Are Employers Prepared For The End Of Free Movement?

Laura Kearsley

On Thursday, 31st December 2020, “Free Movement” of EU Nationals to and from the UK will end and employers who wish to recruit skilled workers from abroad from Friday, 1st January 2021 onwards will need a sponsor licence if they don’t already have one.

What is a sponsor licence?

A sponsor licence is granted by the Home Office to an employer and permits them to employ skilled nationals from non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries under a Tier 2 visa (however, it is worth noting, that sponsoring an individual does not guarantee that they’ll be allowed to come to work and live in the UK).

In order to obtain a sponsor licence, employers have to have made an application to UK Visas and Immigration to evidence their eligibility and that they meet the requirements. Further information on obtaining a sponsor licence can be found here.

Backlog of applications for sponsor licences

Employers are advised to take action now as we understand that there is a growing backlog of applications for sponsor licences, with 34,000 firms already approved. There are concerns that there will not be enough resource at the Home Office to process all the applications in time.

The Government guidance on the new points based immigration system is here.

EU Settlement Scheme

The EU Settlement Scheme is still available for EU nationals who are already in the UK and who are eligible to apply for settled or pre-settled status. Over four million applications have already been received. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, 30th June 2021.

Employers will not be required to undertake retrospective right to work checks on EAA staff to ensure they’ve applied to the settlement scheme but they will need to check this for new recruits. Employers will be able to accept an EEA identity card or passport as evidence until Wednesday, 30th June 2021.

Comment

Employers should be reviewing their recruitment needs now and beyond the pandemic to determine whether they will need a sponsor licence and make that application in good time.

Responsible employers will be continuing to flag up the settlement scheme to eligible staff. They should also be reviewing their recruitment policies and right to work check procedures to make sure that they are compliant.

employers end free movementHow Nelsons can help

Laura Kearsley is a Partner in our expert Employment Law team.

For further information in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Laura or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.

 

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