Compliance Matters

Right to work validation

We now have new webpages to help you understand the checking process.  

The pages explain the minimum standards for a right to work check, what to look for when carrying out a check and who is responsible for checking.

We are still working alongside Andrew Busby in Finance to provide right to work training as part of the ‘Paying Casual Workers’ course.  

If you are involved in taking right to work checks, we recommend booking a place to make sure you are up to date on our obligations and your responsibilities.

Direct appointments

Please remember that, like all our employees, direct appointments are subject to a right to work check before they start working for us.     

Try and give us as much notice as possible of a direct appointment.

The sooner you advise us of the appointment, the sooner we can carry out the right to work check and confirm a start date for your employee.

Tier 4 (Student) casual workers

Since 5 July all casual workers with Tier 4 (Student) visas need a booking reference number when they claim payment for work.  

HR provide the reference number when confirming the booking, having checked the worker has a valid visa.  

Booking Tier 4 workers allows HR to check ahead of time that they will not be working more hours than their visa allows.  

We validate the hours of work and provide a reference number before work is carried out.  

If you have any questions about the new process, please contact the Compliance Team at hr-compliance@york.ac.uk. 

Casual Worker Compliance Project

The project to replace our current systems and processes for casual workers is well underway.  

Thank you to everyone who attended last week's supplier demonstrations and gave their feedback.

The project team have also been attending Faculty Advisory Support Groups to brief them on the project.  

We are now at the final stage of supplier selection and more information on our next steps will be available soon.

We will continue to keep you up to date on progress in this newsletter and on the HR website.

Visa sponsorship and monitoring obligations

We have introduced a process for recording absence for all of our Tier 2 sponsored employees.  

This is a condition of the visa and sponsorship for both the employee and the employer.  

To bring our processes up to the required standard, managers must now complete a fortnightly absence return giving details of times when the employee was away from their usual place of work. 

Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT)

The RLMT is the name given to a number of advertising standards set by the government that employers need to follow if they are to recruit someone from outside the EEA.  

The test must be satisfied before an employee can be sponsored for a visa.

Currently, our Compliance Team review all adverts to make sure that they will meet the RLMT standards.

We are improving our training and communication about advertising to help you produce adverts that will meet the RLMT first time.

This includes updated job templates, refreshing our recruitment and selection training, and guidance on preparing your advert. 

Visa applications and knowledge of English

This year we have seen three individuals' visa applications refused because of a lack of evidence of their knowledge of English.  

Although applicants can reapply with further evidence, they will need to pay another application fee.  This can be very costly.for them.

We are reinforcing our guidance to applicants to be sure to provide the documentary evidence requested by the government.  

If you are supporting a new appointment who needs a visa, make yourself aware of the requirements and remind them of this issue.

Knowledge of English evidence requirements for Tier 2 visas