Applying for an employment permit can be very tricky.
An application can be refused for many reasons including being on the wrong application form, for not being supported by the right documentation, or not carrying out the correct advertising (the “Labour Market Needs Test”) before submitting the application.
A lot of problems can be fixed on appeal, but in our experience the Labour Market Needs Test is not one of them.
What is the Labour Market Needs Test?
The Labour Market Needs Test is a test which employers must carry out prior to submission of a general employment permit application.
The test is, in theory, there to check if there are any suitable candidates in the labour market already (within the European Economic Area) who are qualified and interested in doing the job, before a permit is given to someone from outside of the existing labour market.
At the time of writing, it involves the employer arranging for a set of advertisements for the role in the following ways:
(1) A 28-day advertisement on the EURES / Department of Social Protection jobs website jobsireland.ie;
(2) A 3-day advertisement in a local newspaper or non-EURES Irish jobs website; and
(3) A 3-day advertisement in a national newspaper.
These advertisements must be completed prior to the submission of the employment permit, and proof that they were done correctly must be submitted with the application.
There are strict requirements for the wording of these advertisements, and it is very important that all the criteria set out in statute are present. If not, the decision-maker may refuse to issue the permit on the basis that the required advertisement has not been carried out.
When permit applications are being turned around in 4 or 6 weeks, a refusal may not be the end of the world. However, applications in November 2021 are taking up to 15 weeks to be decided upon, so a refusal can have a significant economic impact.
This means that to apply for a permit for a chef now, you may be waiting up to 19 or 20 weeks before you have a decision.
This may have commercial and legal consequences for both the chef and the employer.
If you would like to speak to someone about making an employment permit application or any other immigration related matter, please feel free to contact our immigration law team at 01 873 5012 or info@mcgrathmullan.ie and we would be glad to assist you.