What Does the Government’s Announcement on Immigration Mean for Recruiters?

It’s clear that the last thing we need when preparing for no-deal is more uncertainty. However, the government saying this weekend that EU free movement rules will end immediately if there is no-deal does just that. As well as seeking clarification from our contacts at the Home Office and using our regular jobs data to influence the immigration agenda, the REC’s aim is to continue providing as much information and practical support as possible to help our members steer a course through these uncertain times.

Our latest poll shows that 48% of REC members have undertaken some no-deal preparations but have plenty still to do, 43% have made no preparations at all and only 8% feel well-prepared. As one REC member pointed out during a recent webinar: “It’s hard to prepare when we have no real idea of what we should be preparing for!”

Which bring us back to this week’s announcement. What it means in practice is unclear. The Home Office has said that they will be setting out details in “due course.” After months of seeking clarity on the practicalities of the immigration system in an event of a no-deal, this is difficult to swallow.

In contrast, the previous government’s plans would have allowed EU citizens, in a no-deal scenario, to live and work in the UK for up to three months before having to apply for EU Temporary Leave to Remain. Once EU citizens had EU Temporary Leave to Remain they would be able to live and work in the UK for up to three years. This system would have been in place until the introduction of a new immigration system in 2021.

EU Temporary Leave to Remain had quite a few issues, including on right to work checks, but ending freedom of movement unilaterally would cause major disruption to employers and recruiters, not to mention EU citizens. Given the lack of detail from the government at the moment, how this proposal would work is currently speculation. REC CEO Neil Carberry has a good analysis of what this system could potentially look like and some of the problems it would cause.

What makes the picture even more unclear is whether the government’s new plan can even be delivered, given the timeframe and the parliamentary arithmetic. To read more about this, I would recommend reading the Institute for Government’s blog here.

If no-deal does happen, EU citizens and their families who live in the UK before 31 October still have until 31 December 2020 to apply for settled status. The Home Office has been clear that this deadline will not change. However, given the uncertainty with how the UK immigration system will work in a no-deal scenario, we recommend that EU citizens apply before 31 October 2019.

Since the EU referendum, the REC has recognised that EU freedom of movement will be ending. We have been clear that there needs to be a transition to the new immigration system if we were to leave without a deal. Removing this and not announcing the details of its replacement makes preparing for no deal even more difficult. We urge the government to reconsider.

But if they don’t, we urgently need clarity on what their plans mean for employers hiring EU citizens after 31 October.

There are things that you can do to prepare, including promoting settled status to your EU workers and employees. The government has put together an employers’ toolkit with some helpful material. As soon as we have more clarity from the government on how it intends to stop freedom of movement in the event of a no-deal, we will be informing members – keep an eye out for this.

As members of the immigration advisory group to the Home Office we will continue to raise our concerns directly with officials. We would be happy to raise any specific concerns on your behalf – please contact policy@rec.uk.com.

Our next Brexit webinar is on 10 September at 12pm. REC members can register online here.