• Home
• About Us
• Contact Us

• Press Area
• Press Releases
  • 2 November 2011 - Press release: New Service Qualification Comparison facility will help foreign nationals to seek work matching their abilities

2 November 2011 - Press release: New Service Qualification Comparison facility will help foreign nationals to seek work matching their abilities

NICEM Press Release

2 November 2011

New Service Qualification Comparison facility will help foreign nationals to seek work matching their abilities


This morning, Patrick Yu, Executive Director of NICEM, congratulated the Department of Employment and Learning on the launch of its new Employment Service Qualification Comparison Facility for Non Nationals.

This initiative will help to unlock jobs for migrants and enable them to use their actual skills rather than remaining stuck in jobs which do not reflect their abilities and academic achievements

This will contribute to the creation of a level playing field in recruitment and optimal use of all job seekers' skills, which is essential in helping economic recovery.

End.

---------------------------------------

Patrick Yu's speech at the DEL launch on 2 November 2011

"Minister, representatives of UK NARIC, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen

 

First of all I would like to welcome the Department of Employment and Learning expanding local job centres to enable non-nationals to check their qualifications against UK equivalents in order to assist them in seeking work. This could also help to identify their skills and qualifications to move on to better jobs.

 
In fact one of the recommendations in our research report “The impact of the Economic Downturn towards the Polish community” in 2009 suggests that “The Department for Employment and Learning should work to improve the process of qualification recognition under the European Directive on Qualifications. This is urgently needed during the economic downturn not only to assist migrant workers but also to unlock and use these skills to help in the recovery of the local economy.” We are pleased to see this is now happening. Through our Migrant Centre we will work in partnership with the department to refer people to this new and important service.
 

Migrants who are not familiar with the local qualification system find themselves alienated. Some of them might have a post-graduate qualification which is not necessarily recognised in this country. It is also not uncommon for those coming from the A8 and A2 who have low skills occupations to have a higher education degree. DEL’s Research Report on the Experiences of Migrant Workers in Northern Ireland in 2009 found that 45% of respondents finished full-time education between the ages of 20 and 24, implying a tertiary level of education. But most of them spoke none or very little English.

 

We also recommend in our research report that the Department should establish specific training courses that include an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) provision to help use the skills of Polish workers in order to assist economic recovery and integrate Polish workers into the labour market. This recommendation also applies to other A8, A2 and non-EU nationals. We do hope that the Minister will look at this important asset to improve the employability of migrant workers on one hand, and to fill the gap in skills to kick-start our economy on the other.
 
Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and unequal treatment as their primary objective is to send money home and / or immigration restrictions prevent them from moving to better jobs. Those who work as Agency Workers with a contract outside UK jurisdiction are particularly vulnerable. We have witnessed this happen in our fishing, farming and construction industry.
 
We would like to see the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers transposed to Northern Ireland as soon as possible in order to ensure that the principle of equal treatment in working conditions is applied to permanent and agency workers. We also call on the Department to extend the terms of this protection to workers who have registered with employment agencies outside the UK. By taking the lead the Department will ensure that all agency workers in Northern Ireland benefit from the principle of equality of treatment in basic working conditions on par with temporary and permanent workers. This will ensure that both employment and equality laws apply to this most vulnerable group in our society.
 
Finally, thanks once again to the Department of Employment and Learning for supporting migrant worker issues over the last five years through the Thematic Working Group on Migrant Workers and the implementation of the Action Plan. On behalf of the ethnic minority community in Northern Ireland we will continue to work in partnership with the Department to improve the quality of life of settled ethnic minorities, migrant workers and refugees in Northern Ireland."