Employer Resources

TIPS ON HIRING YOUR NEXT STAFF

1. Ask staff for referrals

The easiest and most inexpensive way to recruit new hires is to ask for referrals from your existing employees. Your staff may have friends or relatives that have the skills or the interest working in an automotive shop.

One reason why the referral is effective is that the current employee may already have pre-screened his referral, and as his reputation is at stake, he is bound to choose candidates whom he believes are qualified for the job.

Another factor for considering referral system is that referred candidates are thought to stay longer in the company. The referred candidates are more likely to have insider information regarding the company culture prior to application so it would not take much effort or time on his part to acclimatise with the working environment. They are also more likely to be at ease at work since they know already the people they are working with.

2. Use technology

You can use free and paid advertising online platforms to broadcast your vacancies.

One significant advantage of using these channels is its unlimited reach. You may tap into highly-skilled people that are not located within your area but are willing to relocate if they are offered the job. You can also have access to a vast number of qualified applicants, which increases your chances of hiring the most suitable candidate for your position.

3. Hire an automotive recruitment agency

So, if you’ve done everything and still have not found the right talent for your auto shop, you may want to consider partnering with a recruitment agency. There are plenty of advantages of partnering with a recruitment agency.

There are some industries in Australia are still experiencing talent shortages and are looking outside the Australian labor market to recruit quality staff. Autorecruiter can help you recruit skilled overseas workers and can assist your company with the sponsorship, settlement assistance and support of permanent or temporary migrants.

If you are looking for automotive staff, submit your vacancy. For further inquiries, contact us.

EMPLOYING OVERSEAS SKILLED WORKERS

All businesses in Australia whether individual or body corporate has to ensure that the workers that they are employing can be employed legally.

Any Australian or New Zealand citizen or persons who are permanent residents in the country and hold valid visa’s permitting them to work are legal workers. It is important to keep in mind that holders of certain visa such as visitor visas are not allowed to work in Australia.

A person who is not an Australian citizen and does not hold a valid visa any longer is also not permitted to work. In 2007 new regulations made hiring or referring a person who is not entitled to work a criminal offense and it included paid as well as unpaid work in its ambit.

What is New? 

Infringement warnings, as well as civil penalties, will be imposed on those hiring, contracting or even referring work for people not entitled to work within the country or even for those not allowed to undertake certain types of work.

Such a check is highly recommended as the new regulations state that the businesses would be held responsible if they hire illegal workers irrespective of the fact whether they were in know if they were permitted to work or not. The businesses can escape from their responsibility only if they can prove that they had taken adequate steps to ensure that such a case did not occur. If the business has carried out a VEVO check it can use it as ample evidence that reasonable steps were taken by it to prevent the hiring of illegal workers.

The reforms affect who?

If an Australian business is looking to employ overseas workers it would be advisable for them to check whether the workers are entitled to work. Such a check should be carried out regardless of the source by which the workers are being employed - directly or through a referral company, a contractor or an international recruitment agency.

How to conduct a check?

To check if the overseas personnel whom the business desires to employ is eligible to work or not, one can use the free and secure web-based service provided by the government - Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO). Apart from informing whether the person can be legally employed, the service would also give information on any type of restriction a visa may carry e.g. a person is allowed to work for only six months if holding a working holiday visa. Moreover, VEVO would also inform you when the visa of the temporary worker would be expiring and if the employee is desirous of continuing to work. It is essential that you should check within a couple of days of the visa expiry date whether the visa allowing the worker to continue working has been granted or not.

The easiest way to hire skilled workers from abroad is by sponsoring overseas workers under the 457 visa program. The 457 workers have to meet certain minimum qualification levels including English language skills as well as health and character checks. If they fulfill the criteria which are determined by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, then they can be employed for a period ranging from three months to four years.

If you are using the services of a subcontractor or a labour supply company on a regular basis, it would be recommended that a provision be made in the contract that they would check the legality of the international workers that they are supplying or a written assurance may be taken from them that all workers are legal and a copy of the same must be kept in your records. It would also be prudent to keep a copy of all the documents that have been used to verify the legality of the worker in the record, though the same would not be essential if you have registered with VEVO. Konnecting is registered with VEVO, and with employee, authorisation can check on the employees work rights, on behalf of an employer, while also explain any complex visa subclasses and conditions

EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE IN RECRUITING INTERNATIONAL STAFF

Up until 30 June 2013, Australia issued two main kinds of work visa: Long Stay Temporary Business visa or 457, and the Employer Nominated Scheme visas 121 and 856. Although both kinds have continued until 01 July 2012, changes have been made to the terms and conditions of permanent migration in visa classes when recruiting international staff, including schemes required of regional employers as stated in the Regional Skilled Migration programme.

Converting a 457 Visa to EMS Visas

The 457’s duration is for four years wherein the employee should work in his or her nominated occupation for a sponsor. Meanwhile, a business employing skilled overseas staff can permanently sponsor a foreign employee for as long as the employer offers full-time, relevant occupation-employment for three years. A 457 visa is qualified for conversion to a permanent EMS kind of visa through an assessment of an employee’s formal skills or after continuous work for two years.

Before employers recruit international staff, their businesses should be able to provide sufficient evidence that their companies spend an equivalent amount to one percent of their company’s total payroll in the training of employees who are permanent residents or are already Australian citizens.

Compliance with Several Conditions

An option is a payment of an equivalent amount of two per cent of the payroll total to a fund of a training programme or industry. Employers who recruit overseas staff must also be compliant with several stringent conditions such as:

• Payment of incurred costs by the Australian Government in the location and removal of a non-citizen who has been residing in the country unlawfully.
• Payment of incurred travel costs of the departure of sponsored individuals from Australia, should it be requested.
• Payment of the equivalent of the employment’s terms and conditions.
• Provision of records and information to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
• Prohibiting the employment in another occupation of the sponsored individual.
• Unrecoverable costs incurred by recruiting international staff including fees of the migration agent.

Requirements in Overseas Staff Recruitments

In order to recruit overseas staff, an employer has to comply with the current terms of the sponsorship of permanent employees, a condition equivalent to the employment of Australian citizens. Employers recruiting international staff are required to prove a legitimate necessity to sponsor foreign employees, have a training programme for employees who are Australian citizens, and ensure that the sponsored foreign employees are to fill positions of occupations classified as highly skilled on the Employer Scheme Occupation List (ENSOL).

Employers who recruit international staff follows this procedure:

• Application to become a sponsor.
• Nomination of an occupational position for the prospective foreign employee.
• Application for a 457 visa.
• On the other hand, employers who recruit overseas staff follows this procedure for obtaining visas 121 and 856:
• Nomination by the employer of an occupational position for the prospective foreign employee.
• The employee applies for his or her visa.

Locals Need Not Worry

The protection from exploitation of foreign employees is addressed by the Australian Government by imposing penalties on businesses employing skilled overseas staff without compliance to the Worker Protection Act of 2008. 

Australians concerned that employers who recruit international staff decrease the employment opportunity for those citizens with similar skills should be aware of the protective clauses in the programme for foreign worker visa requirements. These include development and training for Australian employees to address existing skills gaps, and filling up occupational positions with local residents before employing skilled overseas staff.