Navigating through Brexit for hospitality businesses

In the first of a two-part series examining the effects of Brexit and Covid on the hospitality workforce, we look at the new regulations, processes and administration employers need to consider.

What are the top things hospitality employers are losing sleep over and what tools can they use to navigate their own path through the complexities of Brexit?

Recruiting EU citizens post Brexit

One of the most important considerations for hospitality businesses will be recruitment.  At the time of writing, an estimated 300,000 EU nationals have left the UK hospitality sector and, due to changes in legislation and the rise of hospitality in their home countries, won’t be coming back to the UK in the foreseeable future.

Changes in the way businesses can recruit EU workers will have a significant impact on a sector that relies heavily on workers from outside the UK.

For immigrants coming to the UK for work, there are new regulations, regardless of whether they are from the EU/European Economic Area (EEA)/Switzerland or elsewhere in the world.

Right to work status

As an employer you’ll need to continue to check the right to work status of any EU/EEA/Swiss job applicant. This applies until 30 June 2021.

Until this date job applicants can prove their right to work in the following ways:

• EU, EEA or Swiss citizens can use their passport or national identity card
• non-EU, EEA or Swiss citizen family members can use an immigration status document listed in the right to work checks employer guide
• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members can use the online right to work checking service

If an applicant uses the online checking service this will generate a share code. You must then use the employers’ online service to check their right to work using this share code.

Visa Requirements

From 1 January 2021, all non-UK citizens arriving in the UK to work require a visa. This includes those from the EU/EEA/Switzerland. To get a visa, the individual needs to show they have a job offer from an approved employer sponsor.

If your business recruits from the EU, then you should apply to become a licenced approved sponsor. The licence is valid for four years and you will need to clarify which category of workers you are planning to hire:

• ‘Workers’ – for those with long-term job offers
• ‘Temporary workers’ – for those with short-term job offers

Worker licence

A ‘Worker’ licence will let you employ people on a long-term or permanent basis. It’s split into the following categories:

• Skilled Worker – the worker must meet the job suitability requirements
• Intra-company visas – this includes Intra-company Transfer and Intra-company Graduate Trainee, for multinational companies that need to transfer established employees or graduate trainees to the UK

Temporary Worker licence

A ‘Temporary Worker’ licence will let you employ people on a temporary basis. It’s split into the following categories:

• Creative or Sporting Worker – to work as a high-level sportsperson (up to 1 year), entertainer or artist (up to 2 years)
• Government Authorised Exchange Worker – work experience (1 year), research projects or training, to enable a short-term exchange of knowledge
• Seasonal Worker – for those coming to the UK for up to 6 months to do farm work

You can apply for a licence covering one or both types of workers.

Who can be recruited from overseas?

The drinks and hospitality sector will, for the first time, be able to benefit from the immigration system to recruit overseas nationals into roles such as restaurant managers, catering managers, banqueting manager, chefs, café owners, hotel managers, food and beverage managers and publicans.

These roles were not available for sponsorship under the old system, but they are under the new system. Other roles such as waiting and bar staff will not be available for sponsorship.

EU Settlement Scheme

If you currently employ people who are EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens, they will have to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme by 30 June 2021, if they haven’t already done so, to remain working in the UK.

Unfortunately, this is compulsory and not something an employer can do on their behalf.

There are two options available:

• Settled: For those who have lived in the UK for a continuous five-year period as of 31 December 2020
• Pre-Settled: For those without five years of continuous residence at that date.

The exception to the above is that the scheme does not apply to Irish citizens, who can freely move and work in the UK.

Other Brexit changes that may affect hospitality businesses

Many of the new Brexit regulations shouldn’t impact directly on hospitality businesses. One area to consider though is if you work directly with suppliers in the EU, for example providers of specialised ingredients, spirits, or vineyards.

Key things to consider:

Changes to VAT

Brexit means additional paperwork for businesses that import or export goods together with changes to VAT. The process for importing goods has changed, together with how VAT is charged.

It’s important to note that Northern Ireland is a separate case with rules and regulations that differ from the rest of the UK, so it’s worth speaking to an advisor if you trade or import goods from Northern Ireland.

Import & export changes

There will also be additional customs and excise paperwork and you’ll need an EORI number that starts with GB. If you need to make customs declarations or receive customs decisions in an EU country, you’ll need to apply for an EORI in those countries too.

Plus, you’ll need to know the origin, value and classification of any goods you import and whether the goods are controlled or have excise duty applied in addition to customs duty.

Importing Ingredients

If you are importing ingredients, additional rules will come into effect for products of animal origin (POAO) or a regulated plant and plant product. From 1^st April 2021, you must submit pre-notification and the relevant health documentation.

Business Travel after Brexit

For many in hospitality travel is part of the job, whether it’s to attend sales events or to visit suppliers in the EU.

Post-Brexit, business travel within the EU has changed if you are a UK citizen who is resident in the UK. Now you must have at least 6 months remaining on your passport to travel to EU countries, apart from the Republic of Ireland.

If you’ve got less than six months left on your passport you must apply for and receive a new UK passport. Additionally, passports issued over 10 years ago, even if they have ‘extra months’ added, must be renewed to use for travel within the EU.

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) used in EU countries to allow for necessary medical care is being replaced with the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). However, any existing EHIC card remains valid until it expires.

How has Brexit affected GDPR?

In 2018 the UK went through changes to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which were set out in law as part of the Data Protection Act 2018. Now the transition period has ended, the same protections and requirements apply for UK businesses.

If you have properly implemented GDPR within your processes, in accordance with the Data Protection Act, there will be no change to how your business handles personal information.

During 2021 the UK hopes to become a ‘favoured nation’ via an ‘adequacy decision’ on behalf of the EU. Favoured national status should ease the free transfer of personal data within the EU without the need to implement additional safeguards.

Where can I get further help to navigate through Brexit?

Brexit may affect UK business supply chains and recruitment in the short term as the details are ironed out. Brexit is here to stay and, whilst the UK is ‘going it alone’ many EU citizens will still want to work in the UK hospitality sector – one of the leading hospitality sectors in the world.

If you need any further advice or guidance to navigate through Brexit, you can also check out UKHospitality, the Institute of Hospitality, gov.co.uk.