New UK work visa regulations will shut down the system for employers in critical shortage areas.
New UK work visa regulations will shut down the system for employers in critical shortage areas. A government immigration adviser’s warning precedes a sharp increase in the salary floors for foreign hires.
According to the government’s migration advisers, new rules requiring employers to pay overseas hires more than the “vast majority” of UK workers in the same occupation will effectively close the UK visa system to employers looking to fill positions in some critical shortage areas.
The Migration Advisory Committee has issued a warning, noting that many employers who currently use the system may find it prohibitive to hire well-qualified employees due to the main salary floor for skilled worker visas, which is scheduled to increase from £26,200 to £38,700 starting in April.
With that threshold rising from £20,960 to £30,960, it will also become much more expensive to use the visa system in places where the Home Office permits employers to hire at a lower rate due to the shortage of UK workers.
MAC stated that even the lower rate would be “above the salaries paid for the vast majority of workers in that occupation” in many mid-skilled areas in its interim recommendations on the roles to be included on a new “immigration salary list” qualifying for this discount, which were published on Friday.
This will apply to jobs that are suggested for listing on the list, such as those related to welding, bricklaying, working in racetracks, and healthcare providers outside of the National Health Service (NHS), as well as jobs that might be taken into consideration in a future review, like veterinary nursing.
However, there will be a greater effect because there will be an increase in the pay thresholds unique to each occupation, which employers must match if they are higher than the main rate.
They currently stand at the 25th percentile of the earnings distribution, plus an additional 20% reduction for jobs in “shortage.” They will no longer be discounted and instead be set in accordance with the role’s median full-time earnings.
The new salary thresholds, according to MAC chair Professor Brian Bell, will effectively exclude the majority of non-graduate positions from the system, highlighting the necessity for ministers to make their objectives clear.
“Does an occupation need to be on the list because it’s important and benefits the UK, or is the goal of the new system to ensure that you can never pay less than £31,000 outside health and care [where the government has set a lower threshold, of £23,200]?” He inquired.
Bell cautioned that the system’s nature was altered by the decision to establish occupation-specific salary thresholds at the UK median since it eliminated the genuine possibility of immigrants undercutting UK workers.
Additionally, it would be difficult for employers to appoint immigrants to lower-level positions. He said that this could apply to someone who was paying taxes in the UK and made between £40,000 and £50,000.
“What is the reasoning behind this? He questioned, “Why would you not want that worker to come into the UK? What’s the goal in this instance?
The interim recommendations from MAC, which essentially updated an earlier list of shortage occupations, come ahead of a more thorough system review that is anticipated to take place later this year.
“The salary criteria is designed to ensure resident workers’ wages cannot be undercut and ensures the skilled worker route is not used as a source of low-cost labour,” the government stated in a statement.
It went on to say that “roles should also only be included where they will meaningfully benefit from the discount to the salary threshold, and where it is sensible to offer this discount to employers,” as it had stated clearly when it commissioned MAC.
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