Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union...
On 1st January 2007 Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, which means there are now 27 counties in the EU. Amid speculation that the many Romanians and Bulgarians will travel to the UK seeking work the Government has announced its initiative to manage the flow of labour into the UK labour market from Romania and Bulgaria. The important point is that whilst citizens from these countries do have freedom of movement for up to 3 months at a time, they do not automatically qualify to be able to work in the UK. Furthermore, employers and individuals can face criminal offences and fines of up to £5,000 if they start working in the UK without the correct documentation.
If you will be employing workers from Romania or Bulgaria there are three options available:
- The employee can apply for highly skilled migrant status
- The employer can apply for a work permit on the employees behalf
- Being able to utilise existing quota based schemes which will fill vacancies in the agricultural and food processing sectors.
In the first year, immigration to the UK will be limited to 20,000 people but these restrictions will be reviewed after 12 months.
This very different to the rules that applied to the central European states which joined the EU in 2004, Romanian and Bulgarian workers will not be required to take part in the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS). The WRS still applies to nationals from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic and employers are still responsible for ensuring workers from these countries have registered within 30 days of finding employment. Employees that register under the WRS will receive a registration card and registration certificate. Once they have then been working legally in the UK for 12 months without a break they will have rights of free movement and can then apply for an EEA residence permit to confirm their status.
The Government has announced that it is stepping up checks on employers in order to ensure that are following the rules requiring them to be able to prove their staff are eligible to work in the UK. If you would like further information about the document eligibility checks you should be undertaking for any of your employers please contact HR Advantage on 01494 451681 or email Jenny.Hourican@hradvantage.co.uk
January 2007
