Why this matters
The CoS specifies contracted hours and a salary, and your effective hourly rate must not fall below the CoS threshold (£12.82 per hour for 6135 and 6136). How you structure travel time, training hours and live-in care shifts directly affects whether you remain compliant.
Travel time between care appointments
Travel time between care appointments can be included as part of a sponsored worker's contracted hours, provided:
All hours, including travel time, are paid at the CoS rate. Paying travel time at a lower rate would dilute the effective hourly rate and could push it below the CoS threshold.
The total contracted hours on the CoS match the actual hours worked (care hours plus travel hours).
Example: a 40-hour CoS made up of 35 care hours plus 5 travel hours is acceptable, provided all 40 hours are paid at the CoS rate.
Training hours
Where a worker is paid the CoS rate for their contracted hours but a lower rate for training hours, the position depends on how the training hours sit in relation to the CoS:
If the training hours are part of the CoS contracted hours, all of those hours, including training, must be paid at the CoS rate. Paying some hours at CoS rate and others at NLW would dilute the effective hourly rate and is a compliance breach.
If the training hours are genuinely additional to the CoS contracted hours and the worker is already receiving full CoS salary for their contracted hours, there is an argument that the additional training hours can be paid at NLW. This is a grey area and the Home Office may interpret it strictly, so this should be reviewed case by case.
If you have paid training hours below the CoS rate in earlier pay periods and they were structured as part of the CoS contracted hours, you should review whether retrospective correction is appropriate.
Live-in care shifts and unmeasured work
Live-in care arrangements often involve a 24-hour presence at a client's home but unmeasured working time, typically calculated on an average-hours-per-day basis (commonly 8 hours per day). For sponsorship purposes, what matters is that the effective hourly rate, calculated against the average daily hours actually worked, meets the CoS hourly rate. A live-in daily rate of £128.57 over 8 average hours equates to £16.07 per hour, which is above the £12.82 threshold for 6135 and 6136.
Reducing contracted hours
If you reduce a sponsored worker's contracted hours (for example, from 45 to 37.5), this must be reported as a change of circumstance via the SMS within 10 working days. The worker must continue to meet the minimum annual salary for the relevant occupation code (£25,000 per year for 6135 and 6136, based on a 37.5-hour week with a minimum hourly rate of £12.82).