Laura and Neil were delighted to be joined by Nikki Weir, Senior Associate of Burness Paull in our recent webinar on 2nd March 2021.

Nikki is an Immigration Law expert, working with organisations to help them manage sponsorship, Visa applications and provide specialist advice in this area of law.

Nearly 4 years after the UK’s withdrawal process from the EU commenced, the turn of the year saw the UK formally leave the EU. There is barely an industry or sector not affected in some way shape or form from this process and so given the associated changes with the right to work in the UK for EEA and Swiss workers, we knew this would be a useful and informative session.

The webinar focused on four key areas:

Nikki provided insight into the Impact on EEA/Swiss Workers as it currently stands with nationals from those countries who have been in the UK for a considerable time or where they have arrived more recently.

This included reference to the UK’s EU settlement scheme which remains open for qualifying nationals to apply for settled status until 30 June 2021. Many employees will already have obtained their settled status, but Nikki confirmed that organisation should encourage their affected staff to apply in good time before the scheme closes. Settled status for those who are granted it protects the right to work in the UK that was in place prior to Brexit taking effect.

A discussion was had on employer’s responsibilities around right to work checks and Nikki provided some key information for what was expected of employers both now and after the settlement scheme closes. It is best practice for an organisation to check right to work in the UK with all their employees upon joining the company, regardless of knowledge of nationality or citizenship.

The final key topic related to Sponsorship which an organisation will now require to employ people from the EEA/Switzerland. Nikki referred to the criteria and application process for an organisation who wished to set themselves up as a sponsor and discussed the different types of Visa’s which may (or may not be) granted under said sponsorship.

This is a complex area for businesses to comply with, but the consequences of getting things wrong are far-reaching. The UK Government website contains plenty of information, but this can be overwhelming and difficult to digest.

If you would like to discuss your immigration and Visa business requirements in a post-Brexit UK, please email Nikki.weir@burnesspaull.com or call 0141 273 6801.

For advice and guidance on what proactive measures you could be considering, please contact info@gravitatehr.co.uk