Treasury Minister Chris Thomas has confirmed that employers are not required to tell an unsuccessful local applicant whether the person who got the job needs a work visa.
Answering questions in Keys, Mr Thomas said: “There is no requirement for an employer to disclose to an unsuccessful applicant who is an Isle of Man worker, whether the successful applicant requires or not.”
Jason Moorhouse MHK, who posed the original question, raised concerns about equality in the recruitment process and asked whether consideration had been given to allowing unsuccessful local applicants to request a review.
However Mr Tjomas rejected the comparison, saying: “The inequality Act applying for a job is not in itself a protected characteristic. I am not sure that equality is the issue.”
Mr Thomas confirmed that employers must carry out a resident labour market test before hiring through the worker migrant visa route, demonstrating that settled workers were given priority.
He added that January 2025 and March 2026, 695 worker migrant visas were issued.
Julie Edge asked about checks on job market tests during the visa application process and Mr Thomas said members would be briefed on forthcoming changes to the worker migrant system later this month.