A quirk in the Department for Work and Pension’s pay policy means hundreds of staff are unable to extend their visas
An anomaly in the Department for Work and Pensions's pay policy means hundreds of its staff could be at risk of losing their jobs and their ability to stay in the UK.
According to the PCS union, 500 officials at the department may have to leave their jobs to a quirk in the way the department pays its employees, and 35 of the union's members have already been forced out. Farouq Ahmed is one of them.
Ahmed joined DWP in January 2024 as an executive officer-grade enforcement case manager for the Child Maintenance Service, working on a graduate visa with the intention of converting it to a skilled-worker visa. At this time, the standard salary threshold for a skilled-worker visa was £26,200 and his starting salary was £29,500.
As it is possible to apply to move onto a skilled-worker visa at any stage before a graduate visa expires, Ahmed attempted to do so before the then-Conservative government introduced radically increased thresholds in April 2024. However, he says the department told him he would have to wait until he entered the final three months of his graduate visa to apply – meaning August 2024. By this time, the skilled-worker visa threshold had increased to £38,700. However, he hoped to still qualify for sponsorship under "new entrant'" rules, which had a lower salary threshold of £30,960, alongside an hourly wage threshold of £15.88.
Ahmed signalled his intention to apply in August but was now reliant on getting a pay rise to meet the threshold. He had to wait until October for DWP to agree its 2024-25 pay policy, which took his earnings over the £30,960 threshold. DWP then told him that he would not be able to apply under the "new entrant" rules due to not meeting the hourly threshold.
Why? Because the DWP pays its staff for their lunch hours, meaning a full-time employee is paid a salary based on 42-hour week rather than 37-hour week. Ahmed's new salary of £30,975 over a 37-hour week equated to an hourly rate of £16.10. But over a 42-hour week, it was just £14.18 per hour.
He was then only left with the option to apply for leave to remain outside the rules – a process allowing the home secretary to grant leave on a discretionary basis. This was refused on 28 March, forcing Ahmed to step down from his job as an enforcement case manager for the CMS and to return to Nigeria on 6 May.
Ahmed tells CSW it was “devastating” to hear that he would not get his visa because of the anomaly in the way salaries are paid at DWP, and he said that this “should’ve been communicated earlier” by the department.
The lunch-break pay policy, which PCS says is not used by any other department, means DWP staff need to earn a minimum of £34,682 to secure a skilled visa under the new entrant thresholds.
It is already more difficult for DWP officials to meet the yearly threshold before the hours anomaly comes into play. The median salary at the DWP is £29,500 – which also happens to be the average at the EO grade – well below the civil service wide median salary of £33,980.
“Farouq is one of many of the human beings behind the statistics that, but for being in a low-paying department, and being paid for lunch breaks, would still be working in DWP" PCS
The Home Office is the only department with a lower median salary – its staff earn £29,400 on average.
This means that a DWP official on a graduate visa looking to move to a skilled-worker visa needs to earn £5,182 above their department’s average salary to meet the thresholds. A Home Office civil servant would meanwhile need to earn £1,560 above their department’s average salary.
Why hasn't DWP changed the policy or made exceptions?
PCS has asked DWP to consider the introduction of a non-standard contract so that the department can implement a contract variation for current employees to enable them to meet the salary requirements under the Skilled Worker Visa Scheme. But the union said DWP rejected this, saying it would amount to “circumnavigating Home Office guidance”.
On 10 April, PCS sent a letter to Keir Starmer, asking the prime minister to urgently intervene “to prevent a wholly unnecessary and cruel escalation for these individuals and their families”.
The letter, from PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote and DWP group president Angela Grant, said: “Farouq is one of many of the human beings behind the statistics that, but for being in a low-paying department, and being paid for lunch breaks, would still be working in the DWP."
They also pointed to the fact that DWP has acknowledged a shortfall of 2,100 work coaches, adding: "It is therefore incredible that as DWP is facing a staffing crisis, government’s own rules are forcing five hundred or more experienced, highly qualified, university-educated staff that are delivering services to the most vulnerable people in the UK, out of the department."
The letter included a statement from Ahmed, who explained how he “came to the United Kingdom with hope, purpose, and a heart full of ambition to contribute positively to this great nation” and “worked hard, followed every rule, contributed to society, and built a life here”.
Ahmed, who came to the UK to complete a masters in business analytics at the University of Stirling and paid more than £22,000 in university fees, said he “sought ways to meaningfully contribute to society” after graduating, and “found that purpose working in public service".
"I built a life here. I made friends who became family. I paid taxes, rent, and bills. I supported the economy through my spending and supported my community with integrity. I never broke the law. I have always respected this country, its people and its processes” Farouq Ahmed
He said he dedicated each day to “fighting for children across the UK, children who are often forgotten when a parent refuses to pay their share” and had “built partnerships, challenged injustice, and improved processes to make our work more effective”. He said he had “done all of this with pride because I believed in the values of fairness and compassion that the UK represents”.
"But I am more than my work," Ahmed added. "I built a life here. I made friends who became family. I paid taxes, rent, and bills. I supported the economy through my spending and supported my community with integrity. I never broke the law. I have always respected this country, its people and its processes.”
Ahmed said the visa rejection would put his family at risk as his elderly parents in Nigeria depend on him financially to cover their medical care, and that he also has personal debt from the cost of his education. “Without a job, I face financial devastation and the guilt of being unable to care for my parents or repay what I owe,” he said.
Speaking to CSW from Nigeria, Ahmed says the situation has left him feeling “used” by the department and feeling that its values – “care, deliver, adapt, work together, value everybody” – were “just a marketing strategy”.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We take the welfare of our staff very seriously and continue to provide a range of support to colleagues employed on time-limited visas who may be impacted by the uplift to salary thresholds introduced in April 2024.
“Visa sponsorship is very specific to personal circumstances and therefore we are unable to comment on individual cases.”