What is Labour Market Testing about?

Labour Market Testing (LMT) is all about the advertising process of the nominated position by employers in Australia. It is only required when a sponsor nominates a position for a Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) 482 visa and Regional Employer Sponsored 494 visa.

When a sponsor or an employer wishes to nominate a foreign person to work for them, the sponsor must demonstrate that they can’t find a suitable Australian worker locally and they need to test the local labour market. So advertising is the best way to test the market. 

What are the requirements for labour market testing?

Before a sponsor nominates a position, they must advertise the position in the local media with at least two advertisements within 4 months immediately before lodging the nomination application.  At the time of lodging the nomination, the sponsor must provide to the Department a copy of the advertisement publishing.

The advertisement should be published in English in Australia with the following information:

• The position title with detailed job duties;
• Skilled or experience required for the position;
• The name of the employer /sponsor or the name of the recruitment agency being used by the sponsor;
• The annual salary components for the position – (a salary range is acceptable);

Where the advertisements should be published?

The minimum 2 advertisements must meet the following publishing requirements:

• On a prominent or professional recruitment website with national research facility; Examples as seek.com.au ↗ or www.careerone.com.au ↗ . Industry specific recruitment websites relevant to the occupation that are in significant use by the industry are an acceptable method of LMT advertising. But a general classified website or advertisement solely through social media notification (Twitter or Instagram) are not acceptable advertising;
• In a national print media such as newspapers or magazines with national reach that are published at least monthly and circulated through the whole Australia;
• On national radio with national reach;
• On the business’ website if the sponsor is an accredited sponsor;

How long and how the advertisements should be published?

• The advertisements, including on websites are expected to have run for at least 4 weeks;
• Applications or expressions of interest for the advertised position must have been accepted for at least 4 weeks;
• The advertisement may be published in the same medium (such as newspaper advertisements, on two separate occasions) or in any two different mediums simultaneously, or on two separate occasions;

• Advertising may have been undertaken by a third party if authorised to do so by the sponsor (for example, an associated entity or a contracted party, such as a recruitment agency).
• The sponsor can also place advertisement themselves without any extra requirement;

Additional LMT requirements for nominations lodged on or after 1 October 2020

As from September 2020, the Australia Government introduced new labour market testing measures for employers’ nomination process. In additional the above mentioned 2 advertisements, nominator must also do the following:

• The nominated position must be advertised on the Government’s Jobactive ↗ website;
• the jobactive advertisement must have included all of the information required to be included in the other 2 advertisements mentioned above;
• Jobactive advertisements are expected to have run for at least 4 weeks;

• Applications or expressions of interest for the advertised position must have been accepted for at least 4 weeks;

So based on the above, evidence of a total of 3 advertisements, including an advertisement published on the Government’s jobactive website, must be provided at the time of nomination is lodge.  Failure to meet this requirement will lead to the nomination to be refused.

 

Labour Market Testing for TSS 482 visa and subclass 494 visa under Labour Agreements stream

Employers or the nominators must provide LMT proof when they request a labour agreement as part of the application process. Where the labour agreement specifies, nominators must also provide proof of LMT when they nominate an applicant.

Labour Market Testing Exemptions

Although LMT is compulsory for sponsors to nominate positions, there are occasions when the requirements can be exempted.

According to the current policies, the LMT is not required where it would conflict with Australia’s International trade obligations (ITOs) in any of the following circumstances:

• the nominated worker is a citizen/national of China, Japan, Mexico, Thailand or Vietnam, or is a citizen/national/permanent resident of Canada, Chile, South Korea, New Zealand or Singapore;
• the nominated worker is a current employee of a business that is an associated entity of your business and the associated entity is located in an Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) country (Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam), Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea or New Zealand;
• the nominated worker is a current employee of an associated entity of your business and that associated entity operates in a country that is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the nominated occupation is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation for the purposes of ITOs and the nominee will be responsible for the entire or a substantial part of your company’s operations in Australia;
• the business currently operates in a WTO member country or territory and is seeking to set up a business in Australia, and the nominated occupation is an Executive or Senior Manager occupation for the purposes of ITOs;
• the worker you nominate is a citizen or an eligible permanent resident* of a WTO member country or territory and has worked for you in the nominated position in Australia on a full-time basis for the last two years;

For more information about the labour market testing, you are most welcome to consult with Korrylink.