is it discrimination?

[Guest barkers18]

Hi guys,

 

Is it legal for a company to state it has a policy to only hire permanent residents on full time contracts?

 

I know certain government depts can due to security issues but for a normal company it's surely discrimination?

 

I'm on a 475 and have come across this recently a couple of times but it only comes up after 1st interview stage.

 

475 (state sponsored skilled visa) seems to be mis-understood by a lot of employers

 

cheers

 

Ronnie

[Guest adelaideinjuly]

I have been in this situation for four months now

some times i get automatic refusal during the week end if i ticked that i don't have a PR in the application form

[The Flinns]

Hi guys,

 

Is it legal for a company to state it has a policy to only hire permanent residents on full time contracts?

 

I know certain government depts can due to security issues but for a normal company it's surely discrimination?

 

I'm on a 475 and have come across this recently a couple of times but it only comes up after 1st interview stage.

 

475 (state sponsored skilled visa) seems to be mis-understood by a lot of employers

 

cheers

 

Ronnie

 

To be honest we're on a 475 and we're all working full time and it's never been a problem. In fact our eldest son is just about to start his 2nd year working for the Premier's Office on an apprenticeship.

 

For tax purposes your classed as pr, so I can't see why it should be a problem for employers anyway. It may be that prospective employers are confusing it with a 457 and so it might be worth explaining the visa and the route to pr in more detail. Alternatively, you could print off the letter on the SA Govt website that they recommend to give to employers.

 

Good luck.

[Guest Zoot]

Is it legal - I think it is, I seem to remember a thread somewhere about someone being turned down for a job specifically because they were on the 475/495 (they even produced the letter explaining about the visa) and asking DIMA about it who said well the company can do what they like it is up to them who they recruit and under what conditions.

 

I think it is one of those grey areas where although you are entitled to work full time and it is a provisional visa towards PR the company can interpret it how they like and impose whatever they conditions they like because your contract is with them and not immigration. As an example I applied for a job in State Government (on a 495 visa) and when he phoned to let me know I hadnt got the job he said straight out as a non Australian you were automatically the weakest candidate. So if even State Government people have difficulty understanding the visa how much more companies that dont recruit foreigners that often.

 

I think there is a lot of confusion over the 475/495 visa because it is a bitsa visa - bit of PR bit of temporary - some employers understand it, have no problem with it and are happy to employ permanently from the outset others are less conscious of the different visa types. They understand student visa (restriction of 20 hours per week), PR visa (no restrictions) and maybe the employer sponsored visa (because they may sponsor someone for that) but the 475/495 is an unknown quantity and with concerns over employing people who dont have the right to work in Oz they would rather err on the side of caution and not get themselves into a position they cant get out of easily so if they appoint you temporarily or on contract they feel they are covered.

[suzer]

This is why you simply tell them you have provisional permanent status with no work restrictions. I've never had any difficulties either. I have simply said (which was true) that my visa would convert to permanent residency such amount of time.

[Guest kangomik]

They just want to know that your going to stay, "temporary" "sponsored" or even a bridging visa rings alarm bells.

The sheer amount of applicants means you get binned first, so they save their time.

[Guest MarkIngram]

I came here on a the State Sponsored Skilled visa myself...had nothing lined up and got a job inside 3 weeks of arriving...my visa was never an issue - I told them the visa I was on...and told them that I fully intended to complete the paperwork for PR after the 2 year required period....we would have been here 1 year tomorrow:jiggy: - my wife is also in full time work and again they are fine about the visa - both employers have offered to help where they can with our PR application.

 

Good Luck

[jim and adel]

This is why you simply tell them you have provisional permanent status with no work restrictions. I've never had any difficulties either. I have simply said (which was true) that my visa would convert to permanent residency such amount of time.

 

Fully agree. When we first came over (on a 495), on my first applications I spelled out the visa we had but soon realised I was putting potential employers off - they want to know that you're eligible to work and live here, and not the finer points of detail about different types of visas they've probably never heard of (with a few exceptions depending on role). Once I got my line down to something like 'I hold a visa entitling me to live and work in SA', this ceased to be an issue.

 

Jim