Recruitment Advice

Will recruiters shy away from recruiting immigrants as the new points based system comes into effect?

The system only covers migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEC) and Switzerland. Larger businesses are finding the administration time and cost too much and smaller businesses are shying away. This is because they simply don’t have the spare money during the economic downturn and lack the resources to understand what to do, therefore they are not looking at recruiting workers who need sponsorship.

As a registered sponsor it is the companies responsibility to make sure that the migrant workers comply with their immigration conditions, by keeping records and reporting any changes to the Home Office. The cost to become a sponsor is between £300 and  £1000 for 4 years registration.

Under the new system, migrants will need to pass a points-based assessment before they are given permission to enter or remain in the United Kingdom. The system consists of five tiers. Each tier has different points requirements.

• Tier 1: Highly skilled individuals to contribute to growth and productivity;
• Tier 2: Skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in United Kingdom labour force;
• Tier 3: Limited numbers of low skilled workers needed to fill temporary labour shortages;
• Tier 4: Students;
• Tier 5: Youth mobility and temporary workers: people allowed to work in the United Kingdom for a limited period of time to satisfy primarily non-economic objectives