Legal guide to managing a migrant workforce

Employers must now ask:

• What does Brexit mean for employees who are EEA nationals?
• How can they be given useful and reassuring information on an inherently personal and uncertain topic?
• What needs to happen so that they and their families can continue to live in the UK?
• What about employing EEA nationals in the future?

This guidance will provide practical help for employers to understand and manage these considerations.

Part 1 provides an overview of the current status, beginning with the government’s position on EEA nationals already in the UK and our immigration system after Brexit. Also set out is how HR teams could be responding to this information and the actions they could take to prepare.

Part 2 looks at the routine but nevertheless vital issue of the day-to-day management of a migrant workforce, from ensuring prospective hires’ right to work, to visa applications and compliance matters.

Part 3 broaches the crucial issue of actions for EEA nationals, most of whom will face a choice between applying for residency or citizenship before Brexit, or else making a settled or temporary status application from September 2018. The section sets out when and how they can make those applications, insofar as the policies are known.

The March 2018 Revision includes updated information on the status of residency documentation and their treatment post-Brexit, place limits on certain types of migrant visas, the context concerning Ireland, as well as the latest UK Government policy position.

Download the guide below: