As members will be aware, the States recently debated and approved all of the proposed changes to the PML put forward by Home Affairs, designed to try and alleviate some of the recruitment issues across the Island.
Claire, one of our committee members and the go-to on the legislation, has kindly put together a summary below, which we hope you will find helpful.
| Current law | Maximum length of stay | Changes |
| Long term employment permit (LTEP) Aligns roughly with UK visa list and automatically gives permit holder right to remain in Guernsey and UK | 8 years | No change |
| Medium term employment permit (MTEP) | 5 years | Remove MTEPs Population Management hope that most employees will become LTEPs |
| Short term employment permit (STEP) | Up to 1 year, can renew to maximum 5 years | 1 year permit, maximum 3 years consecutive Transitional arrangements will be in place for those already on STEPs. |
| Season employment permit (SEP) | 9 months on, 3 months off, can renew indefinitely | No change |
| Some sectors restricted to EU/UK applicants | EU and Rest of World treated equally (but still subject to UK visas) |
Upskilling staff
There a requirement for STEP holders to “upskill” and become LTEP. Businesses would, however, need to provide evidence of the need for the switch to the longer term licence.
Reference documents
CHttpHandler.ashx (gov.gg) Current guide to permits
CHttpHandler.ashx (gov.gg) Current list of jobs / allowed permits.
These will be reviewed and roles aligned with UK will be categorised as LTEP/STEP/SEP.
On the whole, we believe the proposals should benefit many local businesses, but there is concern that the further restrictions being proposed for sectors which rely on short term guest workers so we would like to see more help to retain current STEP holders.
We are to press Home Affairs to have these changes ratified and introduced as soon as possible.
If you need any clarification or help with the legislation, please contact us on enquiry@thecgi.net
Thanks and best
Dave Newman
Chairman CGi