Employers face extra costs under Brexit

Costly policies for organisations that employ EU workers will be introduced once the UK leaves the EU, an immigration law specialist has said.

Jonathan Beech, managing director of law firm Migrate UK, which advises businesses and individuals, warns that employers will face extra administration, levies, licence arrangements and restrictions. Potentially, it could cost them £7,000 for a five-year visa, under changes due to be introduced next year.

Beech says: “Thousands of EU migrants, currently in UK company roles, will potentially have to exit in the future if they fail to qualify under the current Points Based System that we use for workers outside the EU.

“All our clients already face big challenges and costs when hiring non-EU workers under UK immigration laws, which makes it hard to find the skills they need. The UK government needs to urgently and comprehensively revise the current Points Based System to offer different criteria to employing EU nationals compared to non-EUs, if we're to retain the talent we need.”

Beech says hiring EU workers will now become a “very selective” process, depending on the technicality and seniority of the vacancy, the rate of pay and whether there are any settled UK workers available to fill the role. 

"It's unlikely that EU migrants currently residing in the UK as qualified persons, would be expected to comply to the Points Based System but the problem is when they stop being a qualified person such as if they stop working for three months or more, or become self-employed.  

"These roles are vital for the UK economy so keeping the current system in place and limiting the number of EU workers to 100,000 a year or less would be devastating. Whilst it won't be clear for some time the extent of changes to immigration law, one thing that's certain is that we will now see the introduction of a work sponsorship system for European workers similar to the current process in place for workers outside the EU. This means employees will face added administration, levies and surcharges, licence requirements and restrictions on employees.”