I have read that the UK government is facilitating Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK and that some have already arrived in NI. I am a HR manager and the organisation has job vacancies and I would wish to offer a Ukrainian refugee a job. How do I handle that?

Before employing anyone, an employer must conduct ‘Right to Work’ checks. It is crucial that an employer ascertains the immigration status of a proposed job applicant. It is a criminal offence to knowingly employ an illegal immigrant, which carries a possible custodial sentence of up to 5 years, and other potential sanctions can impact the business itself.

It is important to know the difference between an asylum seeker and refugee. An asylum seeker is someone who has made a claim for asylum due to fear of persecution or human rights abuses and is awaiting a decision on their claim. An asylum seeker does not have permission to work in the UK until they have been granted refugee status, or they have been granted the right to work pending a decision on their asylum case. A refugee is someone who has made a successful asylum claim in the UK. A refugee has permission to work, study and bring dependent family members into the UK.

Ukrainian refugees have been granted various bespoke visa routes to the UK. These are the Ukraine Family Scheme Visa and the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine Scheme). Relevant persons under these two Schemes will receive an official permission letter from UK Visas & Immigration, if they hold a valid Ukrainian passport which permits them to travel to the UK and have made a successful application under either of these Schemes.

A successful applicant under the Schemes will be able to live in the UK for up to 3 years, work and study in the UK and access public funds.

As a potential employer, you must enquire if these routes are relevant to any Ukrainian job applicant. You do not have different, or reduced, obligations when undertaking Right to Work checks in the case of a Ukrainian refugee. Usually, there is essentially a 3 step Right to Work check which, due to Covid restrictions can be completed via a video call until 30 September 2022.  You must ensure the Ukrainian national has the right to work in the UK before they commence employment with your organisation.

It is also important to note that if your organisation already holds a sponsorship licence, you may be able to sponsor a Ukrainian national to work in the UK as a skilled worker. So, you may be able to use this route to sponsor an individual who does not have other immigration permission under either of the Schemes allowing them to work in the UK. This means the company and the individual would be subject to the usual requirements, and costs, around a certificate of sponsorship, worker status, skilled worker visa, shortage occupations list etc. However, under this route, the Ukrainian national would not be able to access most benefits.

You can offer full time, part time or voluntary work to an Ukrainian job applicant. Remember however that you must still undertake a fair recruitment and selection process, without discriminatory practices. This obligation applies to the arrangements you make for deciding to whom to offer employment, and in the terms of employment the organisation may wish to offer.

You must ensure that the language, format and content of application forms; the physical arrangements, location and timing of interviews; and the job and person specifications for the vacancies you have, do not place an Ukrainian applicant at a disadvantage. The organisation must adopt non-discriminatory practices. Whilst there are exceptions under the Race Relations (NI) Order in regard to meeting the needs of a racial group relating to access to education, training or welfare, or any ancillary benefits, I suggest you carefully review the organisation’s recruitment processes when considering offering employment to an Ukrainian refugee.

You may find further information at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-ukraine-family-scheme-visa.