Employers fall short on settled status

Over one in three employers are not supporting EU workers with settled status applications, according to a survey by consultants Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing. 


This means these organisations have yet to take any concrete action to ensure their EU workers based in the UK can continue to reside and work in the United Kingdom after 31 December 2020.


It’s estimated that there are over three million EU citizens in the UK working for employers of all sizes and in all sectors.


The research was undertaken among an audience of nearly 200 senior HR and finance professionals in London at the end of November 2019.  


Steve Herbert, head of benefits strategy at Howden said: “At present the nation is experiencing record levels of employment, so it will be difficult to replace these workers if they opt to leave the UK for other EU locations as a result of feeling unwanted or overlooked.”  


He said it is essential employers “recognise the need to support employees and their families in achieving settled status so that they can continue to work and reside in the UK”.


The research also looked at the support being offered to UK workers based overseas, in particular those based in the EU.  


More than two-thirds of employers said they had no UK workers based overseas. But of those that did, only 21% had both reviewed policies and communicated with their workers regarding the impending changes of Brexit.

https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/eu-nationals-and-british-expats-need-more-support