Casual workers
Casual workers are hired on an irregular basis for a short period of time, provided they have the right to work in the UK. Employers may engage visa holders on a casual basis, but should be aware that different UK visas have different conditions. In some cases, a particular visa poses work restrictions or limits the types of work the visa holder can do.
The University of Oxford Staff Immigration team undertake monthly checks to ensure that all casual workers have a valid right to work check on CoreHR and that Student/Tier 4 visa holders are not exceeding the maximum hours imposed by their visa.
For information about the employment process from a Personnel point of view, please see the Casual Workers and Casual teachers page on the University of Oxford HR Support website.
Please send an email and relevant documents to Tier4casualpayments@admin.ox.ac.uk
where a Student/Tier 4 student visa holder is working over 20 hours per week on a casual basis. More information about this can be found below
An employing department or college must check the right to work of a casual worker before their employment starts. If the individual is a List A document holder (please see table below), they have no restriction on the type of work they can do, or their weekly working hours.
| British national | |
| National from EU/EEA country | |
| Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) visa holder | |
| Permanent Residence (PR) visa holder |
If the casual worker is a List B document holder, there may be some work restrictions that apply. Please see the table below for more information.
| Visa type | Work restriction |
| Global Talent/Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa | No work restrictions - Except cannot work as a doctor or dentist in training or professional sports person/coach |
| Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa | No work restrictions - Except cannot work as a doctor or dentist in training or professional sports person/coach |
| Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 (General) visa | Permitted to work up to 20 hours per week as supplementary employment. Several additional restrictions apply. Please see Supplementary employment page for more information |
| Student/ Tier 4 visa holder | Normally restricted to working 20 hours per week. Please see the according below for more information and exemptions |
| Tier 5 (Sponsored researcher) visa holder | Permitted to work up to 20 hours per week as supplementary employment. Several additional restrictions apply. Please see Tier2/5 Supplementary employment page for more information |
| Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) visa holder | No work restrictions - Except cannot work as a doctor or dentist in training or professional sports person/coach |
| PBS Dependant visa holder Family member of Global Talent/2/4 or 5 visa holder |
No work restrictions - Except cannot work as a doctor or dentist in training or professional sports person/coach |
| UK Ancestry | No work restrictions - Except cannot work as a doctor or dentist in training or professional sports person/coach |
For more information about the right to work process, please refer to our right to work pages.
Employing Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 or Tier 5 (sponsored researchers) on a casual basis
Skilled Worker/ Tier 2 and Tier 5 (Sponsored researchers) be employed on a casual basis in addition to their normal employment or engagement with the University, but there are strict restrictions that apply. Please see full details on the Supplementary Employment page.
Student/ Tier 4 visa holders are normally restricted to working up to 20 hours per week, which includes casual hours.
Where a Student/ Tier 4 visa holder plans to work more than 20 hours in any week, they should email their name, student number and course to the Staff Immigration Team (SIT): Tier4casualpayments@admin.ox.ac.uk
Furthermore, if a student is a postgraduate research student or a PhD student, a letter from their supervisor should be provided which confirms the dates that the student is "on holiday" and does not have any study commitments.
This will allow SIT to authorise the payment. If you know any Tier 4 student who will be working over 20 hours in a week, please make them aware of this change. All Student/ Tier 4 visa holders have also been informed of this requirement.
Casual pay requests will not be processed for individuals with incorrect or incomplete right to work information in Core HR, or where there are questions over Student/ Tier 4 hours. If pay is stopped the Staff Immigration Team will inform the department why this has happened and a correct casual payment request will need to be resubmitted in the following month.
Training for Administrators
The team runs regular training courses on Global Talent visa, Skilled Worker visa, Tier 5, Visitors and Right to Work
BOOK A PLACE ON A TRAINING SESSION
Forms & Guidance
Download the forms and guidance documents
Contact us
Medical Sciences / Humanities / GLAM / UAS / Continuing Education / Colleges
Angelina Pelova Tel: 01865 289904 Email: angelina.pelova@admin.ox.ac.uk
James Galloway Tel: 01865 289927 Email: james.galloway@admin.ox.ac.uk
MPLS / Social Sciences
Solveig Alsaker Tel: 01865 289912 Email: solveig.alsaker@admin.ox.ac.uk
Rose Boadu Tel: 01865 289921 Email: rosemond.boadu@admin.ox.ac.uk
