A Skilled Worker visa permits the holder to undertake the role for which the visa was granted, and supplementary employment for up to 20 hours per week as long as they are still working in their main role. The supplementary employment must be undertaken outside the hours of, and must not interfere with, their main role.
PLEASE NOTE: It is not possible to reduce the hours of a Skilled Worker’s main role to accommodation other supplementary employment they want to undertake.
Originally supplementary employment had to be in the same type of work, under the same job code.
In 2024 the rules supplementary employment changed to permit work in roles which fell under any sponsorable Skilled Worker job code.
With the Skilled Worker job codes being split into skilled RQF 6 and lower skilled RQF 3 – 5 (mainly support roles) in the 22 July 2025 changes, the supplementary employment rules have been updated again:
- Those who have continuously held Skilled Worker visas since before the 22 July 2025 changes can continue to undertake supplementary employment in roles which fall under any (RQF 6 and RQF 3 – 5) sponsorable Skilled Worker job codes;
- New Skilled Worker visa holders, whose visas were issued from 22 July 2025 onwards, can only undertake supplementary employment in roles which fall under RQF 6 job codes, or the same job code as their main role. They can only therefore undertake RQF 3 – 5 roles as supplementary employment if this is under the same job code as their main role.
What this means in practice
Where you are offering supplementary employment when carrying out a right to work check on a Skilled Worker visa holder you will need to ask for and check:
- copies of all the Tier 2/ Skilled Worker visas they have held – so you know if they have been under the Skilled Worker visa route since 22 July 2025 or before;
- a copy of the CoS details for their current Skilled Worker visa – so you know what job code their main role falls under;
- details of any other supplementary employment they are undertaking – so you can ensure the work you are offering (on top of any other work they are already undertaking) will not exceed the 20 hours per week limit.
SIT can help with queries on supplementary employment, but these changes basically mean that Skilled Worker visa holders cannot undertake lower level support roles, unless this is the same as their main role or they have held Skilled Worker visas since before the 22 July 2025 changes.
PLEASE NOTE: the Tier 5 supplementary employment rules have never changed, so Tier 5 visa holders are only permitted to undertake research (the same activity their visa was issued for) plus some teaching if the activities listed on their Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) included giving talks/ lectures on their research.
