To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce a levy on companies employing foreign workers below an agreed wage threshold.
Answered on
17 October 2016
Foreign workers in the UK benefit from the same rights under National Minimum Wage legislation as UK workers.
In addition, companies sponsoring non-EEA workers to fill vacancies under Tier 2 (General), the skilled work immigration route, must pay a salary of at least £20,800 (rising to £25,000 later this autumn and £30,000 in April 2017) or the appropriate rate for the particular occupation, whichever is higher. For non-EEA workers using the Tier 2 (Intra Company Transfer) route for multi-national companies, the salary minimum is £24,500, rising to £30,000 later this autumn and £41,500 from April 2017.
From April 2017, the Government will levy an Immigration Skills Charge on Tier 2 employers of £1,000 per sponsored worker per year. A reduced rate of £364 will apply to small and charitable sponsors. PhD-level roles, intra-company transfer graduate trainees, and graduates switching from the student route will be exempt.