Reduced Hours, Furlough, or a Temporary Pay Cut on a Work Visa
Reduced hours, furlough, or a temporary pay cut can affect your Skilled Worker visa. This guide explains how your salary is assessed and when a reduction is a risk.
- Section
- Skilled Worker Visa
- Reading time
- 8 min
- Last checked
- 9 June 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- The general £41,700 threshold is not pro-rated for part-time work — your actual pay must reach it.
- Only the going rate is pro-rated, by your weekly hours divided by 37.5.
- Reduced pay during statutory leave, such as maternity or sick leave, is a permissible absence.
- Otherwise, more than 4 weeks a year without pay or on reduced pay normally ends the sponsorship.
- Your sponsor must report changes to your pay and hours to the Home Office.
On a Skilled Worker visa, the £41,700 general threshold is not reduced for part-time work: your actual pay must still reach it. Only the going rate for your occupation code is pro-rated by your hours. Reduced pay during statutory leave is a permissible absence, but most other reductions are not. Your sponsor must report changes to your pay and hours. This guide explains where the line sits.
The Key Idea: Only the Going Rate Is Pro-Rated
People often assume that part-time work brings the salary rules down in proportion. It does not. The general threshold is a flat annual figure: your actual guaranteed pay must reach it however many hours you work. Only the going rate for your occupation code is adjusted for your working pattern.
Paragraph SW 14.4 of the Immigration Rules sets the method: the going rate is multiplied by your weekly working hours divided by 37.5. Paragraph SW 14.3 caps the other end — if you are sponsored to work more than 48 hours a week, only the pay for the first 48 hours counts towards the thresholds.
This is why reduced hours are a problem. Fewer hours mean less actual pay, and the general threshold does not move with them. Our guide on how Skilled Worker salary is calculated explains the method in more detail.
The Two Figures You Must Still Meet
Whatever happens to your hours or pay, you must still meet two figures. Your pay must meet the general Skilled Worker salary threshold and the going rate for your job. You need to meet the higher of the two.
Since 22 July 2025 the general threshold has been £41,700, but your job needs more if its going rate is higher. Figures change over time, so always check the current ones on GOV.UK.
The 4-Week Rule, and What Is Excused From It
The general rule sits in the sponsor guidance at paragraph S4.19: a sponsor must normally stop sponsoring a worker who is absent from the sponsored work without pay, or on reduced pay, for more than 4 weeks in total in a calendar year. That can be one long absence or several short ones added together, counted against your normal working pattern.
Paragraph S4.26 then lists the permissible absences, which do not count towards that limit:
- Statutory maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental, or adoption leave.
- Statutory neonatal care leave.
- Sick leave.
- Jury service, or attending court as a witness.
- Legally organised industrial action.
- Assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis, where your sponsor agreed to the absence for that purpose.
Even for a permissible absence, paragraph S4.27 says your sponsor should still report the period through the Sponsor Management System.
A Pay Cut for Any Other Reason
Paragraph S4.29 of the sponsor guidance covers a salary reduction that has nothing to do with absence. Your sponsor must report it, and must check whether a new certificate of sponsorship is needed and whether you have to apply for new permission before the cut can happen. Paragraph S4.30 is blunt: the sponsor must stop sponsoring you if the revised salary no longer meets the salary, hourly, or going rate requirement for the job.
Paragraph S4.31 lists the reductions a sponsor must report but does not have to stop sponsoring you for:
- A cut that goes with a temporary reduction in your hours, or a phased return to work, for individual health reasons — provided it is supported by an occupational health assessment and your hourly rate does not fall below the hourly rate requirement that applied at your most recent grant of permission.
- A cut after which you would still score points for salary under the Skilled Worker rules.
- A cut after which you otherwise still meet the salary requirements of the route.
There is no general business-wide exception. A permanent cut, or a long-term reduction in hours, that leaves your actual pay below the threshold or the pro-rated going rate is not covered. Our guide on what happens if your salary falls below the threshold explains the knock-on effects for your visa, your extension, and your settlement application.
What Furlough Means for You
Furlough is a word many people remember from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where staff were kept on the payroll but did not work, often on reduced pay. That scheme closed on 30 September 2021, and the immigration concessions that went with it closed with it. There is no furlough scheme now, and no standing exception in the sponsor guidance for a business-wide pay cut.
If your employer places you on a furlough-style arrangement with reduced pay, the ordinary rules above apply: more than 4 weeks in a calendar year on reduced pay normally ends the sponsorship unless a permissible absence covers it, and any other cut must leave you meeting the salary requirements. A regulated adviser, listed by the Immigration Advice Authority, can advise on your own circumstances.
Your Sponsor Must Report Changes
Your sponsor has a legal duty to report changes to your pay and hours to the Home Office. They do this through the Sponsor Management System. This duty applies whether the change is permanent or temporary.
You should not assume a change will go unnoticed. It is better to know in advance whether a change is allowed than to find out at your next application. Our guide on employment rights for visa holders sets out your wider position at work.
How This Affects Your Future Applications
A reduction that breaks the rules does not only affect you now. It can also affect your future plans. When you apply for a visa extension, the Home Office checks your pay again.
The same is true for settlement (indefinite leave to remain), which is the right to live in the UK without a time limit. Your pay must meet the settlement salary threshold on the day you apply. A low salary at that point can lead to a refusal, even after years of work.
What You Can Do
- Ask your employer to explain the change and whether it is temporary.
- Check whether the reduction fits an allowed reason, such as statutory leave.
- Work out your actual annual pay and compare it with the £41,700 threshold, then compare it with the going rate for your occupation code pro-rated to your hours.
- Ask your sponsor to confirm they will report the change correctly.
- If the change could put your visa at risk, a regulated adviser listed by the Immigration Advice Authority can advise on your own circumstances before you agree to it.
Next Steps
Related guides:
Questions and answers
How is my salary assessed if my hours are reduced?
The general threshold is not reduced for part-time work. Your actual pay must still reach £41,700 a year, however few hours you work. Only the going rate for your occupation code is pro-rated, by multiplying it by your weekly hours divided by 37.5. So fewer hours usually make it harder, not easier, to meet the rules.
Are temporary pay cuts ever allowed on a Skilled Worker visa?
Yes, in the cases the sponsor guidance lists. Reduced pay during statutory maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental, adoption, neonatal care or sick leave is a permissible absence, as are jury service, attending court as a witness, legally organised industrial action, and agreed work on a humanitarian or environmental crisis. Outside those cases, a reduction is only allowed if you would still meet the salary rules afterwards, or if it goes with a temporary cut in hours or a phased return to work for health reasons supported by an occupational health assessment.
Does my sponsor have to report reduced hours or a pay cut?
Yes. Your sponsor must report changes to your pay and hours to the Home Office through the Sponsor Management System. Reporting changes is one of their sponsor duties. They should do this whether the change is permanent or temporary.
Will reduced pay during maternity or sick leave hurt my visa?
The sponsor guidance treats statutory maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental, adoption and neonatal care leave, and sick leave, as permissible absences. A sponsor does not have to stop sponsoring you for them, even though the general rule is that sponsorship stops after more than 4 weeks in a calendar year without pay or on reduced pay. Your sponsor must still report the period of absence through the Sponsor Management System.
What should I do if my employer wants to cut my hours or pay?
Speak to your employer early and explain that your actual pay must keep meeting the Skilled Worker salary rules. Ask whether the change is temporary and whether it fits one of the permissible absences or salary-reduction exceptions in the sponsor guidance. A regulated adviser, listed by the Immigration Advice Authority, can advise on your own circumstances before you agree to a change.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.