




Starting Up Customer Care & Quality Control Employing People A-Z of Advice Handbook Wages Finding Staff Managing Staff Young People Job Description Staff Discipline and Grievance Procedure Staff Appraisal Staff Bonus and award scheme Staff Contracts Investors in People Staff Induction Work Placements Success through your people Minimum Wage Finance & Funding Health & Safety Regulations & Legal Sales & Marketing Tax Tourism Industry & Suppliers Training

WORK PERMITS

It is important that as an employer you understand t he penalties you could incur for employing someone illegally. Since 1997 it has been a criminal offence for an employer to employ someone in breach of his/her visa conditions. In 1999 the law changed again - if a candidate is employed in breach of their visa conditions they will not be subject to deportation proceedings but would be treated as an illegal entrant. While deportation sounds severe, it is a procedure against which one can appeal. Illegal entrants are simply walked off site and onto a plane. The business discontinuity costs of this could be very severe – particularly if you lose several employees at once.

The Immigration Service has a useful web site with detailed information on work permits for both employers and employees. Their guide, The UK Work Permit Guide for employers:
(http://www.workpermit.com/uk/employer.htm)
is aimed at employers and deals with full work permits. The site explains the difference between a work permit and a visa and explains how to get a work permit. It also explains the implications of employing someone illegally, which are serious. Until 1997 if a candidate was employed illegally, then they would be deported and would suffer a ‘black mark’ on their immigration history, but the employer faced no legal liability for having employed them. However, in 1997 it became a criminal offence for an employer to employ someone in breach of his/her visa conditions. In 1999 the law changed again - if a candidate is employed in breach of their visa conditions they will not be subject to deportation proceedings but would be treated as an illegal entrant. While deportation sounds severe, it is a procedure against which one can appeal. Illegal entrants are simply walked off site and onto a plane. The business discontinuity costs of this could be very severe – particularly if you lose several employees at once.

There also was a New Opportunities for Young People to work in the UK under sector-based schemes from 30 May 2003 for up to twelve months. The UK Government identified various skills shortage areas in the UK economy in 2002 and the new sector based work permit scheme has been introduced to deal with this.

The new sector-based work permit scheme is designed to help employers who have been unable to fill certain types of vacancies from the UK job market for some years. The main use of the work permit scheme so far has been to fill high-level jobs. The new sector-based scheme will initially only cover the Hospitality and Food Manufacturing Industry. However, on 30 March 2004 the Home Office announced that because the quota of 10,000 SBS Hospitality sector work permits has almost been reached, the programme is temporarily suspended. Any applications that are submitted to the Home Office will not be accepted and will be returned to the applicant with the fee. The SBS for the Food Manufacturing Industry is still open.

The basic requirements for the sector-based schemes are as follows:

You must be between the ages of 18 and 30.
This is a temporary work permit for the UK for a maximum period of twelve months.
The employer must show that there is a shortage of people in the UK to fill these vacancies and will normally need to advertise to show this.
You will not be allowed to bring a spouse or dependents with you to the UK.
If you wish to go back on the scheme after being on a work permit for twelve months you will have to be outside the UK for two months.

These requirements make it less likely that the scheme will attract people wishing to stay in the UK on a long-term basis.

The new work permit scheme for the Hospitality and Food Manufacturing Industry:

Basic Requirements
Age Requirements
Type of Jobs Covered
List of specific Jobs
Quota - 30 May 2003 to 31 January 2004
Advertising Requirements
Government Fees
Change of Status
Procedure after work permit is granted
Changing Employers
Overview of Sector Based Work Permits

The website also offers support to employers looking for suitable people (Email recruiter@workpermit.com or telephone 020 7842 0800).

If you are interested in employing people from outside the UK, the Employment Service operates a special section called the European Employment Services (EURES) www.europa.eu/eures. There is no charge for this service and further information can be obtained from your Jobcentre of by contacting the Welsh Euro adviser on 029 20 380781.

‘Working holiday’ Visas
Commonwealth citizens aged 17 to 27 are, in general, entitled to admission to the UK for up to two years as working holidaymakers. Thousands of Australians and South Africans enter the UK on these visas every year. However, the visa prohibits the candidate from pursuing their career or rendering professional services. The trip to the UK should be primarily a holiday:

Any employment must be incidental to the holiday;
Employment should take up no more than half of the holidaymaker's holiday (this may be in the form of spending 1 year in full time employment, and 1 year on holiday, or it may take the form of spending 2 years working part time).

Working holiday visas do not permit a candidate to be employed as an IT professional, and although the chances of detection may not be particularly great, employers should bear in mind that they are committing a criminal offence if they employ a working holidaymaker to do any professional job.

If you would like to download this document please click on one of the links below:

Work Permits (Word Document 121Kb)
Work Permits (PDF Document 129Kb)



Managing Staff