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Management

PwC: employers not prepared for shakeup

Written by Roberta Murray
Friday, 12 September 2008
HR professionals not ready for looming immigration shakeup. With less than two months to go before the biggest shake up of rules for employing skilled migrant workers in 30 years, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Legal LLP survey shows that 88% of HR directors have still not applied for a sponsorship licence. Related Articles Walsh: Back Heathrow Migrant worker numbers fall HR budgets expected to fall Flexible workers at risk Generation Y in the workplace HR Directors who fail to implement illegal working laws leave themselves open to possible prison sentences and their firms open to fines of £10,000 per employee. The new rules require companies to apply for a licence to employ non-European economic area (EEA) migrant workers under the points based system (PBS), and agree to meet a number of new sponsorship duties. Over half of HR directors surveyed cited concerns at checking their internal processes as the main reason for not registering. In addition, 60% of those surveyed say that they either don’t, or don’t know, if they have the systems in place to track the basic information required by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA). Julia Onslow-Cole, partner and head of global immigration, PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal LLP, commented: “The deadline for registration in order to be ready for the new system is October 2008 and companies need to act now to ensure they are registered to recruit from overseas, or face the consequences of not having access to a pipeline of foreign talent. Currently, UKBA will only guarantee that sponsorship applications received by 1 October will be processed in time, leaving companies facing additional HR challenges at a time of uncertain economic conditions. PwC has said that if companies act quickly UKBA has stated that sponsor licence applications supported by a report from PwC Legal will receive a decision well within the standard six week turnaround time. Once a registration is completed and a licence granted companies would then be added to a register of sponsors and would be able to issue certificates of sponsorship. Julia Onslow-Cole, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal LLP, added: “This process takes time and the clock is ticking loudly. Mirant compliance is not optional and companies need to heed this warning.