In FOCUS
Current Reviews
into Chefs’ Status
The latest round of reviews have taken place for chefs and the evidence presented
by the Migration Advisory Service. Maria Fernandes casts a keen eye on the matter
Maria Fernandes has
been an immigration
lawyer for 25 years and
is accredited by the
Solicitors Regulation
Authority
S tarting with the good news:
the Migration Advisory Committee
(MAC), having taken evidence, not
least from People 1st, a governmentbacked organisation, agreed that
there remains a shortage of chefs
and accordingly they must remain on
the shortage list for now.
Some interesting statistics have
emerged. Only 1,400 Certificates of
Sponsorship are issued for shortage professions, representing 0.26%
of the total (equivalent to 1 in 400
or 1 in 20,000 UK jobs). Of these
figures, only 54 certificates were issued between September 2011 and
September 2012 to chefs. The largest number of shortages came from
within the medical profession.
MAC’s evidence from People 1st,
a sector skills council recognised by
government, has provided crucial
evidence. It indicated that there are
2,700 vacancies for chefs and 79% of
them are skill shortage positions, with
particular difficulties experienced by
Asian and Oriental restaurants. In their
efforts to upskill staff, People 1st indicated that they had launched, as a
pilot, five Centres of Excellence to attract unemployed people who would
continue to receive benefits. At the
end of it, applicants were guaranteed
an interview for a paid apprenticeship.
Trained chefs were acceptable for
non-specialised chefs, but for ethnic
restaurants it was crucial to be able
to employ chefs who are immersed
in the culture of their cuisine with
a highly developed palate. MAC’s
recommendations have so far been
accepted and there is no reason to
believe that the Government will not
accept it. But the recommendation
is that the annual salary goes up to
£29,570 per annum (for a 39-hour
week pro-rated where applicable) and
there are still only a very limited number of chefs that can be brought in.
Restaurants are not considered to
be posh enough, serve the odd takeaway or cater for large-scale events (as
if this makes it a case for less rather
than more experience) and even if
this hurdle is climbed, there is still the
need to pass an English test.
There will now be two salary figures:
the first is the ‘new entrant’ figure
and the second is the ‘experienced
worker’, which becomes applicable
after three years and one month in
a job, and which will affect all applicants. The format of advertising
will return to the old system, which
requires advertising in the Jobcentre, a professional journal or national
newspaper, and salaries will be based
on a 39-hour week (and will need to
be pro-rated).
If a Sponsor assigns a CoS before
6 April (even if the application for
leave on this basis is sent later), the
old Codes of Practice, salary thresholds and advertising criteria will apply.
The new Codes will apply to all CoS
assigned after 6 April. Those who do
not use any restricted CoS will lose
them automatically and will need
to go through the process again.
Applicants who entered Tier 2 (and
this includes work permit holders)
before April 2011 will be exempt from
the new criteria. The new criteria will
“There will
now be
two salary
figures, the
first is the
new entrant
figure and
the second
is the
experienced
worker
which
becomes
applicable
after three
years”
apply to all the others if they make
applications for extensions, change
of employment or applications for
settlement.
Where Sponsors have already advertised a position before 6 April (and
where the salary advertised is based
on the old Code) they will not need to
re-advertise but must offer the new
rate of pay. When applying for an
extension, if the job remains at the
same level as before, the position will
not need to be advertised. However,
if the position drops to a lower skill,
employees will not be permitted to
change a sponsor.
The new threshold for settlement will
be a salary of £35,500, up by £500 for
settlement applications made on or after 6 April 2018. Between 6 April 2016
and 5 April 2018 the figure will remain
£35,000. Those applying before 2016
will be exempt from these thresholds.
If anything good has come out of
this it is that the UKBA have finally
recognised that the almost manic
pace of change has to be slowed
down to allow the existing changes to
bed in. MAC have referred to ‘consultation fatigue’ and recommended that
there should not be a further review
in the near future and certainly not
before two years.
The latest report by MAC interestingly highlights areas outside this
remit which have repeatedly come up
during the evidence and are areas of
concern. It is important to highlight
the fact that at the date of writing this
article the government have not accepted the recommendations of MAC
in relation to shortages.
Fernandes Vaz is based at 87 Wembley Hill Road
Wembley in Wembley and can be contacted by
telephone on 020 8733 0123 or by email on
info@fernandesva 蹍