Skilled Worker visa holders are sponsored to work in a specific role but can also undertake ‘supplementary employment’ with the same or a different employer alongside their main role, as long as they are still working in their main sponsored role and the supplementary work is:
- a type of work which could be sponsored under the Skilled Worker rules at the relevant skill level depending - see below - (the salary thresholds do not apply to additional work, it is just about the type of work)
- outside their normal working hours and does not interfere with their main role (it is not therefore possible to change or reduce a role to facilitate supplementary employment)
- no more than 20 hours per week
As part of a right to work check before any supplementary work starts, the visa holder will need to discuss and check with the employer offering the work in question that it is a type of work which could be sponsorable to ensure they are permitted to undertake the work.
4 April 2024 and 22 July 2025 changes to supplementary employment for Skilled Worker visa holders
Originally supplementary employment had to be in the same type of work, under the same job code, as a Skilled Worker visa holder's main role.
The 4 April 2024 rules changes expanded this to permit any work which could be sponsored under a Skilled Worker visa as supplementary employment.
The 22 July 2025 rules changes split Skilled Worker job codes into skilled RQF 6 and lower skilled RQF 3 - 5 (mostly support roles) and resulted in different rules on supplementary employment for those sponsored before and after this date:
- 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 the 22 July 2025 changes mean 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.
