Pro-Force and the Seasonal Worker Scheme
After a successful three-year pilot, the scheme has been extended until 2025.
The scheme will be managed by the Home Office under the T5 (Temporary Worker) Seasonal Worker category of the immigration system.
The Scheme at a glance:
• 45,000 available VISAs
• 6-month work placements
• Seasonal work only
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Seasonal Worker Scheme - Horticulture
What sectors can use scheme workers?
Protected vegetables, grown under glass
Field vegetables, such as salads, herbs, potatoes and other vegetables
Soft fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries
Top fruit, such as apples, plums and cherries
Vines and bines, such as hops
Mushrooms, including exotic indoor types
What jobs can scheme workers do?
Crop maintenance & husbandry
Crop harvesting
Associated work such as tunnel and irrigation construction
Packaging and processing of crops
General primary production work in edible horticulture
Supervisory roles within designated sectors
Seasonal Worker Scheme - Poultry
Following the trial in 2021 and a successful tender process Pro-Force has been chosen by the Government to provide 11-week seasonal poultry visas until 2025.
The scheme will be managed by the Home Office under the T5 (Temporary Worker) Seasonal Worker category of the immigration system.
Poultry Sector Jobs
For the poultry sector, operators can use the visa route to recruit seasonal workers for the role of:
Butcher
Bird or game dresser
Killer or plucker
Poultry processor
Poultry sticker
Trusser
Food operative
Poultry catcher or handler
Poultry vaccinator
Poultry meat packer
Scheme Workers and their Welfare
All growers and producers wishing to utilise scheme workers must be able to demonstrate that their workplace is safe, and regulations are adhered to, prior to being granted an allocation of staff. This is verified via an audit that covers:
Pay and hours – including satisfying National Minimum Wage Regulations,
Working Time Regulations and those around holiday pay.
Health & safety – including ensuring their working environment, any accommodation and transport facilities are maintained in a safe manner.
Exploitation risks – such as ensuring the worker’s freedom of movement, access to documents, and mechanisms to raise complaints.
The audit is carried out via an independent auditor and covers all aspects of UK employment law, H&S regulations, the GLAA licencing standards, FPC guidance on caravan accommodation and the ETI Base Code.
We also provide full medical and repatriation insurance free of charge to all scheme workers.
Your Responsibilities
You must ensure that all workers are only working within the respective sectors, and are provided with regular work in order to ensure they can support themselves. You must commit to the following:
Assignment start and end date
Provision of at least 32 hours work, per worker, per week
You must also ensure you provide us with ongoing management information as per Home Office reporting requirements, such as roles, crops, hours worked, pay rates, productivity and absence.
Skilled Workers
In March 2022, Pro-Force launched our Skilled Workers division, connecting clients globally with the skills so desperately still in great demand in the UK.
The skilled worker scheme gives companies access to Visa’s for up to 5 years, for roles that feature on the Home Office eligible occupations list and Pro-Force are already working with clients to recruit for a variety of sectors such as poultry, meat, fish, engineering, agriculture and horticulture.
To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, candidates must be able to:
work for a UK employer that’s been approved as a sponsor by the Home Office
have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role they’ve been offered in the UK
do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations
be paid a minimum salary of £38,700 per annum or £19.84 per hour, based on 37.5 hours, whichever is higher.
have a good grasp of English Language, equivalent to level B1 standard
For any enquiries or more information, please contact enquiries@pro-force.co.uk
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