Alvin Aaron, owner of Hot Stuff Pizza and Natalie’s Cafe in the Central Market, and Sue Marquis, who owns Marquis in the Market, say that regulations regarding the hiring of non-locally-qualified (registered) staff is stifling business growth and putting local companies under threat.
They have now set up a Facebook group called Jersey Businesses In Crisis, which has attracted around 40 members, and are planning a meeting with local business owners tomorrow before approaching States Members about their issues.
The current Control of Housing and Work Law, introduced in 2013, restricts businesses to a certain number licences they can use to employ non-locally-qualified (registered) staff.
Since the introduction of the law the States have cracked down on the number of licences issued.
Mr Aaron, who employs 30 staff across two businesses but only has one licence to employ a non-registered worker, said that although business owners want to employ local staff sometimes that is simply not an option.
‘It is stifling local businesses because they can’t expand. In my experience I had the chance to open another place six months ago but the worry was finding the staff.
‘We need to be able to employ the staff we need and I have been to Social Security and they told me they don’t have the people on their books that I require. You can’t train a pizza chef or head waiter or waitress overnight.’
Meanwhile, Mrs Marquis, claims the strict regulations could bankrupt local companies.
‘Because I cannot get the staff it is stopping me employing any trainees too,’ she added.
There are more than 160 jobs on the JEP’s website at the moment.
The meeting of Jersey employers is scheduled for tomorrow at 1 pm at Coopers & Co, Castle Quay.
St Brelade Deputy Murray Norton, who sits on the States Housing and Work Advisory Group (H.A.W.A.G) which deals with challenges to licences issued by the Population Office, said he was open to hearing any complaints business owners have. The States panel, which consists of Deputy Norton as well as the Chief Minister Ian Gorst and Senator Paul Routier, Deputy Ann Pryke, Social Security Minister Susie Pinel and Andrew Bannister from the population office, meets every two weeks.
Last month, information obtained by the JEP following a Freedom of Information request showed that the number of non-locally-qualified workers had fallen by around 3,000 since 2010.
That was despite the number if registered businesses increasing by 883 to 7,690 which means firms are employing less people or more locally-qualified staff.
The introduction of registration cards in 2013 means that employers no longer have to prove the residential status of their employees.
Instead, it is their responsibility to check a new employee’s residential status on their registration card before they start work; it is their responsibility to get the card from the Social Security Department.
The registration card will show the person’s residential category. It will be one of four:
- ‘entitled’
- ‘licensed’
- ‘entitled to work’
- ‘registered’
Employers can employ anyone who is ‘entitled’ or ‘entitled to work’ but they must have permission to employ anyone who is ‘licensed’ or ‘registered’.
they must check every new employee’s card. When an employer views an employee’s registration card, they should also:
- ask for photo identification
- take a photocopy of the registration card and photo identification for your records
- check the registration card is in date
