Are you suffering from not having access to enough skilled labour, and could you be leaving money on the table? Over 100,000 businesses in the UK are taking on staff from overseas to fill their skills gaps, but the roofing industry seems slow to capitalise on the global availability of skilled workers.
Navigating the Home Office regulations may be putting you off and, indeed, the rules recently changed in April this year. With the right guidance, accessing the talent you need is easier, quicker, and more cost-effective than you might imagine. While the immigration system remains points-based, roofers are now on the new Immigration Salary List (ISL), the replacement for the Shortage Occupation List.
The list has new SOC (job) code going rates, with every job now having a corresponding SOC code and skill level to determine its eligibility for sponsorship and corresponding going rate. This means that any new overseas roofer’s salary needs to be a minimum of £30,960 for a 37.5 hour week or £15.88 per hour (whichever is the higher) from 4 April 2024.
The recommendation is to consider developing a PAYE workforce so they can move from job to job wherever and whenever needed. For example, let’s say you need approximately 50 employees, 20 from overseas as PAYE and the rest from UK talent, as subcontractors as required.
