Employment Permits Act 2024

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Change of employer: refusal to approve change

28. (1) Section 32 (1), (2)(a) and (7) and section 33 (1) (other than paragraph (n)), (2), (3), (4) and (7) shall, subject to the modifications specified in subsection (2), apply to the refusal to approve a change of employer under section 27 as they apply to the refusal to grant an employment permit.

(2) The modifications mentioned in subsection (1) are—

(a) in section 32 (7), the omission of the reference to that section being subject to sections 44 (5) and 45 (5),

(b) in section 33 —

(i) in subsection (1)(b), construing the reference to section 12 (12) as a reference to section 27 (8),

(ii) in subsection (1)(p), construing the reference to the person identified in the application in accordance with section 12 (6), or as the case may be, the connected person, as a reference to the new employer, and

(iii) in subsection (7), construing the reference to the person identified in the application in accordance with section 12 (6) as a reference to the new employer,

(c) construing the references to the grant of an employment permit as references to the approval of a change of employer under section 27 ,

(d) construing the references to the application for the permit or the application as a reference to the application under section 27 , and

(e) any other necessary modifications.

(3) The Minister may refuse to approve a change of employer under section 27 if—

(a) the foreign national is not, in the opinion of the Minister, employed by the existing employer in the employment specified in the employment permit referred to in section 27 (1),

(b) the employment of the foreign national by the new employer—

(i) in the case of a general employment permit, is not the same type of employment for which the employment permit referred to in section 27 (1) was granted, or

(ii) in the case of a critical skills employment permit, does not fall within the same category of employment (being a category of employment specified in regulations under section 47 in respect of which a critical skills employment permit may be granted) as the employment for which the employment permit referred to in section 27 (1) was granted,

(c) the terms and conditions of the employment of the foreign national by the new employer are not comparable to those of the employment of the foreign national by the existing employer, including, in the case of a general employment permit, those relating to any of the matters specified under section 47 (12) as a condition for the grant of such a permit,

(d) the foreign national has spent a continuous period of not less than 3 months outside the State during the period for which the employment permit has been in force that was not connected to his or her employment, or

(e) the foreign national has already made, under section 27 , the maximum number of applications specified in regulations under section 47 (5).

(4) Where the Minister refuses to approve a change of employer, the Minister shall notify, in writing, the applicant of—

(a) the decision,

(b) the reasons for it, and

(c) the fact that the applicant may, in accordance with regulations under section 50 (14), submit the decision to the Minister for review under subsection (5) within the period referred to in section 35 (2) as applied by subsection (6).

(5) A decision of the Minister to refuse to approve a change of employer may, in accordance with regulations under section 50 (14), be submitted by the applicant therefor to the Minister for review.

(6) Section 35 (2) to (8) shall, subject to the modifications specified in subsection (7), apply to a review under subsection (5) as they apply to a review under section 35 (1).

(7) The modifications mentioned in subsection (6) are—

(a) in section 35 (2), construing the reference to a submission under subsection (1) of that section as a reference to a submission under subsection (5),

(b) in section 35 (3)—

(i) construing the reference to the application for the employment permit as a reference to the application under section 27 , and

(ii) construing the reference to subsections (1) and (2) of that section as a reference to subsection (5) and section 35 (2) (as applied by this section),

(c) construing the references to a decision referred to in subsection (1) or (3) of section 35 as references to a decision referred to in subsection (5),

(d) construing the references to the refusal or grant of an employment permit as references to the refusal or grant of approval of a change of employer under section 27 ,

(e) construing the references to section 34 as references to subsection (4), and

(f) any other necessary modifications.

(8) This section is without prejudice to the other requirements under this Act that must be satisfied with respect to the approval of a change of employer under section 27 .

(9) In this section—

“existing employer” has the meaning assigned to it by section 27 (2);

“new employer” has the meaning assigned to it by section 27 (2).