Recruiting from the displaced talent pool can easily be integrated into your existing workforce strategy. It requires actively recruiting from a specific section of Scotland’s population, in much the same way as you might target school leavers. Recruiting refugees and asylum seekers does not involve many of the challenges associated with international recruitment, but there are still specific considerations, which will be explored further throughout this resource.
There are many terms used for workers from overseas and although in most cases the terms can be interchanged without consequence, they each have a certain legal status.
Migrant: Someone who chooses to voluntarily move from one region or country to another, for example, to improve their employment opportunities or to join a family temporarily or permanently.
Overseas worker: Someone who has, or needs to have, a visa to work in the UK.
Forcibly displaced person: Someone who has had to flee from where they live because of persecution, conflict, generalised violence, or human rights violations. They could be in a different city in their own country or have travelled to another country.
Asylum seeker: A person who has made a claim to be considered for protection (become a refugee), in a state that has signed the UN Convention on Refugees 1951 and is waiting for a decision. In other words, an asylum seeker is a person who has asked the government to recognise them as a refugee and is waiting to hear the outcome.
Asylum seekers do not have general access to public funds or automatic permission to enter paid employment, although they can volunteer with charitable or public organisations, but not with private companies. Once their application for refugee status has reached the one-year point, and if no decision has been reached, they can apply for permission to work. However, they can only work in occupations on the Immigration Skills List, which currently includes most care worker roles.
Refugee: A refugee is someone whose individual application for protection has been recognised under the UN Convention on Refugees 1951. A refugee is entitled to the same social and economic rights as any UK citizen. Refugees have full access to medical treatment, education, benefits, housing, and employment.
Depending on the route to the UK, for example, the refugee resettlement route through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) or the asylum route, refugees may receive different types of immigration status from the Home Office, which are ‘leave to remain’ or ‘leave to enter’. Leave to remain or leave to enter are general terms that mean that a person from outside of the UK has permission to stay in the UK. The length of leave to remain for refugees can vary, for example, the length of permission to stay can be two and a half years (Temporary Refugee Permission), five years (Refugee Permission or Refugee Status), and indefinite (Refugee Settlement).
Other forms of immigration status: Asylum seekers who do not meet the criteria for refugee status may meet the criteria for other types of leave to remain, such as Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave. If they are granted these types of leave, they will also have permission to work in the UK. Those with limited leave to remain can apply for further leave to remain and while the application for further leave is being considered, people will continue to have the same right to employment.
In recent years there have been more people arriving through specific nationality-based routes, for example, the Ukraine and Afghanistan schemes. Through these different schemes, there will be different lengths of leave to remain, however, they will all have the right to access work, social security, NHS (National Health Service), education, and services as any other UK resident during the length of their leave.
There is a host of information that can help you with integrating the active recruitment of refugees and asylum seekers into your workforce planning. General guidance on workforce planning for the social care sector can be found in the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) guide to Workforce Planning and Development.
Understanding what will be needed before a refugee or asylum seeker joins your organisation, and the expectations for their induction, will be important. One guide which offers helpful information is the ‘Pre-employment and induction guide for employers of overseas workers, refugees, and asylum seekers’, produced in collaboration with the NHS Education for Scotland (Centre for Workforce Supply Social Care), SSSC, and the Scottish Refugee Council. You may also find the companion guide useful to provide to candidates or new recruits, ‘Pre-employment and induction guide for overseas workers, refugees and asylum seekers’. You may also find our resource for refugees ‘Entitlement to work’ useful.
You may also wish to look at the SSSC’s Ukrainian nationals: a guide for social service employers.