Labour Market Testing Requirements

Meeting the correct labour market testing requirements has been one of the main factors for immigration to refuse nomination applications which eventually causes visa refusals since this requirement came into effect in August 2018. 

For some, labour market testing has been difficult simply because businesses were never used to the habit of advertising positions prior to nominating / sponsoring an overseas worker and being restricted for 28 days before a visa application can be lodged can be very frustrating for some especially those whose who are onshore and their visas are expiring soon. 

To simplify this requirement, it is very important for employers to replicate the same things you would normally do when you need to hire a local Australian worker. The Immigration Department has made some available concessions for labour market testing to be excluded, however, IMMIGATE always advises our clients to get into the habit of testing the market because this requirement will help against meeting the “genuine position criteria”.

To meet the labour market testing requirements, employers in need to sponsor overseas workers should action the following prior to a nomination application being lodged:

• The position must be published at two different professional recruitment sites such as Seek, national print media such as newspapers, or your company website if you are an accredited sponsor;
• Never advertise on Gumtree or Social Media
• Include a detailed position description (duties & responsibilities);
• Add required skills and knowledge;
• Specify the salary range and ensure the position type is classified as “full time”; 
• Add company name (unless advertised by a third party such as a recruitment agency); and
• Keep a record of the two advertisements, any paid invoices, receipts, dates of advertisements must be shown, number of applications received and why other candidates were not suitable.

In addition, employers should ensure that the job advertisements must run for a minimum period of 28 days and have been conducted within 4 months prior to lodging a nomination application with the Immigration Department.