Work Permit Policy: Hotel and Catering Occupations: Review

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A decision made 23 December 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2013-0073
Decision Summary Title :	Review of work permit policy		Date of Decision Summary:	17 December 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Assistant Director, Immigration and Nationality		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Work permit review		Date of Written Report:	17 December 2013
Written Report Author:	Assistant Director, Immigration and Nationality		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Review of work permit policy – Hotel and catering occupations.
Decision(s): The Minister decided that from 1 January 2014 the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service should adopt the same policy as the Home Office in respect of work permit applications for persons of non-EEA nationality applying to work as skilled chefs. This policy is set out in the attached report. In respect of other hotel and catering occupations the new eligibility criteria will be that the job is in a senior management role only, where it is at Bachelor or higher degree level or equivalent, NVQ level 6, and the job is paid at or above the appropriate rate set by the industry. In any case where an employer is seeking to employ a non-EEA national as either a skilled chef or in a hotel and catering occupation, as detailed above, they will need to provide the following: - Full job description and details of staff under their control, listing responsibilities - Evidence of qualifications and work references - Evidence of appropriate advertising or recruitment searches over a period of at least 4 weeks (resident labour market test) using specialist trade journals, recruitment agencies and websites. To include placing an advert at the Social Security Department. - Knowledge of listening and spoken English equivalent to level B1 or above of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework for language learning unless exempt. - Accommodation to be provided or arranged by the employer. If an employee prefers to find their own it is acceptable. - A draft contract of employment.
Reason(s) for Decision: The outcome of a review of the current work permit policy.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: Jersey Customs and Immigration Service to implement the new policy with effect from 1 January 2014 and to notify the Hospitality Association, who have been kept informed, of the signing of the decision.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):