Information
for people new to Manchester
Paid Work
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Most
asylum seekers currently arriving in the UK are not allowed
to work until they have been given Humanitarian Protection, Discretionary
Leave or Indefinite Leave to Remain. However some new but complicated
rules mean that a few people might be given permission to work. It is
best to ask your solicitor or an advice worker for up-to-date information.
Refugees
who have been given positive status can work without applying to the Home
Office. Working refugees are covered by the same UK employment laws as
any UK national.
Did you know?
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Some of the employment laws in the UK include:
. The minimum wage: it is illegal to pay someone over 21 years
old less than £5.20 per hour. The minimum is different for younger workers - check
with Citizen's Advice Bureau.
. National insurance: both you and your employer must make national
insurance (NI) contributions, which will be used towards paying you
a pension when you retire and sick/maternity pay. NI contributions are
usually taken out of your wages before you receive them.
. Tax: you will be taxed on the money you earn from your employer:
usually the tax is taken from your wage before it is paid to you. All
workers are entitled to certain tax allowances and some people are also
entitled to tax credits. Ask at the Citizens Advice Bureau for up to
date information.
. Health and safety: your employer is required by law to provide
a safe and healthy workplace for you, and to make sure that you are
trained in using all of the equipment that is necessary for your job.
. Race/gender discrimination: your employer
is not allowed to treat you or pay you differently to other workers
because of your race or your gender (male/female).
work experience and qualifications gained overseas
Even
if you are well qualified and have work experience, you may have some
difficulty in getting a job in the UK in your specialist field, for example,
- your qualifications may not be recognised in the UK;
- you may not have been able to bring certificates proving your
qualifications with you;
- employers may want you to have UK work experience, or
- you may not have good enough English language skills.
To
work in some professions where you are qualified in your home country
you may not need to completely retrain but can go on a conversion course
to understand UK working practices. This applies to nurses, doctors, lawyers,
teachers, architects and pharmacists. The Refugee and Asylum seeker
Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education (REACHE) Northwest project, a project based at Hope Hospital
at Salford, gives training, advice, information and support to health
care professionals looking for work in the UK.
For
a full list of regulated professions and details of registration procedures
see: 'Refugee Professionals Guide on Assessment and Recognition of Overseas
Qualifications' published by RETAS. You can also contact the UK National Academic Recognition Information
Centre (UK NARIC). RETAS also advises refugees about employment, retraining
and re-qualification: see their website for more information (www.education-action.org).
Looking for a job
Some
good places to find work are the Job Centre, employment agencies
and local newspapers, particularly Thursday's Manchester Evening News
and the local free papers like the Metro.
You
can also get help preparing for and looking for a job from the Central
Action Team: call the number in the contact details list or ask for
information at your local job centre. The Job Centre not only has details
of jobs available, but can also help with advice and guidance, training
and accessing welfare benefits. Call the number given below for the address
of your nearest job centre.
Did you know?
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Employment agencies allow
you register for work and then try to find work that is appropriate
for your experience and qualifications. A lot of the work that you can
find through employment agencies is temporary (this may last from 1
day to 6 months or more), though it is possible to find permanent jobs
in this way too. In some months an agency may have a lot of work, in
other months not so much, so it is usually worth registering with more
than one agency if you need to find full-time work.
The
laws about working for an employment agency have recently changed, so
workers employed by agencies can get holiday and sick pay, however there
are usually a number of conditions that make these things quite difficult
to get.
The
advantage of working for an employment agency is that you can decide
which days you can work and if you need to have time out from work you
can do this.
Documents
Employers
may tell you that they need more documents to be able to employ a refugee,
perhaps as an excuse for not offering you a job. You can help an employer
by knowing what the necessary documents are yourself: a list of the documents
needed by employers can be found on the internet at www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/ind/en/home/o/preventing_illegal/then_defence.html. If you
have problems with an employer refusing to accept your documents, call
the Commission for Racial Equality.
Working As A Volunteer
Many
British people work as volunteers. A volunteer does unpaid work which
is usually done to help others, though it can be done to further your
career or to gain work experience. A refugee who has first done voluntary
work may find this helps in getting paid employment, as it can provide
you a reference and some useful experience of the UK work culture.
Volunteering
is a good way to meet other people, improve your English and gain experience
of working styles and practices in the UK as well as doing something interesting
to help other people.
If
you do volunteer work you will not lose benefits or NASS support. The
only restriction is that you must not do more than 16 hours a week of
voluntary work.
Finding voluntary work
There
are several ways in which you can get involved as a volunteer. Firstly,
if there is a project which you know about and are interested in,
you could contact the organisers directly and ask if they need volunteer
help. Projects working with asylum seekers and refugees may be particularly
pleased to have help from individuals who understand the issues involved.
There
is also Voluntary Action Manchester, an organisation which can give information
about local opportunities for volunteering through its Volunteering Helpline
Service. In addition, Refugee Action
has a project called Horizons
which aims to find volunteer places in local organisations for asylum-seekers
and refugees.
Contact details
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Central Action Team |
Tel: (freephone) 0800 587 0894 |
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Manchester Job Centres |
Tel: 0161 912 8300 |
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Commission for Racial Equality |
Tel: 0161 835 5500 |
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REACHE Northwest |
Tel: 0161 206 4201 |
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Refugee Action |
Tel: 0161 233 1200 or 1429 Mon - Fri, 9.30 am - 5.30 pm |
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Refugee Education and Training
Advisory Service (RETAS) |
Office: 020 7426 5800 Mon - Fri, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
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UK National Academic Recognition
Information Centre (UK NARIC) |
Tel: 01242 260010 Mon - Fri, 9.00 a.m. to 5.00
p.m. |
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