What does the EU Settlement Scheme mean for employers?
EU Citizens and their family members (including children and non-EU citizens) need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to continue to live, work and study in the UK beyond the 30th June 2021… and THEY HAVE 10 DAYS LEFT TO DO THIS
There’s a few things you need to know as an employer:
- There is no legal obligation on employers to communicate the EUSS… but sometimes it can be helpful to signpost information.. and we’ve included some handy links in the box below. That doesn’t mean that you should interpret the information for your staff or provide immigration advice (unless of course you are qualified to do so)
- It is an individuals responsibility to make an application to the EUSS.. you cannot do it for them
- Your staff don’t have to tell you they’ve applied and you should not check that they have applied. (And you can’t discriminate against existing or potential staff by making employment dependent on their having applied for settled status)
From 1st January 2021 – the UK introduced a points-based immigration system and you will need to be a licensed sponsor to hire eligible employees from outside the UK .. you can find out more about hiring EU Citizens here
Some useful links:
- Apply to the Scheme– the key link for your staff!
- An introduction for employers
- A government factsheet to share with staff
- A Community Support page (staff pop their postcode in and are signposted to local services)
And finally..
There will be NO CHANGE to right to work checks until after 31st August 2021 (changed from 30th June 2021).. and (luckily) you will not be required to undertake retrospective checks on existing EU employees. That said, you should be carrying out right to work checks on all your staff on or before their first day at work.. and as you shouldn’t discriminate against anyone because of where they’re from.. that includes staff whom you believe to be UK citizens.
We appreciate that this can be a bit of a minefield – so as always, please do contact us for advice & support!
