Brexit – It’s Finally Happening…
After years of political discussion, we thought it was important to recognise that today, Friday 31 January, at 11.00 pm the UK will officially leave the European Union.
In terms of what will happen at 11pm tonight in regards to employer/employee working relationships, the answer seems to be ‘not very much’ which means that most of us won’t see any difference at all, at least, not as we enter the transition period of the next 11 months. This will be the time for the UK to establish new arrangements for trade, customs, travel and regulation with the EU. These negotiations are being referred to as the ‘long-term deal’ and will take place within the context of the Exit Agreement that’s just in the final stages of being approved by the EU.
So, until the end of 2020, we can still expect to be hearing a lot about the preparation for this new long-term deal, but for UK businesses nothing will change immediately.
As employers all we know at the moment is that for individuals who are also EU citizens living and working in the UK, the government has confirmed that they will be able to remain living and working here throughout the transition period, but we would still encourage employees to make their application for settled status at the earliest opportunity.
Over the coming months, we are sure you will receive information from many of your networks and we will make sure we keep you updated of the latest government information which impacts employer/employee relationships and any impacts on policies and working regulations.
