New Labour Market Testing Requirements

LMT for Temporary Visas

Following a blip which saw the release of the new Labour Market Testing (LMT) legislation on 1 October 2020 with a significant error, Immigration has now confirmed the requirements for employer-sponsored Subclass 482 TSS and Subclass 494 SESR visas are just as onerous as originally announced last month.

Employers looking to nominate a foreign worker for the TSS visa or 494 SESR visas will now be required to advertise the nominated position in three different places, one of which must be the Government's Jobactive website.

The balance two advertisements can be on:

• a recruitment website with national reach in Australia (other than Jobactive);
• print media with national reach in Australia;
• radio with national reach in Australia;
• if an accredited sponsor - on the sponsor's website.

As per previous requirements, advertisements must be 'live' for at least 28 days, with LMT completed within the 4 months immediately prior to lodgement.

Nomination applications lodged before 1 October do not need to meet this additional LMT requirement.

LMT for Permanent Visas

Immigration had also announced their expectation that employers nominating workers for permanent ENS and RSMS applications would also need to provide evidence of undertaking LMT as per the new guidelines.

This has now been clarified to confirm that while there are no legislated requirements for LMT (such as for the 482 and 494 visas), officers will take into consideration any testing that has taken place within the local labour market when assessing the 'genuine need' requirement.

Both the Direct Entry and Temporary Residence Transitional streams of the ENS and RSMS visas have a genuine need criterion.

Advertising the position on JobActive and other employment sites will be highly regarded, though it is only one way of providing evidence that there is a genuine need to sponsor a foreign worker in the nominated position.

We advise caution when submitting ENS and RSMS applications without evidence or an explanation of recruitment efforts and why the worker is needed. Employers are welcome to contact Acacia Immigration with any queries.