Supporting your EU Workforce

The Home Office have launched an official ‘employer toolkit’ aimed at helping HR teams support their EU workforce. Its purpose is to arm employers with practical information on how EU citizens will be able to apply for ‘settled status’. This will enable HR teams to be better equipped to answer potential questions and directly help their EU employees over the next few years.

The toolkit contains the following materials:

Introduction pack – aimed at the person taking lead on this issue within your organisation.

Briefing pack – key information on the EU Settlement Scheme that can be shared with you wider HR team, leadership team, line managers and EU staff directly.

Leaflets – brief and colourful materials aimed at raising awareness amongst EU staff. These could potentially be printed and sent directly to staff home addresses.

Posters – providing key information and timelines. These could potentially be printed and placed in communal areas, such as canteens, in the workplace

Video – 1 minute explanation of the EU settlement scheme

CECA is encouraging members to disseminate this information as far and wide as possible.

Please consider forwarding the toolkit to HR colleagues within your own personal network, supply chain, sister/parent/member companies, clients and customers. Please also consider sharing via your own social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter etc.   

A key issue for members is what happens to EU citizens in the UK in the event of ‘no deal’. Employers are understandably reluctant to share information if there is a chance it becomes void in such a scenario, however unlikely. Whilst not yet official UK Government policy or in law, at the launch event this week the Home Secretary was keen to stress to employers “deal or no deal they [EU citizens] will be able to stay”.

A first beta testing of the settlement scheme is commencing on 28 August, for EU staff and students of several NHS trusts and universities in the north-west of England. Once some EU citizens have begun to receive this new UK immigration status as part of this trial, it is difficult to see how it could not become eligible to all, without being subject to legal challenge.