As a major employer of EU nationals, the food and drink manufacturing industry will face significant challenges when free movement ends on 31 December 2020 and a new skills-based immigration comes into effect. Walker Morris' Business Immigration team presented a talk on the topic, which can be viewed below:
The session covered:
- the impact of the end of free movement on the food and drink industry
- an overview of the current skills-based immigration system and an introduction to the proposed new system, which will take effect from 1 January 2021
- practical steps organisations can be taking now to ensure they are ready for the regime
- the impact of Covid-19 on migrant workers.
The key take-away point is that all employers who wish to employ individuals from overseas (whether EU nationals or nationals from the rest of the world) will need to engage with the new system. The government is now actively encouraging employers who do not currently have a sponsor licence, but who may need to recruit from outside of the UK in the future, to apply for one as soon as possible. For those who do have a sponsor licence, there will still be significant changes to the rules and those who manage your sponsor licence should therefore start preparing.
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