There has been a fundamental shift in immigration policy over the last few years. Previously it was necessary for an employer to demonstrate that efforts had been made to source local staff before employing foreign nationals. The policy then was that the employer had to select the most suitable not the best. So where a local candidate had the same or similar qualifications as a foreign national, the employer had to select the local national.
Under the regulations now in place, the employer can choose the best employee for the job without the need to attempt to find a local person to fill the job. The advertising requirements have long been scrapped. Alongside these changes, the skill level has dropped. This allows employers to hire foreign nationals for jobs that usually require the equivalent of A-level qualifications. This has opened up a fair number of additional positions that can be filled by foreign nationals.
What follows is an illustration of different industries and the types of jobs available.
Within the pharmaceutical industry employers can there are a number of jobs that can be filled that were previously not all available. They include Pharmaceutical technicians, Pharmaceutical chemists, Laboratory analysts, Laboratory technicians and Medical laboratory assistants.
What is particularly interesting is the number of positions within the construction industry. It enables employers to hire a whole team of people with skills that are necessary. So it is possible to hire Gas engineers, Gas service engineers, Heating and ventilating engineers, Heating engineers and Plumbing and heating engineers. It includes Building Services managers, Construction managers, Building services consultants, Civil engineering technicians, Survey Technicians, Technical assistants (civil engineering), Building contractors, Fencers, Maintenance managers, Property developers, Builder’s foremen, Construction foremen, Construction supervisors, Maintenance supervisors and Site foremen.
For the first time within the clothing industry, it is possible to bring tailors, Cutter (hosiery, and knitwear mfr), Dressmakers, Fabric cutters, Clothing manufacturers, Embroiderers and Hand sewers.
Within social care, care workers remain on the shortage occupation list and according to the body that advises and makes recommendations to the Government, the Migration Advisory Committee it is unlikely that they will be removed from the list in the near future.
In order to bring staff from abroad, it is however necessary to hold a Sponsor licence which carries duties and responsibilities. With the increase in the number of applications for licences, the lead time for processing applications can be 8 weeks. There are fast-track processes that can substantially speed up the processing times.
Employers must demonstrate that the positions are genuine. It is vital for employers to retain evidence in their files to demonstrate the reasons why they selected foreign nationals. There are likely to be visited by the Compliance Team of the Home Office either at the time of the application for a licence or later.
It is important to be aware that there are particular rules for hiring family members which must be followed meticulously to avoid the position being considered not to be genuine. There is a requirement for disclosure if a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned to a family member of anyone within the sponsor organisation if it is classed as a small or medium-sized business: or if the employer is aware they are assigning certificates to a family member of anyone else within a sponsor organisation classed as a large business.
