Skills for Care Course Mandatory Training

Requirements

Choosing the correct occupation code

When applying to sponsor a worker on a Health and Care Worker visa, it is important to select the correct 4-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. The SOC code is used to show the Home Office that the migrant worker’s role meets the prescribed skill and salary thresholds in order to qualify for a visa.

It is the sponsor’s responsibility to ensure that the most appropriate SOC code is selected for the role in question. Using the incorrect SOC code on the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) could result in the application being delayed or rejected.

If you are not sure which is the most appropriate code to use, you can search for the job in the ONS occupation coding tool. You should then read the job descriptions and tasks for the possible occupation codes that the tool has identified, and select the closest match for the job you are offering.

The tool lists the following brief job descriptions for eligible care roles:

• 6145 – Care workers and home carers: Care workers and home carers attend to the personal needs and comforts of the elderly and the infirm with care and support needs (service users) within residential care establishments, day care establishments or in their own homes.
• 6146 – Senior care workers: Senior care workers routinely oversee and monitor care workers, care assistants and home carers. They also attend to the personal needs and comforts of the elderly and the infirm with care and support needs (service users) within residential care establishments, day care establishments or in their own homes.

What are the salary requirements?

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, care workers must be paid at least the minimum salary threshold of £20,480.

Employers should be aware that the Home Office makes regular checks with HMRC to ensure sponsors are paying at least the salary stated on the CoS, or in any other notification of a change of salary.