worker Visa holders can undertake.
It's vital that Skilled Worker Visa holders and their employers comply with the rules on overtime and supplemental employment. If they don’t, both the visa holder and the employer could face serious consequences.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Immigration Legal Advice on Work Visas and Sponsorship.
Work rules and the Skilled Worker Visa
If a Skilled Worker Visa holder does not comply with their work-related visa conditions, they risk the Home Office cancelling or curtailing their visa. This will adversely affect the individual’s immigration record and their ability to get another visa or to secure Indefinite Leave to Remain.
If an employer hires a person who does not have the required right to work, the employer risks civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution. If an employer holds a sponsor licence, they risk it being suspended or revoked.
It is therefore essential that a Work Visa holder and their employer/s understand the scope of the visa holder's right to work under their Skilled Worker Visa.
Sponsored employment and overtime
The immigration rules for Skilled Worker Visa holders and working overtime for their sponsored employer state:
- A Skilled Worker Visa holder can do overtime in their sponsored employment. There is no requirement to seek Home Office permission, and there is no limit on the overtime.
- Overtime hours worked for a sponsoring employer are not treated by the Home Office as a second job under the immigration rules. Overtime is considered an extension of the employee’s sponsored employment, provided it falls within the scope of the employee’s certificate of sponsorship.
- Although the immigration rules do not limit the amount of overtime a sponsored employee can work in their sponsored primary employment, the employer must comply with the UK’s Working Time Regulations.
- An employer cannot pay their sponsored employee a reduced hourly rate for additional work performed beyond the worker’s contracted hours.
Immigration rules for Skilled Worker Visa holders carrying out supplemental employment in second jobs or through self-employment
The immigration rules on second jobs and self-employment say:
- The total time spent in employment with a second employer, or in a side hustle, as a self-employed person or freelancer, cannot exceed 20 hours per week. The supplemental work must be in addition to the sponsored employment and must occur outside the sponsored employment's regular work hours.
- To qualify as supplemental employment within the 20-hour limit, the additional work must be one of either a higher-skilled job with an eligible occupation code or be on the immigration salary list, or the work must be in the same sector and at the same level of job as the sponsored employment.
- A Skilled Worker Visa holder can only carry out 20 hours of supplemental work of medium-skilled level if they were first sponsored as a skilled worker before 22 July 2025 and they have continuously held Tier 2 or Skilled Worker Visas.
- If a Skilled Worker Visa holder wants to carry out more than 20 hours a week in supplemental employment or in self-employment, they will need to update their visa. They will require sponsorship from their second employer.
The immigration rules for Skilled Worker Visa holders on unpaid or volunteer work
The rules on voluntary work say that:
- A Skilled Worker Visa holder can carry out work as a volunteer, but the work must be unpaid, save for reasonable expenses.
- The volunteer work must be for a registered charity, a voluntary organisation, a statutory body or an organisation that raises money for a charity.
- Working without declared pay in a family member's business does not meet the volunteer criteria.
Key takeaways for sponsored Skilled Worker Visa holders on overtime and second jobs
Here are some of the key takeaways for those on Skilled Worker Visas considering overtime or second jobs:
- Overtime for your main employer does not require a change to your visa or Home Office notification.
- The overtime must relate to your sponsored employment and be within the same standard occupational classification code.
- If in doubt, check with the HR department that the overtime a manager has asked you to do falls within the immigration rules. Your manager may not be aware that you are a sponsored employee, or the importance of you and your employer complying with the immigration and sponsor licence rules regarding overtime.
- All employees should check their contract of employment to see if their contract permits them to work for another employer in a second job. The contract may prohibit you from working for competitors or in certain employment areas. If you breach your employment contract, you could lose your sponsored job. You would then need to find another employer willing to sponsor you, or switch to a non-sponsorship visa route, or leave the UK.
- The secondary employment rules are complex, especially if you are working more than 20 hours per week in a supplemental job. Your secondary employer may need to sponsor you. It’s best to check the rules, as employees and their employers are liable if an employee works in a role beyond their right to work in the UK.
- Any breach of the immigration rules, including secondary employment or working off the books for family members, could affect your immigration record and may result in the Home Office refusing a visa extension or your application for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
- Speaking to a specialist Skilled Worker Visa Solicitors in London on how the complex rules apply to your secondary employment may give you peace of mind, so you know that you can take on additional work without jeopardising your Skilled Worker Visa or immigration status.
Key takeaways for sponsoring employers on overtime and secondary employment for Skilled Worker Visa holders
- An employer should carry out a right to work check before authorising overtime or before employing a person living in the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa for additional part-time employment.
- A sponsoring employer can be in breach of the illegal working legislation if an employee works beyond their right to work, even though the employer carried out a right to work check before the employee started their sponsored job. Civil penalty fines can be up to £60,000 per worker, and the company’s sponsor licence could be placed at risk.
- Standardised compliance checks for overtime by sponsored employees should be put in place to protect the sponsor licence.
- Employers who employ a Skilled Worker Visa holder in a second job need to understand the scope of the individual’s right to work in the UK and ensure that the nature of the secondary employment and the hours are within the immigration rules, do not conflict with the individual’s primary sponsored employment and do not require separate sponsorship by them.
- The fact that a worker is only working part-time to earn a bit of extra cash in a second job does not reduce the risk of a substantial civil penalty if a secondary employer does not carry out diligent checks on the individual’s right to work.
- Immigration Solicitors can help HR staff with contracts of employment, assist with restrictive covenants on secondary employment, overtime and second job policies and advise on standardised systems and documentation. These steps will reduce the risk that the primary or secondary employment of a Skilled Worker Visa holder falls outside their right to work in the UK.
Talk to OTS Solicitors for specialist immigration law advice.
At OTS Solicitors, our Individual Immigration and Business Immigration Lawyers understand that whether you are a visa holder, a small business enterprise with one or two sponsored employees, or a multinational, you need immigration, sponsorship, and employment legal advice tailored to your specific situation. We provide the attention to detail that gives you peace of mind and confidence that you are acting within the immigration rules.
Whether it is a visa query, an extension application, or a conversion from visa status to Indefinite Leave to Remain, our Individual Immigration Lawyers provide expert immigration legal advice. Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers help businesses with all their sponsor licence needs, including initial applications and audits, compliance advice, right-to-work checks, and a full Sponsor Licence Management Service.
The firm is recognised for its immigration work in the 2026 editions of The Legal 500 and Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession. It has an excellent track record of success in visa and sponsor licence applications, as well as in compliance.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Immigration Legal Advice on Work Visas and Sponsorship.
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