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Jun 15, 2009

NERA Inspections to focus on Work Permits


Up until now the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) has concentrated mainly on Employment Law relating to terms and conditions of employment. However from July their remit will be expanded to include work permit legislation.

 

The seventy-eight NERA inspectors are currently undergoing training in the area at the moment and it is expected that their first focus will be on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals. While both these countries are part of the EU the Irish government has not lifted work permit requirements, a fact many employers may not be aware of. Working on information received from the Department of Social and Family Affairs NERA are aware that while 22,414 Romanians and 1,915 Bulgarians have applied for PPS numbers only 281 Romanians and 66 Bulgarians have been issued with Work Permits.

 

This is likely to be the beginning of a crack down on illegal Non-EEA workers, the next area of focus will probably be student visas. While some students are permitted to work part-time during term time and full time during holidays, in order to support themselves while studying. The reality is that many "students" are working well in excess of their allowed hours and have often been in Ireland studying English for long periods. Given the current state of the economy it is expected that NERA will come down hard on Irish businesses employing illegal workers while so many Irish and EU citizens are unemployed.

 

In order to avoid any issues any business employing non-EEA nationals should take the following course of action:

 

  1. Ascertain the number of non- EEA nationals working in the business and what is their current Work Permit/Visa status.
  2. Get photocopies of Work Permits, Passports and GNIB cards and put them on the employee's personal file (with their Contracts of Employment and other documentation) as a record that you are complying with the legislation.
  3. Establish whether or not the staff concerned are being rostered as their Work Permit/Visa allows i.e students only working 20 hours during term time. Make the necessary corrections to rosters to ensure that you are compliant with the legislation.

 

To find out more about Work Permits and NERA Inspections follow this link Work Permits in Ireland or alternately contact us here directly at Resolve HR.