COVID Vaccine To Be Mandatory For Care Home Workers
The government has confirmed new regulations are coming into force in England introducing a mandatory requirement for care home workers to have received double COVID vaccinations from 11 November 2021. The announcement included details of a 16-week grace period starting on 22 July to allow care home workers to have their first vaccine by 16 […]
HR Issues for the Health & Social Care Sector
Staffing needs, human capital management and growth are a priority for every business, but for health & social care providers, the additional consideration of patient safety and care standards add even more weight to the gravity of the HR role. With a growing demand for care and support within the UK, the pressure on social […]
Immigration Issues for the Health & Social Care Sector
Among the challenges presented by the UK’s departure from the EU is the impact on international recruitment of health and social care providers that rely on staff who are EU nationals. With the UK now having officially left the EU, the imperative for the health and social care sector is to ensure preparation and readiness […]
Employment Law Issues for the Health & Social Care Sector
Employers in the health & social care industry are dealing with a growing number of employment law challenges. An aging workforce, rising demand for healthcare services and moral and well-being concerns are driving shortages of appropriately skilled healthcare staff – all playing against the backdrop of Brexit and uncertainties about the UK’s future legislative framework. […]
NHS: Overseas Doctors Refused Tier 2 Visa Applications
NHS: Overseas Doctors Refused Tier 2 Visa Applications International recruitment offers a rapid and immediate response to the demand for qualified, experienced healthcare professionals in the NHS. So why is the health service being hindered in its efforts to access overseas talent and ease staffing shortfalls? Rising shortages of trained medical professionals across the NHS have […]
New Immigration Charge on Care Homes Employing Tier 2 Foreign WorkersÂ
In the Government’s latest move to reduce net migration and revive the domestic labour market, as of 6 April 2017, employers will have to pay an ‘Immigration Skills Charge’ to bring skilled foreign workers to the UK on a Tier 2 visa. Under the new charge, all organisations, including care home providers, that hold a […]
Immigration Skills Charge & Rising Costs of Hiring Skilled Migrant Workers
The latest planned changes to UK immigration rules take effect in April 2017. They bring with them considerable financial implications for employers of skilled workers from outside the EEA, namely those hiring under the Tier 2 route. New Immigration Skills Charge From 6 April 2017 organisations who sponsor Tier 2 migrant workers will have to pay […]
Employers to Face Skills Shortages if EU Workers Leave UK
In a recent survey of over 1,000 UK employers conducted by the CIPD, more than a quarter reported their EU workers were considering leaving the UK in response to the Brexit vote and the resulting uncertainty around their immigration status. The education and health sectors reported higher numbers still, at 43% and 49% respectively. And […]
Fluency Duty & Foreign Workers: A New HR Compliance Risk
The Government has published a Code of Practice aimed at helping public sector employers comply with their ‘fluency duty’ under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016. Under the Act, public sector workers in customer-facing roles must be able to speak fluent English, and in Wales, English and Welsh. ‘Customer-facing’ applies to roles where speaking […]
Recruiting Nurses from outside the EEA
According to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), recruiting nurses from outside the EEA may be the only solution to the national nursing shortage, due to a lack of Government foresight. Since 2009, approximately 15,500 Tier 2 certificates of sponsorship have been issued to healthcare providers in the UK to recruit non-EEA nurses. A 2015 survey revealed […]