A monitoring officer rarely opens with a question about pay. The first questions are about how the business runs. Who supervises the sponsored worker. What happens when someone complains. Where the rules are written down. We see well run sponsors stumble here, because the practice was sound and the paperwork was not. This note sets out the policy set our migration team asks a sponsor to have ready, and the contract trap our commercial practice keeps fixing.
In short: a monitoring visit tests whether your written rules match your daily practice. Keep eight policies current, dated and issued, and make sure none of them lets the business recover the $330 nomination charge or the levy from a worker.
What a monitoring visit is actually testing
Sponsorship monitoring sits in the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994. Inspectors may ask for documents, put questions to staff and attend business premises. A tip-off, a Fair Work referral or a routine program can each start it.
Policies do not discharge a sponsor obligation on their own. An officer still checks what the business paid and what the worker did. Policies do something different. They show the obligations sit inside a system, with an owner and a date.
The eight policies we ask sponsors to produce
Most sponsors already hold half of this list. The gaps cluster in the same places each year.
| Policy | What it shows an officer | Where it usually fails |
|---|---|---|
| Remuneration and review | How pay is set against the nomination and the $79,423 threshold | Annual review happens verbally, with nothing on file |
| Sponsorship cost recovery | The business pays sponsorship, nomination and levy costs | A recruiter invoice gets deducted from a salary package |
| Department notifications | Who notifies, on what trigger, within what time | The HR manager leaves and nobody inherits the duty |
| Change of duties and location | Duties stay inside the nominated occupation | A quiet promotion moves the role to a new ANZSCO code |
| Work health and safety | The same standard applies to every worker | Induction is verbal, so no record exists |
| Discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment | Reasonable steps under the positive duty | The policy exists, but no training record backs it |
| Speak up and whistleblower | A worker can raise an issue without fearing their visa | Reports route only to a direct manager |
| Records, access and privacy | Employee data is kept, secured and retrievable | A software provider deletes on its own schedule |
The cost recovery policy earns its place first. Recovering a sponsorship cost from a sponsored worker breaches a sponsor obligation. A written rule stops a payroll officer from creating that breach.
Before, during and after
Name one internal owner for sponsorship. Reissue each policy, dated, and record who received it. Check that every sponsored worker signed an acknowledgement. Confirm the position description still matches the nominated occupation. Then read the file as a stranger would, one worker at a time.
Ask for identification and note the officer's name. Call your adviser before the questions start, not after. Answer what is asked, accurately, and do not guess. Where a document is not to hand, offer to send it. Keep a list of everything produced or discussed.
Write a file note the same day, while the detail is fresh. Send any document you promised, by the date you promised. Where the visit exposed a gap, fix it and record the fix. If the gap touches pay or duties, seek advice first. Some corrections carry a notification obligation of their own.
The contract trap our commercial practice keeps fixing
Policies and employment contracts must sit in the right relationship. Many contracts say the policies form part of the contract. That single line converts every policy into a promise by the employer. A missed step in a grievance policy then becomes a breach of contract. It also makes the policy hard to update, because a contract term usually needs consent.
The safer drafting is familiar to our commercial practice. The contract requires the employee to comply with company policies as varied from time to time. It then states that the policies do not form part of it. Sponsored staff need one further line, confirming the business bears all sponsorship costs.
What does your contract say about company policies?
Our note on employment contracts for sponsored staff covers the rest of the clause set, including duties, restraints and the 180 day period after employment ends.
Labour hire, hosts and franchise networks
Policies travel badly across corporate structures. A sponsored worker generally works for the sponsor, in the sponsored business. On-hire to another business needs an on-hire labour agreement. Where a host site sets the rosters, an officer will ask who directs the work.
Franchise networks raise a related problem. A franchisor manual does not make the franchisor the employer, yet it shapes what the franchisee can do. Each franchisee that sponsors carries its own obligations. We read the network documents and the sponsorship documents together.
The policy pack, in checklist form
Your browser will remember what you tick. Retention sits in our note on the payroll file a sponsor keeps.
What an officer may ask to see on the day
Expect the nomination approval, the signed contract and the current position description. Expect payslips and proof of payment for a sample period. Expect rosters or timesheets showing hours and work location. Expect the policy documents, the acknowledgement records, and a question about who reports changes to the Department.
How we help
The migration practice reviews sponsorship files and policies against the sponsor obligations. The commercial practice drafts the policy suite and the contract clauses that carry it. To arrange a pre-monitoring review, contact us.
Figures verified against Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026. Sponsor obligations and monitoring powers come from the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994.
Frequently asked questions
Does a small business need written workplace policies to sponsor a worker?
The law does not list a policy suite as a sponsor obligation. In practice, written policies are how a small business proves it met the obligations consistently.
Can we ask a sponsored employee to pay any part of the sponsorship cost?
No. The business must bear sponsorship and nomination costs, including the $330 nomination charge and the levy. The worker may pay their own visa application charge.
Should our policies be attached to the employment contract?
We advise against it. Require compliance with policies as varied from time to time, and state that the policies do not form part of the contract.
How much notice does the Department give before a monitoring visit?
Monitoring may happen with or without notice. Inspectors may attend business premises and ask questions there, so prepare before a request arrives.
Do our policies need to be provided in the worker's own language?
There is no general translation requirement. Where English is limited, provide an interpreted briefing and record it, because an unread policy proves very little.
General information as at 25 September 2026. Not legal advice. Sponsor obligations depend on your approval type and your workforce, so obtain advice before a monitoring request is answered.