If you have employees who are EU citizens you may be wondering what – if anything – you need to do after 31st October.
The Government are publishing Brexit advice on a daily basis a majority of which does not apply to Chamber members. However the recent advice on employing EU citizens is useful as I know some Chamber members have EU citizen employees.
It is the responsibility of the individual to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme. They do not need to tell you that they have applied and you do not need to ask, indeed it is probably safest not to ask unless you ask the same question of all your staff!
There will no change to the rights and status of EU citizens living in the UK until 30th June 2021.
Your duty not to discriminate against EU citizens remains extant. For clarity, discrimination is when someone is treated less favourably or is disadvantaged, in this case on the grounds of their nationality.
You will not be required to undertake retrospective checks on existing EU employees when the UK transitions to the future skills-based immigration system.
The current right to work checks will apply until the end of 2020. It has been the case for many years that you must retain on your files a copy of some photographic identification of the individual (passport, identity card, driving licence) and something that shows their residential address. It is usual to use a hard copy utility bill but nowadays people receive their utility bills and bank statements on line so you will need to think laterally and find some other means of ensuring the individual resides at the address they have given to you. However as a note of caution, you should not accept any documentation that has the potential to have been doctored to show the address you have been given.
You are under no legal obligation to communicate the EU Settlement Scheme to your EU citizen employees and I suggest you certainly should not be providing advice on the matter. Guidance on the scheme can be found at www.gov.uk/eu-settled-status.
Need help? Please call me, Brenda Roper, on 01428 654990.