Eligibility to Work in the UK
The University has a legal requirement in line with the Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act 2006 to ensure that all staff offered employment have eligibility to work in the UK.
Individuals are eligible to work in the UK if they are:
- A citizen of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA)/Switzerland; or
- A citizen of a country outside of the EEA/Switzerland, i.e. a migrant worker, but who has been issued with a Certificate of Sponsorship and who has also obtain the necessary visa from the Home Office/UK Borders Agency, to enter or remain in the UK; or
- A dependant of someone eligible to work in the UK (a dependant in this context includes: children under the age of 18, husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried or same-sex partner).
The HR Support Service team will notify all candidates invited to interview of the requirement to bring with them documents which provide evidence of right to work in the UK.
The Recruiting Manager has responsibility to ensure that a trained member of staff (usually the panel co-ordinator) is present at the interview to carry out the following checks:
- Make a visual check that the person who has presented themselves for interview matches any presented photographs and/or the stated age of the candidate;
- Check, as far as they can, that the presented documents appear genuine; and
- Photocopy and pass the documents to the Recruiting Manager.
The photocopied documents should be forwarded back to the HR Support Service with the Recruitment Paperwork.
Offering employment to individuals who do not have eligibility to work in the UK
The University has the ability to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship to individuals who do not have eligibility to work in the UK, in line with the UK Borders Agency Points Based Immigration system. Where candidates are currently within the UK a Certificate of Sponsorship can usually be provided directly from the University. Where the candidate is out of country an application for an additional Certificate of Sponsorship must be made to the UK Borders Agency and cannot be guaranteed.
A Certificate of Sponsorship can only be provided where there are no other appointable candidates from within the EU and where the individual meets criteria or the points based scheme.
The Recruiting Manager / Chair of the Panel must contact their HR Manager if they wish to offer a position to a candidate who has indicated they do not currently have eligibility to work within the UK.
The HR Support Service will liaise with the successful candidate to organise for a Certificate of Sponsorship to be issued.
