Letter - Minister for Home Affairs re Ministerial Response - 12 January 2024

Recommendation

Comments

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The Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister  for  Sustainable  Economic Development  should  introduce specific  guidance  to  work  permit holders about the potential costs of travelling to Jersey and the potential costs  incurred  from  meeting  the

This included a target date for completion of Q1 2024.

requirements of their United Kingdom visa and Jersey work permit, as well as  agreeing  the  responsibility  for these costs.

13

The Minister for Home Affairs should consider  ways  in  which  the  Work Permit  Policy  can  be  strengthened with a temporary stay for work permit holders who are pursuing a dispute or grievance.

I  responded  to  clarify  that  work  permit  holders whose  employment  is  ceasing  will  be  given  ‘a sufficient amount of time…to put their affairs in order prior to being required to leave the island [which…]  will  necessarily  vary  depending  on individual circumstances’. This was an important clarification of the suggestion that had emerged that  there  is  a  blanket  policy  of  requiring  such individuals to leave within 7 days. I did not however accept the recommendation that the policy required strengthening, the current position simply requires clarification.

I  felt  that  ‘partially  accept  –  clarify’  was  an appropriate  reflection  of  this  response,  and preferable to rejecting it outright. However, I did not feel that there was a need to provide a target date as  there  was no  commitment  to  take  action  in response to the recommendation.

I appreciate that this perhaps deviates from the binary  nature  of  the  ‘accept/reject’  response template, but genuinely felt it was the best way to communicate my position to the Panel, and that this was  clear  from  the  content  of  the  response provided.

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The Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister  for  Sustainable  Economic Development  should  consult  with industry and trade unions to ensure that work permit holders have access to  trade  union  representation  and support.

‘N/A’ was recorded under target date.

This  was  because,  in  partially  accepting  the recommendation,  my  response  made  clear  that whilst  supportive  of  the  spirit  of  the recommendation that work permit holders should have access to trade union representation, I did not believe  this  was  a  role  for  Immigration  or Government more broadly.

Again,  I  chose  to  ‘partially  accept’  to  indicate support but did not feel there was a need to provide a target date as the response did not commit to taking action.

16

The Minister for Home Affairs should work with the Minister for Sustainable Economic  Development,  the International Cultural Centre Steering Group  and  the  Minister  for  Social Security  to  determine  where  a physical support resource should be located  and  provide  detail  of  the information  which  will  be  provided.

The response to this recommendation, which was agreed between Ministers, was as follows:

Physical support resources are already available at the Customer and Local Services Department. Staff are available to support work permit holders with information on Jersey tax, contribution and benefit information. Ministers will work together to confirm the range of printed and online information that will

This should be reported back to the Panel by no later than 31 December 2023.

be  available.  This  information  will  also  be accessible  through  the  International  Cultural Centre, based at the Town Library.

This recommendation was partially accepted, on similar  grounds  to  other  recommendations. Ministers  accept  the  need  for  physical  support resources,  but  would  highlight  that  these  are already available at CLS with printed materials also available from the Town Library. No new action is committed to and so no target date is given.

12

The Minister for Home Affairs should review  the  12-month  restriction  in place preventing work permit holders to  switch  between  employers consulting  with  both  employer representatives and support groups. This review should consider human rights legislation and modern slavery legislation

A review of the work permit policy is underway based  on  the  Panel’s  Review  and  includes consideration of this matter. We expect the review to conclude in Q1 2024.

I apologise to the Panel for failing to make that clear in my response.

15

The Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Economic Development, Tourism,  Sport  and  Culture  should commit  to  a  regular  review  of  the permit  lengths  which  should  be conducted in close consultation with industry bodies and support agencies to ensure that both employer needs and the rights of individuals are met.

The Panel’s recommendation is for ‘regular review’, and in accepting the recommendation I committed to keeping this matter under ‘regular review’.

I am of the view that this does not require further elaboration, and indeed would be difficult to put a single target to.

Recommendation

2

The  Minister  for  Home  Affairs  and  the Minister  for  Economic  Development,

This was accepted on the basis that, since the new Government was formed and the

Tourism,  Sport  and  Culture  should undertake a process of consultation with key stakeholders from community groups and  industry  representatives  to  identify gaps in the information provided to work permit holders.

[response – accept/complete]

Panel’s  review  started  and,  significant consultation has been undertaken with key stakeholders. One of the outcomes of this is the  ‘your  rights’  leaflet.  This  will  be  an ongoing effort, and the response should not be taken to mean that there will be no further consultation on this matter.

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The  Ministers  for  Social  Security  and Health  and  Social  Services  should introduce specific guidance to work permit holders  that  includes  information  about their rights to healthcare in Jersey. [response – accept/complete]

This was accepted as complete on the basis that  the  ‘your  rights’  leaflet  included information about access to healthcare for work permit holders.

17

The Minister for Home Affairs should work with  the  Minister  for  Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, the International Cultural Centre Steering Group and the Minister for Social Security to  ensure  that  the  physical  support resource  includes  independent  and confidential support for work permit holders on matters related to employment disputes. This should be reported back to the Panel by no later than 31 December 2023 [response - reject]

This  recommendation  was  rejected because  it  was  felt  that  it  would  be confusing to duplicate the existing statutory service provided by JACS.

Reference to the ‘your rights’ leaflet was made  simply  to highlight  that  it  included information signposting to JACS.

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The  Minister  for  Home  Affairs  should consider  the  introduction  of  a  Jersey employer licensing scheme and licensing standards,  with  clear  sanctions  for noncompliance, for local labour providers. [response - reject at this time]

The  response  to  this  recommendation explained  that  whilst  this  had  been considered, and a decision was taken to pursue an alternative approach, namely to establish  the  Employer  Standards Oversight Group to drive better practice in industry.  Whilst  this  includes  the development of the ‘your rights’ leaflet, the scope and work of the group is not limited to this.