Alan Bentley of IPM presents major award for Inspirational Team of the Year to NATS at the Relocate Awards 2007/8

"We feel very privileged to have been invited to be a major sponsor at this years prestigious awards ceremony." said Alan Bentley. "Our congratulations go out to all the winners in each category". Winners of the Re:locate Awards 2007/8 were presented with their awards at a gala black tie event held in the elegant surroundings of the Institute of Directors (IoD), in London’s Pall Mall, on 23 April.

This glittering occasion fulfilled its promise of being the social and networking event of the year for everyone involved in relocation, from HR people to suppliers. Beneath the IoD’s sparkling chandeliers, nearly 200 guests from across the relocation spectrum celebrated success, good practice and innovation in this increasingly high-profile field.

The evening began with a champagne reception, with entertainment provided by a jazz trio. Two caricaturists mingled with the guests, producing amusing and unusual mementos of the occasion. After a gourmet dinner, guest speaker Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent and frequent contributor to TV and radio programmes, regaled us with lively anecdotes about his travels and insights into some of the top relocation destinations. The winners were then presented with striking crystal trophies.

Building on the success of these inaugural awards, next year’s will be even bigger and better.

News articles on international assignments

Here we feature news articles published by IPM on key issues relating to international assignments.

Australia - Change to Skilled Temporary Visa Laws

The Australian Government announced on April 26, 2007 a range of changes to the Skilled Temporary Visa (457 Visa) laws, to be implemented over the course of 2007.  The changes establish additional measure to protect and strengthen the integrity of the 457 Visa program and include:

New Penalties for Non-Compliant Employers

The Migration Act will be mended to ensure employers of skilled temporary foreign national workers (those with 457 Visas) face stricter penalties if they breach their sponsorship obligations.  New civil penalties will apply to employers who commit the most serious offences, such as failure to pay the Minimum Salary Level and employing foreign workers in unskilled jobs.

Greater Investigative and Enforcement Authority for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Office of Workplace Services

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship will have greater authority to enforce employer compliance with the 457 Visa program, including the power to conduct unannounced audits of employers and their premises.  In addition, the Office of Workplace Services will have grater authority to investigate breaches of the Minimum Salary Level requirement.

Faster Application Processing for Select Employers

The Australian Government will establish a process for expediting the 457 Visa applications of employers who have a strong and demonstrated record of complying with the 457 Visa program.  No details of how this will be administered are available at the moment.

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Chinese Economic Stability Key to Success in China

Article by Dr John Goddard, Worldwide ERC®

Companies operating in China or considering doing business in China need reliable information about the Chinese economy as they design their strategic plans. The Executive Education Program titled "Achieving Success in China", which will be led by Dr. Roe Goddard, Associate Professor, Asia Studies will provide an important snapshot of the Chinese economy and advice about how to interpret news coming out of China. To lay the foundation for this, Dr. Goddard answered the question:

How stable is the Chinese economy, and will it sustain the dramatic growth it has seen?

Unemployment remains exceptionally high in China, with many people on the public dole long after losing meaningful employment as a result of the closing of a number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This is particularly true in the old heavy industry sector located in northeast China, often referred to as China's "rust belt". This is where many of China's SOEs that have been allowed to fail are found.

The financial and banking sectors remain fragile. High levels of non-performing loans at the major Chinese banks pose a potential problem with foreign banks allowed to enter the market and accept renminbi deposits at the end of 2006.

Several factors could undermine China's ability to sustain the high levels of growth. First, should the renminbi be allowed to appreciate (and there are good reasons to expect this will happen, given China's 2005 record-setting trade surplus) certain Chinese goods will be priced out of the market, leading to slackening demand, factory shutdowns, and higher unemployment. A rise in natural resource and construction goods prices could produce inflation with the government forced to tighten investment into the economy.

Environmental degradation and the costs for clean-up could start to absorb Chinese capital and leave less for fuelling growth through investment. An outbreak of epidemic proportions of human-to-human transmittable bird flu could also have a disastrous impact on the Chinese economy.

However, I personally don’t anticipate a slowdown in Chinese growth. It would take massive political instability or a major conflict with Japan, Taiwan, or the US to slow the growth down.

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UK Social Security

Important information relating to voluntary class 2/3 contributions

The Government published a white paper on 25 May 2006 headed ‘Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (CMD 6481). This paper includes a proposal to reduce the number of years needed to qualify for a full basic State Pension to 30 years for men and women who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010 . The current requirements are 39 years for women and 44 years for men.

Employer Sanctions

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, due to come into force by the end of 2006, will introduce additional measures for checking that employees have permission to work in the UK . There will also be higher penalties for employers who employ illegal workers. The intention is that these changes will tighten up the current system under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. It will also ensure that only those individuals entitled to work in the UK will do so.

Under the current system, employers must check specified documents prior to an individual commencing work for them e.g. passport endorsements indicating that the holder has permission to stay and work in the UK. Once this initial check has been done, the employer has fulfilled their legal responsibility and is protected from prosecution.

Under the new system, employers will have to check specified documents at recruitment phase and at stated intervals during the period of employment. This will be to check if there are restrictions on an individual’s permission to work in the UK . For example, checking up on a highly skilled individual initially granted two years' leave, who will then need to apply for an extension to the stay prior to the expiration date.

Employers will need to have a policy to ensure records are maintained and procedure followed when checking individual’s records and that these are conducted in accordance with the time-scales, which will be specified in the final regulations. Companies may be held liable for the offence of knowingly undertaking to employ an illegal migrant if a person who has responsibility for the procedure is aware of that fact. This may include staff in Human Resources. It is going to be important to ensure that proper training is given on the subject.

Failure to act within the legislation may result in fines of up to £1500 for a first offence for each illegal worker, which follows a raid and investigation by Immigration Officers. Subsequent offences carry a higher penalty to a maximum of £2000 for each illegal worker.

It is expected that final regulation will be published by the end of 2006.

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EU unemployment rate rises for first time in almost three years

Source – Bloomberg, 03 October 2006

Unemployment in the dozen countries sharing the euro rose in August for the first time in almost three years as companies curtailed hiring on signs of a slowdown in the global economy.

The jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in July, the European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Economists expected the rate to be unchanged, the median of 35 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed.

Slowing growth in the US, the world’s biggest economy and destination of one-fifth of European exports, is denting the confidence of European companies. With increased rates and a planned tax rise in Germany also clouding the outlook, the International Monetary Fund expects euro-area growth will slow to 2 percent next year from 2.4 percent in 2006.