Your needs: Compliance

Your potential liability

Unless stated in any agreements, you are liable for any individual undertaking work experience (and their actions) as far as you would be for any other member of your team. This includes their rights (Employment Rights Act 1996)Link opens in a new window and your normal responsibilities around fair and equal access to opportunities (Equality Act 2010)Link opens in a new window, employer’s liability and public liability insurance, but also ensuring that any Health and Safety risk assessments have been undertaken and explained to the individual during their induction (see the UK's Health & Safety ExecutiveLink opens in a new window for more information.)

UK National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

There are relatively few scenarios in which a student would NOT be entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW, or the National Living Wage for student aged 21+), one of which is where a student takes a placement as part of their academic degree. Please ensure that you understand your responsibilities, including PAYE processing, NI etc, as this is an area that is increasingly monitored and there are large legal fines for breaching this legislation. If you wish to use the recruitment services including payroll for your intern, you can use a temping agency, for example the University's own agency, Unitemps, to do this for you.

Right to work checks

UKVI requires that you check the documents of everyone you intend to employ to ensure they have a legal right to work in the UK. For information see the GOV.UK guidance on checking a job applicant's right to work and DBS checks. See gov.uk guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): right to work checks

Warwick's definition of good work experience

Although not strictly a compliance issue, we feel very strongly about ensuring the quality of experiences offered to our students. As a guide to whether you're providing a 'good' experience, we give our support to placements, internships and work experience opportunities that enable Warwick students to:

Understand the requirements, expectations and benefits of the role
Acquire new and develop existing skills and knowledge to enhance work readiness
Demonstrate their value to current/future employers
Make new contacts that will benefit them in their career
Access a wide range of sectors, employers and types of work
Access work experience without fear of exploitation or discrimination

All opportunities need to...

Satisfy our Vacancy Advertising Code of Practice, particularly in relation to pay and specifying whether the role is hybrid, remote, on location etc.
Be accessible to anybody with the skills and potential to succeed.
Have a clear job description and person specification.
Provide appropriate management and supervision to the student undertaking the opportunity and include appropriate induction activities.
Recognise the potential to gain insights into the sector, organisation or workplace, regardless of the position and responsibilities of the role.
Allow for reasonable flexibility regarding associated study requirements (placements), or time to attend external job interviews if the role is fixed short-term.

Working with student visa holders

In December 2023, the UK Government introduced measures to reduce legal migration, impacting international student visas. Key changes include adjustments to the Skilled Worker minimum salary threshold, the shortage occupation list, dependant visas, and a review of the Graduate visa route. This has raised much uncertainty for the UK Employment sector, including those who recruit Graduates.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) completed a rapid review of the Graduate Route Visa in May 2024Link opens in a new window. They recommended that the Graduate Route should be retained in its current form. The UK Government has also confirmed to the university that it has accepted MAC’s recommendation and that the Graduate Route visa is retained.

The university, will continue to monitor the situation and we will keep you updated through our news and updatesLink opens in a new window.

The changes to the Skilled Worker routeLink opens in a new window were implemented for Certificate of Sponsorship issued by employers after 04 April 2024.

During their studies

Warwick’s student population includes around 30% International students, who can bring diversity and a global perspective to your business, together with in-depth knowledge of different cultures and languages and the opportunity to develop understanding of international markets and new opportunities.

Student visa holders have visa restrictions that differ from UK students, for example a limit on working hours during studies – it is the student’s responsibility to abide by their visa, and your responsibility as an employer to check you understand any restrictions as part of checking potential employees’ right to work in the UK. To see the advice we give these students about working hours etc. please see our student-facing Immigration Service webpagesLink opens in a new window about working on a Student visa. Even though non-student visa holders have no working hour restrictions, we would still recommend that those students also do not work more than 20 hours per week.

Postgraduate students (Masters and PhD) who have study commitments such as writing a dissertation, attending conferences, teaching and development training will affect when students are available. You can only employ them for a maximum of 20 hours per week during the full length of the course, they can start full-time after the course end date, or if the work they are doing with you is an assessed and integral part of their course (better known as placement).

All University Term Dates can be found on our website hereLink opens in a new window with graduation taking place in January and July. Please note that the term dates are only relevant to undergraduate students, all other students are considered “term-time” from course start to end date.

Please note that it is illegal for employers to discriminate against international students: whilst the law requires employers to only employ individuals with a right to work in the UK it is unlawful not to accept applications from or employ someone based on their nationality. Some exemptions apply (for example roles relating to national security), but in general employers that refuse to accept applications from people just because they may need a visa could be open to claims of discrimination. Please always refer to the government’s guidance on discriminationLink opens in a new window and avoid possible claims of indirect race discrimination by instead:

Accepting and considering applications from any candidates with suitable skills and experience, irrespective of their nationality.
Using statements such as: “the successful candidate must by the start of their employment have permission to work in the UK” in vacancy advertisements/person specifications.
If your vacancy is open to international students, you can highlight this in the vacancy list category as ‘Opportunity for international students’ via the myAdvantage jobs portal.
If you are a non-UK employer, you may need to consult with your equivalent to the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI)Link opens in a new windowto ensure that you are meeting any legal requirements around hosting international students.

