From 8 April 2026, the Home Office updated how sponsors must evidence that their workers are being paid at the required threshold. Under the previous rules, pay compliance could be assessed at a single point in time by comparing a worker's stated annual salary against the CoS. The updated guidance removes that approach.

The reason for the change is that a single salary figure does not always reflect what a worker is actually paid over time, particularly where hours vary, pay is irregular, or there are periods of reduced pay. The Home Office now requires sponsors to demonstrate that actual gross pay, across a defined rolling window of recent payslips, meets the required threshold. Uploading a payslip once and pointing to a salary figure on the CoS is no longer sufficient evidence on its own.

The length of the rolling window and the pay threshold that applies depend on how frequently the worker is paid.

Monthly-paid workers

Gross pay is assessed across any 3-month window. The total gross pay across those three months must be at least 25% of the worker's CoS annual salary (one quarter of the annual figure). For example, if the CoS states an annual salary of £30,000, the worker must have received at least £7,500 in gross pay across any rolling 3-month period.

Workers paid more frequently than monthly (regular pattern)

This covers workers paid weekly, fortnightly, or every four weeks on a consistent schedule. Gross pay is assessed across any 12-week window. The total must be at least 12/52 of the CoS annual salary. For a CoS annual salary of £30,000, that means at least £6,923 across any 12-week period.

Workers on an irregular or uneven hours pattern

Where a worker's hours vary significantly week to week rather than following a consistent pattern, a longer window applies. Gross pay is assessed across any 17-week window, and the total must be at least 17/52 of the CoS annual salary. For a CoS annual salary of £30,000, that means at least £9,808 across any 17-week period. The sponsor confirms whether a worker is on an irregular pattern directly within Borderless.

In all cases, the calculation uses actual gross pay from uploaded payslips, not the salary figure stated on the CoS alone.

Your workers' payslip section now directly contributes to their overall compliance score. A worker's payslip section will show as green when a complete set of payslips covering the required rolling window has been uploaded and gross pay meets the threshold against their Certificate of Sponsorship. It will show as red if no payslips have been uploaded, if the uploaded set does not cover the required period, or if pay falls below the required level.

Workers who do not require a CoS are not affected by the rolling window rules. Where no CoS is required, uploading a payslip is sufficient to mark the payslip section as green.

A calendar view is now available on each worker's payslip section. It plots uploaded payslips by pay period and flags any periods where data is missing, giving you a clear picture of which windows are covered and where gaps remain before a Home Office check.

Each file should contain a single document. For example, a payslip PDF should contain one payslip, not multiple payslips combined into a single file. Password-protected files are not supported — please remove any password protection before uploading.

Supported file formats: PDF, PNG, JPG.

Over the coming days, the platform will also surface in-line warnings where payslips are missing or where gross pay falls below the required threshold, along with a prompt for workers on irregular or uneven hours patterns. You will not need to take any action -- these will appear automatically once live.

If you have any questions about these changes or what they mean for your account, please reach out to your CSM or contact us via the support chat.