Home topics workplace hr-and-staff Employment Legislation Recruitment Staff Employment Legislation Employing foreign workers: What you need to know Ben Thompson June 29, 2012 So, you’ve heard about Gina Rinehart’s deal to bring 1715 temporary foreign construction workers to her Roy Hill mine, but what do you know about your own ability to employ foreign workers? You may be surprised to learn that you don’t need to be a mining magnate to access highly skilled foreign workers who are willing to live and work in Australia. To be clear, Gina Rinehart’s enterprise migration deal is special. Enterprise Migration Agreements are specifically for large projects in the resource sector that require more than $2 billion capital investment and 1500 workers. They come with stringent requirements for training Australian workers and the foreign workers are protected under the Worker Protection Act 2009 . Outside these mega projects businesses must go down the path of employer sponsored visas to employ foreign workers. Until 30 June 2012 the two main types of employer sponsored visas are Long Stay Temporary Business visas (457) and Employer Nominated Scheme (EMS) visas (121 and 856). In addition there are Regional Skilled Migration schemes for regional employers. These schemes will continue after 1 July 2012 but with some changes to visa classes for permanent migration. A 457 visa can operate for up to 4 years during which time the employee must work in the nominated occupation for the sponsor. EMS visas allow an employer to permanently sponsor a foreign worker