Reg 7(2)(b) and (3) of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) Regulations 2004 says that the worker must apply for registration within a month of starting work: as long as they satisfy that condition, the work is authorised from day 1. They can start work immediately and they are legit during the one-month period allowed for an application to be made, while the application is being processed, and then of course after they receive the certificate. So the second group that St A mentions can be paid as workers fom Day 1.
But they way I read the 2004 Regs, if you miss that one-month time limit you cannot be treated as a worker during any lead-in period while your application is processed: you will not become a worker until you are actually issued with a certificate, at which point Reg 7(2)(c) will apply. I think this is the situation that applies to the specific case that St A raises.
Extract from Reg 7 (as originally made; a lot of the 2004 Regs has been amended to kingdom some since then, but fingers crossed this one is still correct):
[color=darkblue:bbf40ade7c](2) An employer is an authorised employer in relation to a worker if –
…
(b) the worker –
(i) during the one month period beginning on the date on which he begins working for the employer, applies for a registration certificate authorising him to work for that employer in accordance with regulation 8; and
(ii) has not received a valid registration certificate or notice of refusal under regulation 8 in relation to that application or ceased working for that employer since the application was made;
[or]
(c) the worker has received a valid registration certificate authorising him to work for that employer and that certificate has not expired under paragraph (5) …
(3) Where a worker begins working for an employer on or after 1st May 2004 that employer is an authorised employer in relation to that worker during the one month period beginning on the date on which the work begins.[/color:bbf40ade7c]
.
