Categories: General Date: Jun 15, 2009 Title: NERA Inspections to focus on Work Permits
National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) inspections to include Work Permits from July.
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.
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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.
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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.
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In order to avoid any issues any business employing non-EEA nationals should take the following course of action:
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To find out more about Work Permits and NERA Inspections follow this link {cms_selflink page="guide-to-work-permits-in-ireland" text="Work Permits in Ireland"} or alternately contact us here directly at Resolve HR.