TCM0320480 - Extra information: glossary: W
Week
Welsh language
Welsh service provider
Worker
Worker Authorisation Requirement
Work seeker
Worker Authorisation Scheme
Worker Registration Scheme
Week
A week is a period of seven days beginning with midnight between Saturday and Sunday.
Welsh language
The Welsh Language Act 1993 places a legal requirement on all public bodies to give both Welsh and English equal status in the conduct of their business with any persons living in Wales.
As a result of this legislation, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) created the Welsh Language Scheme, which sets out how HMRC will meet the requirements of the Act.
Claim packs and some forms are available in Welsh as part of this scheme.
Welsh service provider
The Welsh service provider is split into two areas - the Welsh Contact Centre and the Welsh Language Unit.
Welsh Contact Centre
The Welsh Contact Centre deals with all types of customer contact from customers whose preferred language is Welsh.
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
Welsh Language Unit
The Welsh Language Team is part of Customer Contact Directorate and supports all HMRC business streams in providing Welsh language services.
They deal with requests for written and verbal translations for the whole of HMRC.
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
You can find more information on their services by going to HMRC intranet homepage> A-Z Index> W> Welsh language services.
Worker
The European Court of Justice has interpreted the concept of worker as covering a person who works
- under the direction of someone else
- for which they are paid.
In short, a worker is someone who does work for an employer in expectation of payment.
A person who is no longer working will continue to be treated as a worker, and does not lose the right to reside as a qualified person if
- they are temporarily incapable of work as a result of illness or accident
- or
- they are in duly recorded voluntarily unemployment after having been employed in the United Kingdom (UK), provided that they are registered as a jobseeker with the relevant employment office, they were employed for one year or more before becoming unemployed and they have been unemployed for no more than six months
- or
- they can provide evidence that they are seeking employment in the UK and have a genuine chance of being engaged
- or
- they are involuntary unemployed and have embarked on vocational training
- or
- they have voluntarily ceased working and embarked on vocational training that is related to their previous employment.
A person who has taken time off work in connection with childbirth or placement for adoption and is intending to return to their employment once their leave has expired remains a worker whilst they are on statutory leave from their employer.
Worker Authorisation Requirement
On 1 July 2013, Croatia joined the European Union. From that date, Croatian nationals who want to take up employment in the UK will generally need to obtain a Worker Authorisation Requirement from the Home Office. This document must be issued to the Croatian nationals before they start work.
The accession worker authorisation document can be either:
- a passport or other travel document (i.e. a document designed to serve the same purpose as a passport) endorsed before 1st July 2013 to show that the holder has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under the Immigration Act 1971, subject to a condition restricting his employment in the United Kingdom to a particular employer or category of employment
Note: This shall cease to be a valid accession worker authorisation document at the end of the period for which leave to enter or remain was given or the if the document holder ceases working for the employer; or in the employment, specified in the document for a period of time that exceeds 30 days in total.
Or
- a worker authorisation registration certificate issued in accordance with the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013 and endorsed with a condition restricting the holders employment to a particular employer or an authorised category of employment.
Note: This shall cease to be a valid accession worker authorisation document at the end of any time limit placed on the validity of the document; or when the document holder ceases working for the employer, or in the authorised category of employment, specified in the document for a period of time that exceeds 30 days in total; or when the document is revoked.
Work seeker
A work seeker is an EU or Swiss national who enters the United Kingdom (UK) in order to seek employment and can provide evidence that they are seeking and have a genuine chance of obtaining employment in the UK.
An A2 or Croatian national who comes to the UK to seek work will not have a right to reside as a work seeker as applied to other EU nationals. Their right to reside depends on their being self-sufficient.
However, an A2 or Croatian national who has been in continuous registered employment for at least 12 months before becoming unemployed and has acquired full Treaty rights, may have a right to reside as a worker seeker as applied to other EU nationals.
Note: For more information on Full free movement rights, use TCM0320140
Worker Authorisation Scheme
On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union. From that date, A2 nationals who want to take up employment in the UK will generally need to obtain a Worker Authorisation Document from the Home Office. This document must be issued to the A2 national before they start work.
A document issued before 1 January 2007 giving that person leave to enter or remain in the UK is subject to the condition restricting their employment here to a particular employer or category of employment.
A Seasonal Agricultural Work Card (from 1 January 2007) - this scheme is restricted to A2 nationals.
An Accession Worker Card issued in respect of an authorised category of employment. For example, employment in the
- Sector Based Scheme
- or
- under a work permit
- or
- employment as an au pair, a domestic worker, a journalist, a teacher or language assistant, an overseas qualified nurse.
Note: This list is not exhaustive and is set out fully in the relevant Home Office regulations.
Worker Registration Scheme
In February 2004, the Government announced the terms in which workers from the A8 national countries have access to the United Kingdom (UK) labour market.
For the first 12 months of their presence in the UK, workers from those countries will generally need to register with the Home Office under the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) too be allowed to work lawfully in the UK, with the exception of people who are self-employed and certain other groups.
This scheme came to an end on 30 April 2011 and from 1 May 2011 nationals from the A8 member states working in the UK are no longer required to register their employment with the Home Office. From 1 May 2011 customers arriving from these member states are treated in the same way as nationals from any other EU member state.