I wish to respond to the letter from Miranda Harrison, HR Business Partner, Autodesk, regarding the difficulty of obtaining NI meetings (Personnel Today, 15 March).
We often recruit and relocate employees to our HQ in Cheshire from other EU countries. We use the following process, usually setting the ball rolling 48 hours prior to the individual’s first day in the UK.
We have gone through this process a handful of times in the past four months, and on a few occasions I have attended the various stages to oversee the service. We have had no problems arranging appointments.
The initial appointment was made by myself with a 30 second phone call. Every other stage happened on time eventually resulting in a six-week lead time for the individual concerned to receive their NI number.
Although I feel this is lengthy, I can’t fault the Jobcentre staff who were helpful in arranging and facilitating appointments.
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The bigger issue I have found is the difficulty for individuals who, once they have an National Insurance card, then experience difficulties obtaining a bank account due to the new money laundering regulations. These regulations call for tough ID checks by the bank. People are asked for, among other things, utility bills or credit statements. All these things cannot be obtained without a bank account.
Gary Towers
European resourcing adviser
New Balance
