Skilled Worker salary compliance measured by pay period and rolling period

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited Kingdom

Operative dateApril 8, 2026

CategoryLabour migration (high-skilled / regular)

Policy toolCompliance & monitoring

Affected groupSkilled worker visa applicants and holders

Policy effect

Amended Skilled Worker rules to mandate that a worker must be paid the required salary in pay periods of at least monthly frequency (or as otherwise specified in contract) ensuring the salary paid in each pay period equals or exceeds the going rate for every hour worked, with specific averaging provisions for uneven pay or salary subtractions.

Conditions and exceptions

Recorded validated scope: Salary compliance is tested by the monthly or contractual pay period and the going rate for each hour worked, with a three-month or 12-week annual-salary test, a 17-week uneven-pay rule, and a salary-subtraction confirmation exception.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

SW 14.3B. A worker must be paid the required salary in pay periods of at least monthly frequency, or as otherwise specified in their contract, and: (a) The salary paid to the worker in each pay period must equal or exceed the going rate for every hour worked in that pay period. … The following paragraphs shall take effect on 8 April 2026. In relation to those changes, (i) if an application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued by a sponsor to an applicant before 8 April 2026; or (ii) if an application which does not require a certificate of sponsorship has been made before 8 April 2026; such applications will be decided in accordance with the Immigration Rules in force on 7 April 2026: • APP SW2 to APP SW4 … Changes to Appendix Skilled Worker … (b) Subject to (c) and (d): (i) where the worker is paid at a frequency of monthly or less, the salary paid to the worker over any three-month period must be at least equal to a quarter of the required annual salary; or (ii) where the worker is paid more frequently, the salary paid to the worker over any 12- week period must be at least equal to 12/52 of the required annual salary. … (c) If the worker is being sponsored to work a pattern where the regular hours are not the same each week, resulting in uneven pay, the sponsor must confirm the working pattern and the salary over any 17-week period must be at least equal to 17/52 of the required annual salary. … (d) If the pay is below the requirements in (c) in any given period, due to salary subtractions in SW 14.2(a) being subtracted over a shorter period than the length of time the applicant is being sponsored for, the sponsor must confirm this.

UK Home OfficeStatement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 1691 and explanatory memorandum, effective 8 April 2026Open official source

Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69a9a1f58fd807b03bbe92e5/E03553349_-_HC_1691_-_Immigration_Rules_Changes__Web_Accessible_.pdf

Review method

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite extraction with independent Gemini 3.8 Flash verification

Automated source validation is not independent human legal review. The finding should not be treated as legal advice. Record fcp3-0d07fbc46c44f0465595. Something wrong? Flag this record.

Skilled Worker salary compliance measured by pay period and rolling period

Policy effect

Conditions and exceptions

Official source excerpt

Review method

Other United Kingdom changes operative in 2026