Minister admits firms could face fines over hiring EU workers

EU nationals with the right to work in UK may lack vital paperwork to prove their eligibility

BRITISH employers could face fines unless they can prove EU workers have a right to work in UK after a no-deal Brexit, the immigration minister admitted yesterday.

Caroline Nokes acknowledged it would be a challenge for employers as prospective staff might be eligible to work in the UK but not yet have the pa- perwork to prove they did. But she told MPS on the home affairs committee: “If someone hasn’t been here prior to the end of March next year, employers will have to make sure they go through adequate, rigorous checks to evidence someone’s right to work.”

Employers currently face a maximum sentence of five years jail and an unlimited fine if found guilty of employing someone who they knew or had “reasonable cause to believe” did not have the right to work in the UK.

Asked later if employers would be required to check EU citizens’ right to work in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Theresa May’s spokesman said: “Employers already need to carry out rightto-work checks. That applies to everyone in the UK.”

Up to 3.5million EU citizens already in Britain before Brexit will be able to apply for settlement status entitling them to work in the UK but those arriving after next March will require a work visa in order to secure a job.

Yvette Cooper, the chairman of the committee, warned the system appeared to be “unworkable”.

She questioned how an employer could be expected to distinguish between an EU citizen who had been in the UK for years but had not yet secured settlement rights and one who had just arrived in the UK.

Ms Nokes admitted it was a conundrum, adding: “There is going to be a difficulty to differentiate between those who have been here and not been

through the [settlement] process and those who have come as visitors and then seek to work.”

However, she denied it was unworkable, noting there was a “statutory excuse” where an employer could demonstrate they had carried out checks on whether someone was entitled to work in the UK.

With only five months until Brexit, just 1,000 EU citizens living in the UK have applied for settlement status in a trial first phase, with a further 250,000 in a second phase. MPS doubted any number near 3.5 million would have applied by March.

Ms Nokes said: “It’s going to be an enormous challenge for both employers and for EU citizens who have a right to work to make sure that we get them through the settled status scheme as efficiently as we possibly can.” She promised the Government would take a pragmatic approach and ensure that any assessment process was not “overly rigorous” in its early days.

She admitted that British tourists travelling in Europe could face long waits in “rest of the world” queues in EU airports if freedom of movement ended suddenly and Britain faced a nodeal Brexit. “It is feasible there could be delays for people travelling through EU airports,” she said. “The prospect of them ending up in rest of the world queues in some major EU airports across the continent is not unrealistic.”

The Government was not, however, going to prevent EU passengers using E-passport gates to enter Britain in the event of a no-deal. Nor would it force EU passengers to join non-european Economic Area (EEA) queues as this could lead to significant delays.

“It’s important that we have a UK open for business,” she added.