I am not sure if this is correct section to post this. If it is wrong, then please let me know where I should post this or if I should remove this. Please note this information is just to help others and I am not liable to anything stated and if you follow and it goes wrong.
Few days back I had requested if anyone had any information about the post license visit and not many were aware of actual things included in the audit. So I have got this guide to help them. Please read his guidelines in conjunction to information provided at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/emplo ... ompliance/ (I have tried to include things which may help to improve HR system at end of this document)
Please note our company was already issued tier 2 sponsorship license and this was post visit after license was issued to check if employer is complying to his duties / responsibilities and to check if we still have A rating. Also note this visit was applicable to old work permit holders (not tier 2). If this is the first time they are visiting for audit then they will be bit relaxed and will explain you each and every point they audit and will then ask you to provide details of how you comply with them and possibly suggest ways that will help you to improve or polish.
The email from home office had requested the following details on hand for the visit:
1. Full staff list of all employees high-lighting all overseas nationals, and stating the names, nationalities, dates of birth and immigration status (including passport numbers, passport expiry dates, visa/residence permit numbers and visa/residence permit expiry date);
2. Hierarchy chart showing lines of responsibility/supervision;
3. Contracts of employment for all Work Permit Holders;
4. Job descriptions for all Work Permit Holders;
5. Copies of the pay slips for the last 3 months and the P60s for all Work Permit Holders;
6. Last 4 weeks staff rotas (if applicable); and
7. The original or a certified copy of the lease or title deeds for all premises being used by the sponsor.
What we did for points 1, 2 above was to create a general Employee file. In first section we kept list of all employees contact details (included name, address, telephone no. email id), list highlighting who were migrant (tier 1 / 2), visa details for all migrants (like a common sheet showing all passport no., work permit no. etc). In section two we included our sponsorship details. In addition to that in third section, we included the company staff handbook policy (which includes details about sick leave policy, etc), Company IT policy, health and safety policy and any other general details in relation to company. In addition to this we did not have Missing person policy, so officer requested us to send that in next five working days.
For points 3-5, what we did was have an employee file ready for each sponsored migrant. The file included four sections, first section was contact details (including their native address details, so they can be contacted when they are back home), copy of their passport (which included the main cover page/last page of passport and all visa details and address details on it), copy of their resume and references provided at time of interview, Copy of their NI Card. The second section included their leave record (sick and annual leave). The third section included all agreement details (included details of original offer letter, annual appraisals, and bonuses). The fourth section included all details that were submitted at time of applying for work permit (Like work permit and FLR issued to migrant, Resume, copy of vacancy that was published, responses to that vacancy and details of people who were interviewed and rejected)
We didn’t keep payslips / P60’s of the people in their file, as they may never want to see them (as in our case). So keep them handy and don’t give them unless they ask for it.
The following are the questions which they might ask during interviewing:
For employer / HR:
What is area of business / nature of the business you do?
How many employees you have?
How many offices you have?
How are employees paid?
What the plan for company growth?
What’s the total area of company in square feet’s?
In terms of questioning the HR manager they just wanted to know how they checked contact details (change of address etc) and how the individuals to be interviewed were recruited and how their qualifications were verified.
For employees:
The following are Typical questions which can be expected while Interviewing Employees (Please note, The employee was also required to have their passport on hand and payslips or print-outs -if they did not have payslips to hand it was OK for HR contact to print them off).
1) What do you do? What does your job entail?
2) Do you manage anybody? What level are they?
3) How much are you paid? How are you paid (method and currency)? How often?
4) What hours to you work?
5) Do you get paid leave (holiday)? Are you paid overtime?
6) If you are unwell what procedure do you follow? Do you email/phone in everyday? Are you aware of company sickness policy? Do you need to provide a doctor’s note? (At this point Employer was asked to provide a copy of their sickness policy)
7) Do you receive any benefits – i.e. accommodation? (when the answer was ‘yes – accommodation’ additional questions were: What type of accommodation? How many beds? What is the rent? Do you pay any utility bills?)
Do you have any deductions made to your salary?9) Do you have a contract of employment?
10) Do you claim any State Benefits?
11) Who holds your original Work Permit? (! Strange question as the interviewees were specifically picked because they were Tier 2)
12) What is your current address? How far from the office is it? How do you get to work? (and if not answered with pervious questions: Who pays for your accommodation? How much does it cost? Do you pay bills?)
13) What made you come to the UK?
14) Where were you living when you first arrived?
15) How did you get your job? When did you get it?
16) Do you have an offer letter?
17) Where were you living before your current address?
18) Did you complete a job application form?
19) Do you know if anyone else was interested in your role?
20) Were you interviewed for your role?
21) Did you need to pay anything out before your job started?
22) Who paid for your flights to the UK?
23) How many people work in this office?
24) Are you aware of any other migrant workers employed at this office? How many?
25) What qualifications are required to perform your role?
26) What qualifications do you have?
27) Did you have to provide evidence for your qualifications? Who did you provide them to?
28) Are you aware of any background checks carried out on you prior to employment?
29) Were your references verified?
Finally from our experience from visit, things that can help improve HR rating during audit (for more details refer to http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/emplo ... ompliance/):
Area 1: Monitoring immigration status and preventing illegal employment
The following points can help:
• The passport and visa details are checked at the time of interview
• A copy of passport along with the visa details for each migrant is taken and kept on file (This includes the front cover and back cover of passport, address details on passport and all visa details and each page is signed by the HR or person who is in charge)
• Electronic scanned copy is kept on server as backup.
• An electronic Calendar / Mail server is used to send notifications at regular intervals (like 6 months back, 3 months back and every Monday of last month when visa is about to expire) to concerned people when visa is about to expire and check if any action is needed.
Area 2: Maintaining migrant contact details
The following points can help:
• All the contact details for employees are stored on spreadsheet and updated evry 3-6 months
• the Staff handbook possibly mentions that employee should update the HR if there is any change in address
• An electronic Calendar / Mail server is scheduled to send email notification to all employees for any change of address ever 6 month
Area 3: Record keeping
The following points can help:
• Migrants records such as copy of CV at time of job application, qualifications, references, advertisements for work permit holder, etc. are kept.
• All employee holidays and sick records are kept on file
• Recruitment is normally given to job centre and various recruitment agencies and candidates have various rounds like telephonic interview, personal interviewed based by the panel and presentations if required
Area 4: Migrant tracking and monitoring
The following points can help:
• Employees normally report to the respective managers every day.
• The electronic calendar can be used to update details / schedule for daily basis for each employee
• A record of all sick leaves and annual holidays is maintained for the employee.
• Records of any sponsored migrant leaving the company are updated with home office through sponsor management system
Area 5: Professional Registrations and Accreditations
The following points can help:
• A copy of all qualifications is taken and all details are confirmed with academic references mentioned
• Also an external agency like UK NARIC can be used to verify the qualifications.
I Hope this helps some people out there. If someone has any comments, please do let me know. I will be more than happy to add / edit them.