MEMBER NEWS Get up to speed with immigration rules


Employers have been urged to carry out necessary checks to ensure they are compliant with new post- Brexit immigration rules – and not be left with staff departures at the end of an upcoming deadline. A six-month grace period since the end of the UK-EU


transition period, in which businesses aren’t expected to differentiate between EU nationals who have managed to secure British residency and those who haven’t, ends on 30 June. From this date, businesses would need to sponsor


those workers – specifically citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland – for them to remain in the country and continue employment in the UK.


‘Employers need to act now to ensure their HR strategy can overcome the departure of EEA and Swiss members of staff’


Thal Vashista (pictured), founder of Nottingham-based corporate immigration law specialist Paragon Law, said: “Current Home Office guidance has the potential to create an employment cliff edge after 30 June. “Employers need to act now to ensure their HR


strategy can overcome the departure of EEA and Swiss members of staff.” Under the Home Office guidance, EEA and Swiss


citizens who lived in the UK prior to 31 December can apply for the EU Settlement Scheme to continue as a British resident. Individuals who arrived in the UK after 1 January 2021, and are unable to establish residency before 30


June, can only remain employed if the business is able to sponsor them. They would require a skilled worker licence and must meet points-based criteria. Thal said EEA and Swiss nationals who have not


applied under the EU Settlement Scheme and continue to remain after 30 June are liable to enforcement and removal at any time. “This is where the current guidance is sloppy and


does not foresee potential consequences to businesses or those EEA and Swiss nationals who decide to remain and work with a business despite not having the legal status to do so after 30 June,” Thal added. “Businesses employing EU nationals who have not


applied for, or secured, settled status can’t dismiss them prior to 1 July 2021. “This presents a risk to the employer as, if they


wish to continue to operate legally, they could be in a position where on 1 July 2021, several employees leave voluntarily or they have to begin the dismissal process. Both scenarios make businesses vulnerable.” The current guidance puts the emphasis on


businesses to carry out the necessary checks and act as Home Office outposts. Thal said this will be a “complex period”


for businesses and HR managers and advised them to balance the Government’s position on right to work checks against certainty in their workforce, employment rights and duty of care to staff. He added: “I advise all businesses to seek


advice to avoid discrimination claims during the recruitment process.”


business network April 2021


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