The Government rejects the criticism of the GSD over the introduction of a £17 fee for the registration of vacancies. The Government considers that it is not just appropriate but entirely right to introduce this fee.

The reality is that a substantial number of vacancies were already being filled on the payment of a £16 registration fee. Further, in order to avoid the payment of a fee, numerous vacancies were being registered by employers for positions which did not exist thus creating a false picture over the number of vacancies available in the job market.

Until 1 April 2019, fees payable under the Employment Regulations 1994 (“the Regulations”) in respect of notification of vacancies were as follows:

1. Nil when notification of the vacancy is made at least 10 days prior to the commencement date of the worker;
2. £16 when the notification is made on or within 10 days from the commencement date of that worker;
3. £31 when the notification is made after the day on which the vacancy is filled.

The fees in paragraphs (b) and (c) above would have been increased on 1 April 2019 in accordance with the index of retail prices, as provided for in the Regulations, to £17 and £32 respectively.

The fee under paragraph (a) above will change as from 1 April 2019 to £17 with penalties of £15 and £30 added in the circumstances described in paragraphs (b) and (c) respectively.

Regulation 4(1) of the Regulations 1994 provides as follows:

‘An employer who proposes to engage a worker shall, before seeking to engage any person as a worker, notify the Director of that intention at least 10 days prior to the commencement date of that worker’.

The Employment Service has found that many employers, instead of registering vacancies at least 10 days prior to the engagement of the worker in accordance with the Regulations, sought to engage workers within 10 days of registering the vacancy. Employers would pay the £16 fee in respect of that particular engagement. It appeared, therefore, that many employers had no difficulty at all in paying a £16 fee on registration of the vacancy.

On the other hand, a very significant number of vacancies were being registered by employers when those vacancies did not actually exist at the time in the relevant organization. This was clearly being done in order to have these vacancies “opened” and avoid the payment of any fee when the time came, if at all, to fill those vacancies. Many of these vacancies were cancelled after three months and subsequently re-registered.

An analysis of the vacancies registered in the last quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 in the retail and wholesale sector is illuminating.

Between October and December 2018, 247 vacancies were registered. Of these, 62 were filled and 185 were cancelled. In percentage terms, 25% were filled and 75% were cancelled.

As examples:

Employer A registered 10 vacancies and cancelled 10 vacancies.

Employer B registered 12 vacancies and only 2 were filled.

Employer C registered 20 positions and only 1 was filled.

Many other examples could be given.

There is a clear pattern that numerous vacancies were being registered by employers without a real need to fill them. This creates an administrative burden on the staff at the Employment Service as well as a fictitious picture of how many vacancies are truly available. Staff spend a huge amount of time checking with employers the status of these vacancies. It also results in individuals seeking employment being sent to employers who have registered vacancies only to find that the employer does not actually have a vacancy to fill. This is unfair on those individuals.

In the first quarter of 2019, a total of 478 vacancies were registered in the retail and wholesale sector. Of these, 159 vacancies were filled before the expiry of the 10-day notification period with the payment of the corresponding fee of £16. This represents 33% of the vacancies registered where employers had no difficulty in paying the £16 fee. By contrast, only 50 vacancies (around 10%) have been filled after the 10-day notification period elapsed, with no fee payable.

The above analysis and examples confirm that payment of a fee does not generally discourage employers from registering and filling vacancies within the 10-day notification limit. It is, however, necessary to discourage employers from registering vacancies for positions which they do not need to fill but do so to avoid the payment of a fee. The introduction of a £17 fee for all vacancies will not affect those who were happy to pay the fee but should have the effect of only real vacancies being registered. This avoids the administrative waste which currently exists, creates a true picture of the vacancies available and assists individuals who are seeking employment.

It is worth noting that there are no separate fees payable for the filing of a notice of terms of engagement, variations of engagement or termination of engagement. This means that the payment of a fee of £17 will cover, for a particular position, all administrative work and costs arising from the registration of the vacancy, the notice of terms of engagement, the variations of engagement (of which there can be more than one) and the termination of engagement, the filing of all of which are statutory requirements. The Government considers that this is entirely reasonable.