Understanding the requirements for working with student visa holders

The majority of requirements remain the same for student visa holders (International Students) and non-visa holders (UK Nationals).

Requirements only differ in relation to when undergraduates can start work during vacation periods, 'self-employment', 'business activity' and freelance work and taking a voluntary year out for work experience.

Here is more information on where requirements remain the same and where they differ.

No difference

Employers and Public liability Insurance in place: remains the same for all students.

Right to work checks: are required for all workers.

Income Tax & National Insurance contributions: are the same for all workers.

Working during term time: is limited to 20 hours a week for all students (depending on personal and study commitments).

Working during vacation periods for postgraduate students: is limited to 20 hours a week. (See below for the different requirements for undergraduate students depending on whether they are a student visa holder or a non visa holder.)

Offering a student placement:

There are no differences in requirements if a placement is:

an assessed part of their course
no more than 50% of the course
approved by the University (which remains partly responsible throughout).

Different requirements

You will need to remain mindful of different requirements for student visa holders (International Students) and non-visa holders (UK Nationals) in relation to:

Working during vacation periods for undergraduate students: Student visa holders (international students) can work full time after the end of term. Non-visa holders (UK Nationals) can work full time once they have finished their studies and exams for the year, which could be before the end of term.

‘Self-employment’ or ‘Business activity’: is strictly not permitted for student visa holders (international students), please see the UKCISA for further information on the types of work students are able to doLink opens in a new window.

Freelance work is permitted under UK employment law for non-visa holders (UK Nationals), however this is complex to advertise within many advertising policies, as by definition it does not come with a quantifiable income.

Voluntary year out for work experience: is not ideal whilst on a student visa as this is a temporary withdrawal from their course. If an international student takes a voluntary year out, the university will need to withdraw sponsorship and the student will need to obtain a new student visa before returning to their studies. They will need to obtain a relevant work visa to undertake the work experience. Student non-visa holders (UK Nationals) can take a year out from their course to undertake voluntary work experience.

Before graduation

All students should have an additional 4 months of visa after the end date of their course to allow them to wait for their results and decide what to do next. For an undergraduate student this might be the period in between June and October, and for a Master’s student this is usually the period between September and January.

During this time, they can work full time on their student visas, as long as they do not fill a permanent vacancy or work on a freelance basis. If you require some guidance on this, please refer to our immigration team’s student facing page ‘Employment during and after your studies’.

Post study work visa the 'Graduate Route' (2-3 years) sponsorship not required!

It has never been easier to hire from the rich pool of international talent coming from UK higher education providers. Employers without a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence can still hire student visa holders via the Graduate Route, which is ideal if you have a fixed-term project, aren’t yet sure of your longer-term requirements, or are looking to access skills or fill gaps.

The UK Government introduced the Graduate Route post-study work visa from summer 2021. This is an unsponsored route and allows the majority of student visa holders successfully completing their degree level course or above at the University of Warwick to apply to remain in the UK for a further period of 2-3 years (depending on their level of study) to work or look for work at any skill level.

This represents a significant increase in flexibility for employers when considering applications from student visa holders.

Please read our ‘Graduate route – Employer Information’ leaflet for more information on this visa route and refer to the ‘Recruiting International Graduates’ website.

Undergraduates apply for their visa from July-November in the year of graduation. Postgraduate taught students (Master's students) are more likely to apply November-January in the year of graduation, based on the completion date of their studies. PhD students can apply once their degree is complete throughout the year.

For further information please see:

GOV.UK information for the Graduate Route and Graduate Visa

The Skilled Worker route (for hiring longer term)

Next: Hear from employers Previous: Considerations

Internship myth-busting

'Internship' came from the USA to refer to (unpaid) graduate development opportunities, but in the UK it has no legal definition – you need to specify the requirements, expectations and benefits of a given role
While unpaid internships are legal in some countries, in the UK it is illegal to pay any worker less than the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage for student aged 23+)

You have the same responsibilites even if the person in front of you offers to work for free!

Watch out for additional working hours!

An easy mistake to make would be to employ a student to work for 37 hours per week, at National Minimum Wage, then ask them to work for a few extra hours – this would mean that you were effectively paying them at less than NMW. This would be the case even if the student offered or insisted on staying late – bear in mind that the responsibility (and liability) lies with you for that person to be paid for the hours they have worked.

For information around maximum weekly working hours and the Working Time Directive (which counts for students too) read the UK Government Guidelines here on maximum working hours.

Holiday

If you will be paying your intern by the hour, don't forget that they are entitled to holiday.

Sick pay

Understand the implications of sick pay entitlement when employing a student in any capacityLink opens in a new window.