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CASE STUDY
Pipeline Induction Heat Ltd (PIH)
Moving highly specialised staff to Australia for short-term deployments of three to six months.
Introduction
Pipeline Induction Heat Ltd (PIH) is the global leader in Field Joint Coating Services providing bespoke service packages from full project management to equipment rental packages. From its HQ in Burnley, Lancashire, it delivers service solutions around the world.
PIH operates in time critical environments where increasing demands for quality, reliability and shorter installation times, means that the efficient deployment of their staff around the world is critical.
Background
Imagine that you are the General Manager of a UK business that has just won a contract to deliver services in Australia. You may instead be the HR Manager who has just been handed this curveball! You need to get your staff to Australia very quickly. Time is money.
This is the scenario that faced PIH a few years ago. We were able to help their staff gain sub-class 400 visas quickly and efficiently. Since then, we have helped the company with several highly time-sensitive deployments.
We were first approached by the HR Manager at PIH in November 2017. The company had won a contract to provide services as part of the massive offshore LNG project off the North-West coast of Australia.
PIH needed to get their team of highly skilled Engineers and Technicians to Australia as quickly as possible. There was an initial group of 12 staff, followed by another group of 12 staff who relieved those initially deployed.
The Solution
Because of the urgency of the deployment and because of the highly specialised nature of the work to be done, we recommended that each individual apply for the Temporary Work (Short-Stay Specialist) visa sub-class 400.
This visa allowed the men to work in and travel to / from Australia for up to three months. This suited them very well as the work was short-term and they needed the flexibility to move their staff from Australia up to their Indonesian project at Batam.
The men were all skilled Engineers and Technicians with a variety of skills and backgrounds. Together they formed a very effective unit to perform the tasks required. What they had in common was that they had all received in-house training delivered by PIH. The equipment they use was bespoke equipment that PIH manufactured in Burnley and which could only be installed and operated by trained personnel.
The challenge for us was to present a group narrative to the Department of Home Affairs which explained the background to the deployment and the reasons why it was necessary. We needed to explain in general terms why the group was being deployed and how this deployment would not negatively impact on Australian workers.
Our answer was presented to the department in the form of an invitation from the Australian entity with whom we had contracted. This explained the highly specialised nature of the work to be done, the unusual location of the work and the proprietary system of pipe coating technology that is essential when working in corrosive environments.
We drafted a deployment letter for PIH to submit with each visa application. This confirmed that they would continue to be employed on the basis of their UK employment contracts, subject to local additional payments to cover additional working hours and discomfort while working on the project.
We had to prepare individual applications for each applicant, setting out their skills and work experience and explaining their roles within the team.
The Outcome
The deployment with the two teams ran for a six-month period. During this time we kept in touch with the HR Manager at PIH to ensure that the deployment went smoothly and to assure PIH that we were on call should any migration issues arise.
From our perspective this is an excellent example of how the sub class 400 visa works in the real world.
TorFX Pty Ltd (TorFX)
Helping with a speedy deployment and creating a pathway to permanent residency
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