The same team a year later: bringing seasonal workers back for a new campaign

01 / End of the campaign

The last week of December is day one of next season

The beet processing campaign ended in late December. The thirty workers from Uzbekistan we had brought for the season worked it to the end, and the plant said plainly: we want the same people in September. They know the plant, the dormitory and the journey, and nobody needs everything explained from scratch.

To the plant, September seemed far away. For us the return plan started that same week in December. Sherzod, our manager for workers from Uzbekistan, spoke to each of the thirty before they left: did they want to come back, what were their plans for the year, was their passport expiring, which phone number would be active at home. Twenty-eight said yes; two were undecided.

Contracts ended after the last shift, the plant applied to cancel the permits as the law requires, and people went home with their passports and contacts. The register kept thirty lines marked 'return' and the date of the first contact point.

Who

30 campaign workers: 28 want to return, 2 undecided

When

Next campaign from early September

Season documents

Contracts ended, permits cancelled, people departed

What next

Contact points, new permits in summer, replacements from the reserve

A seasonal team isn't lost in September. It's lost in January, when everyone stops writing to each other.

02 / Staying in touch

Eight months when you can't go quiet

Between campaigns people get on with their lives: they find work at home, go to work in other countries, change numbers. If you first write to someone in August, some won't reply and some will be busy. So we planned short contact points, at each of which a person confirms or changes their decision.

Sherzod messaged everyone in Uzbek and called those who didn't reply. In June, at the main contact point, each person received a preliminary information sheet for the new season: the same job, the new year's terms, the same dormitory and an approximate departure date. They sign it only when they finally agree. The plant joined in too: in January the director recorded a short video thanking everyone for the season, and Sherzod sent it round. That matters more than it might seem: people felt they were expected back, not just going to be 'rehired'.

• January: the plant's thanks for the season and a check that the phone number works;
• March: are September plans still on, has the passport changed;
• June: preliminary information sheet and final agreement;
• July: passport copies for translation, permit applications;
• August: tickets, groups and document sets for the border.

03 / New permits

Why last year's permit isn't extended

In spring the plant's HR asked: wouldn't it be simpler to extend last year's permits than to get new ones? It isn't possible, and it's not a matter of preference. An extension is filed while the permit is still valid: no earlier than 50 and no later than 20 calendar days before it ends. Last season's permits ended with the contracts in December, and the plant applied to cancel them. There's nothing left to extend.

So for the new season we obtained new work permits. For the plant that meant a new document file and a new fee, but the fee depends on the term: for a campaign from September to late December the permit term is no more than six months, the lowest fee band. We gathered the plant's documents for the new permits in advance: an updated register extract, the staffing schedule with the same job titles and new powers of attorney, since last year's had expired.

04 / Filing date

Not too early, not too late: ninety days to sign

The filing date for the new permits was set by the law, not by our convenience. An employment contract must be signed no later than 90 calendar days from the permit's issue date. File in March and the permit is issued in April while people arrive in September, so the 90 days run out long before arrival. File in August and any document delay pushes arrival into October, when the campaign is already under way.

We counted back from 1 September: contracts in the first days of September, so permits no earlier than early June to make sure 90 days covered arrival, and no later than mid-July to leave a margin for corrections if an application was left without motion. We set filing for the first half of July.

1. By 30 June

   Final agreement and signed information sheets; list for permits.

2. 1-10 July

   Passport copies, translations, permit applications, fee paid from the plant's account.

3. By 25 July

   Permits issued. The 90-day contract countdown begins.

4. August

   Tickets for the groups and document sets for visa-free entry.

5. 1-3 September

   Entry, contracts in the first days, copies within 10 days.

05 / A year of documents

What changes in a person's documents in eight months

The same people don't mean the same documents. At the March contact point we asked everyone for a photo of their passport data page, and it turned out three had got new passports over the winter. That's no problem for a new permit: we file straight away on the new passport, and no updates are needed. But last year's translations no longer fitted, so we ordered new ones.

Two more people had passports expiring in January, just a month after the campaign. That was enough for the season, but we asked both to get new passports by July: that way the residence permit and work permit are issued on a document that won't expire by next year, and they can come back again without extra steps.

We also checked phone numbers and home addresses, since that's how our partner in Uzbekistan finds someone if messages go unanswered. And we checked border stamps: the 90 visa-free days count within 180, but more than six months had passed between December departure and September entry, so nobody had restrictions.

1. 01

   New passports

   3 people. New translations, permit filed on the new passport.

2. 02

   Passport to January

   2 people. New passport before filing so the term isn't a constraint.

3. 03

   Contacts

   Phone numbers and home addresses checked for contact via our partner.

4. 04

   Days of stay

   More than six months between seasons, full visa-free period for all.

06 / Replacements

Six places filled before filing, not in September

By the June contact point twenty-four people had confirmed they were returning. Four had found work at home, one had gone to work in another country, and one couldn't come for family reasons. None of them simply disappeared: each told Sherzod directly, which is why we could fill the places in time.

We found six replacements through our partner, among people who had passed an interview last year but hadn't travelled, and among new candidates. Two were recommended by first-season workers themselves: a brother and a neighbour. We checked every replacement exactly as we had the first group: interview, documents, information sheet and confirmation that they weren't charged. They were included in the same July permit filing. We told the replacements straight away that the group would include people who had already worked at the plant and gave them their contacts, so the newcomers could ask about anything first-hand.

Twenty-four experienced people in a team of thirty is a good ratio: newcomers shared rooms with people who already knew the plant and the journey. How we recruit seasonal workers is described on our recruitment page, and more on workers from that country on the workers from Uzbekistan page.

07 / Arrival

The September the people arrived before the beet

Citizens of Uzbekistan enter Ukraine without a visa, so in August we prepared groups and border documents rather than visas: a copy of the new permit, the plant's invitation, proof of housing and Sherzod's phone number. More on this route on our visa-free entry page. We formed the groups so each had experienced people from the first season, who showed the newcomers the way from the station to the dormitory.

We rechecked the plant's dormitory even though it was the same one: in a year the lease, the owner or the building documents could have changed. The documents were in order, and filings for temporary residence permits and registration of residence went ahead in the first weeks, in groups of six.

1. 31 August

   First group of 15, half of them experienced. Meeting, dormitory.

2. 1 September

   Second group of 15. Contracts for the first group.

3. First week

   Contracts for everyone, copies within 10 days, tax numbers.

4. Weeks 2-3

   Residence permit filings in groups, registration of residence.

5. The campaign

   The team is at the plant before the beet arrives. The register holds the date for the next return plan.

08 / Outcome

The same team for a second season and no surprises in the documents

Returning

24 of 30 people from the first season

Replacements

6 people checked and processed in the same filing

Permits

New, filed in July with the 90-day contract deadline in mind

Passports

3 new and 2 replaced before filing, contacts checked

Arrival

Two groups before the campaign, residence permits in the first weeks

There's nothing WORKIN can't solve in seasonal projects that repeat every year: we stay in touch between seasons, plan new permits in the right window and fill the places of those not returning before filing. The WORKIN replacement guarantee lasts at least 6 months from the worker's first shift, provided the agreed working, pay and housing conditions are kept. How to set a permit term with a margin for a weather-driven season is covered in the scenario about a road season, and how to keep deadlines when people stay a year or longer in the scenario about extending for a second year. The whole route is on how it works, and season costs in the calculator. More on our pages about workers for agriculture and general labourers from abroad.

09 / FAQ

Questions and answers