The Risks of Legal and Reputational Costs of Non-Compliance for UK Care Providers
By Hamraj Gulamali, Head of Legal & Compliance at Zinc (https://zincwork.com)
The UK’s care sector is in crisis. Years of chronic staff shortages have placed sustained pressure on providers, many of whom rely on international workers to maintain safe, consistent care. At the same time, regulatory and compliance demands, from DBS and immigration checks to CQC inspections and right-to-work verification, have grown increasingly complex and resource-intensive.
For many care homes, the combination of limited staffing options and slow, manual vetting processes is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. Millions are spent navigating outdated systems that delay recruitment and heighten operational risk. In 2023 alone, the CQC issued over £5 million in fines, while right-to-work breaches can carry penalties of up to £60,000 per case.
Against this backdrop, Labour’s proposed changes to care worker visas, outlined in Keir Starmer’s recent white paper, have raised concern across the sector. Plans to reduce visa availability and tighten settlement rules could further restrict access to a critical international workforce, just as demand for care continues to grow. Without careful consideration, these reforms risk compounding existing pressures and placing even greater strain on a system already close to breaking point.
Visa restrictions vs workforce demand
Starmer’s proposed visa reforms arrive at a time when the care workforce is already at breaking point. While the intention is to reduce long-term dependency on overseas labour, the reality is that care homes are still grappling with unfilled vacancies, limited local interest in care roles, and few viable pathways to scale up domestic hiring quickly. For many providers, international recruitment isn’t a choice; it’s a necessity born from years of structural workforce shortages.
These proposed changes could also disrupt recruitment pipelines that providers have invested heavily in building, particularly through sponsorship and settlement routes. With little clarity on transitional arrangements or support for affected employers, there’s a risk that care homes will be left in limbo, unable to plan ahead or confidently maintain staffing levels. This uncertainty compounds the strain already created by complex compliance demands and rising operational costs.
Rather than addressing the root causes of workforce fragility, visa restrictions may instead accelerate churn and increase reliance on costly agency staffing, further destabilising a system that urgently needs sustained investment and workforce planning, not tighter constraints.
Keeping up with changing regulations
As seen with the advent of Starmer’s proposed reforms, constantly evolving regulations are creating significant legal and financial risks for care providers. Rules around immigration, employment eligibility, and safeguarding are shifting rapidly, placing growing pressure on legal and HR teams to stay compliant. The pace and complexity of these ongoing changes can be difficult to manage without the right tools and support. When updates are fragmented or introduced with little notice, even experienced teams may struggle to respond effectively. Without streamlined processes, there’s a risk that key steps in vetting or documentation may be missed, potentially exposing organisations to liability or reputational harm.
These oversights can have far-reaching consequences. Incomplete or incorrect right-to-work checks, for instance, may invalidate an organisation’s statutory excuse, leaving them vulnerable to fines of up to £60,000 per worker. Errors in immigration status verification or DBS disclosures can also lead to penalties, legal challenges, or reputational harm. In a sector already under financial strain and regulatory scrutiny, even minor compliance failures can carry outsized consequences.
At the heart of the issue is a lack of accessible, streamlined systems to support frontline staff and compliance teams alike. Too often, providers rely on outdated processes or manual checks that are inherently prone to human error. Without better technology tools and clearer guidance, care organisations will continue to face unnecessary risks not from negligence but from the difficulty of navigating a system that’s no longer fit for purpose.
Turnover creates compliance gaps
High staff turnover is another major driver of compliance risk across the care sector. When experienced team members leave, they often take with them crucial institutional knowledge, especially around vetting procedures, right-to-work documentation, and regulatory checks. In many cases, there are no formal handovers or systems in place to ensure continuity, meaning newer or temporary staff are left to navigate complex processes without adequate support or training.
This loss of knowledge can quickly lead to compliance gaps. Key steps in onboarding, such as verifying visa conditions, maintaining audit trails, or conducting thorough DBS and sanctions checks, may be missed or inconsistently applied. Even minor lapses can result in invalid checks, exposing providers to significant legal and financial penalties. For organisations already stretched thin, these errors aren’t just administrative – they represent a breakdown in the safeguards designed to protect vulnerable people and ensure legal integrity.
Without a more resilient approach to knowledge transfer and process standardisation, the sector risks becoming trapped in a damaging cycle: high turnover creates compliance vulnerabilities, which in turn lead to regulatory penalties, legal exposure, and staff burnout, only accelerating further churn. Breaking this cycle will require more than policy tweaks; it demands a coordinated effort to modernise systems, support frontline teams, and ensure regulatory frameworks are workable in practice, not just on paper.
