EU worker registration
Q. One of our new members is from the Czech Republic. She is a recent arrival to the UK and is looking for work. She was told that she needs to register with the government — is this right?
A. One of the key legal principles on which the EU is founded relates to the free movement of workers. Despite this, workers from the eight countries that joined the European Union in 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia — known as the Accession Eight) were subjected to some restrictions, with limits placed on where and how they could work in the EU.
The UK, Ireland and Sweden were the only pre-existing member states of the EU to permit free access to the labour market for citizens of the Accession Eight from the time of them joining. However, the UK required workers from those countries to participate in a Workers’ Registration Scheme. This involved individuals submitting their details to the Home Office within one month of starting work.
This limited restriction on workers from the Accession Eight has now been lifted. As of 1 May 2011, all workers from the Accession Eight can work freely within the UK, and indeed throughout the EU, and the Workers Registration Scheme has been closed.