Immigration Update for Employers
Managing the skills shortages
What do changes to visa restrictions and reforms mean for UK employers?
Time: 11:00 - 11:30 | FREE
When: Thursday, 31st October '24
LinkedIn LIVE: Register
(If you can't attend the live event, we can send a link post event to watch the recording. Cost: £50 + VAT - please contact registrations@bfi.co.uk)
Recent figures show that the number of overseas workers and students applying for UK visas has fallen by about a third compared to the same period in 2023. The healthcare sector, in particular, is feeling the pinch. While the government is encouraging training and domestic education, the situation may take up to five years to improve. Meanwhile, low pay and immigration restrictions are causing a recruitment crisis in some industries.
Employers can consider offering competitive wages and investing in training to retain staff, but it is clear that the immigration system needs to become more balanced.
“We should stop playing politics around crucial staffing needs and start making the most of both domestic and overseas talent,” says Shazia Ejaz, Director of Campaigns and Research at the REC.
So how do you recruit overseas talent when the UK appears a little less attractive to those potential staff?
Join us to explore the challenges and potential solutions. We’ve been doing this for almost thirty years, so we know the people who can answer your questions on visas, what’s going to happen under Labour, what your alternatives are and what you can learn from other organisations. There’ll be a chance to put your problems directly to our experts on the day.
We are accepting questions before and during the broadcast. Please send your questions to elizabeth.smith@bfi.co.uk.
Which functions will benefit from attending
- HR, Security, Recruitment, Legal & Compliance, Directors & Managers responsible for Immigration & Right to Work Checks, Vetting & Screening, Administration & Operations
Schedule
Introduction and welcome
Elizabeth Smith
Director of Research , Business Forums International Ltd. (BFI)
Elizabeth is director of research and a founding co-director at Business Forums International. She is responsible for all programme content and writing, and researches current areas of interest for senior HR professionals in large organisations. BFI is the UK’s leading HR risk specialist conference and training provider, delivering key and timely information to over 3,000 delegates a year both through public and in-house training courses. Before founding BFI in 1996, Elizabeth specialised in researching corporate financial programmes in Asia and the Middle East, based in Dubai. She also worked in advertising and publishing in the Middle East and London. Elizabeth was educated in the West Indies, Saudi Arabia and Belgium before reading Modern Languages at Durham University. She is currently developing an online training course for line managers to raise awareness of menopause symptoms and ways that employers can work to make their workplaces more inclusive.
Immigration Law Update: What changes are coming up and what should UK employers be thinking about now?
Simon Kenny
Partner - Immigration & Global Mobility , Spencer West LLP
Simon is an immigration lawyer who helps with individual immigration applications, permission to work, illegal working penalties and sponsor licence suspension. He specialises in Skilled Worker and sponsor licence applications, right-to-work processes and defences to civil penalties. He also has significant experience in managing global immigration programmes and post-Brexit immigration compliance in respect of business travellers working across the EEA. Simon has specific expertise in working with institutions and individuals in the higher education sector. He has worked with universities on preparation for audit, right-to-work processes, defence to civil penalties and reviewing Certificates of Sponsorship for employees. Helpline services to both HR teams and individual employees of universities have been a major part of Simon’s recent career. He also helps academic staff make applications within the Global Talent programme. Simon has been listed as one of the UK’s leading practitioners in every edition of the Legal 500 since 2015. He was individually commended in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe Awards in 2019 for research and analysis conducted following a Freedom of Information Act request regarding Certificate of Sponsorship allocations. This featured as a headline news story across numerous national newspapers. Simon was an immigration officer for several years and, after becoming a solicitor, an immigration manager in Big 4 professional services companies. That provided him with a focus on achieving the best outcomes for clients with reference to wider global mobility issues and creativity in finding solutions which work. This experience informs his immigration advice and helps ensure other legal issues related to immigration are identified at an early stage in considering an assignment.
- December 31st 2024: are you fully prepared?
- Update on compliance: salary changes, sponsor licences and salary thresholds
- Discrimination and fraud
The view from the front line: current immigration challenges and issues
Rajvinder Pawar
Immigration Compliance Manager , University of Birmingham.
Qualified solicitor with over 14 years’ experience in immigration law with a demonstrable tenacity in ensuring compliance is achieved. Currently leading a team within HR at the University of Birmingham, responsible for the development, implementation, and management of all immigration processes for staff.
This session will hear direct from employers in this sector, examining and highlighting some of the current challenges around immigration visas and recruitment, including student visas and, health and care visa requirements and immigration policy implications.
Do feel free to contribute comments and questions as always and we will address as many as we have time for.