How can we give our EU colleagues in UK confidence in their right to remain here after Brexit?
Question
Our business relies on skilled workers from UK and across Europe, working together, eg in UK. How can we give our EU colleagues in UK confidence in their right to remain here after Brexit?
This questions was asked as part of our webinar on ‘What exporters need to know about Brexit in 2017’. You can find a recording of the webinar here:
https://opentoexport.com/webinars/what-exporters-need-to-know-about-brexit-in-2017/
Answer
hi Jeremy
Theresa May alluding to this in her speech and there seems to be re-assurance that EU citizens’ status in the UK, as well as British citizens’ status in the EU is seen as a priority discussion point in the negotiations.
My opinion would be to find out about your employees’ situation, show that you are aware of the issue, raise it as high in the hierarchy of the company as possible and show empathy and what options are available for them (cf permanent residency application etc, citizenship etc) . How many have been resident in the UK more than 5 years? These should have automatic right to stay. For the others, the situation is not as simple see the reference to T May’s speech above.Unfortunately no employer can currently commit legally to their EU citizens’ employees status.
I am myself in this situation and also have team members in this situation, so will be monitoring this very closely!
Kind regards
Mathilde