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There is no debate regarding the fact that hiring foreign employees for hospitality roles has now got much more difficult with new rules introduced with Brexit and added restrictions of COVID-19. According to a report published by BBC news, there is a serious shortage of workers in the hospitality industry at the moment and the shortage is also increasing rapidly. After the ending of permission of free movement between the UK and European Union the opportunity for hotels, restaurants, and other various hospitality businesses to hire employees from abroad has ceased to end. Iasservices.org.uk offers its services to businesses across the United Kingdom who are looking for a way to hire low-skilled employees from abroad.
We proudly provide a legal guide to the businesses that are facing severe problems issues due to extreme pressure of lack of labour created by Brexit and Covid-19 created circumstances. If you are an owner of a hospitality business and are facing difficulties managing the requirement of staff from locally available options, give this article a complete read to know your options to hire employees from abroad. Contact iasservices.org.uk in case you need any legal assistance to apply for ILR and our expert team will guide you in the best way possible.
Skilled Workers Visa might be your best bet
Most people think that a skilled worker visa is only for highly skilled workers but it is not true. The requirements for education have been lowered to college-level during Brexit. As a result of this change, the list of jobs for which employees can be sponsored from overseas significantly got longer and many roles that came under the hospitality worker category were included. Floor Managers, Chef and many more were included. You can view the complete list of hospitality workers included on the official website of the Home Office. Look at the list and most probably you will find the employee role you are facing difficulties filling. Before you proceed with the hiring process keep in mind that there is an important requirement of a Skilled worker visa that you must set the salary of the hired employee at £10.10 per hour (this is £25,800 for those on a full-time salary). According to rules set by the Home Office, the salary can be set at between 70% and 90% of the normal market rate for the service in case the cumulative salary per annum is equal to the minimum of £20,480. Other criteria that you need to meet for fixing lower salaries are
- The employee is under 26 and studying
- The employee is a recent graduate
- The employee is on professional training
In case you are allowed to recruit an employee based on a Skilled Worker visa then you must apply for the sponsor license to recruit employees from abroad.
The EU Settlement Scheme
There is a misconception to some businesses that even they can find out an individual to fill in a role in their organization who is currently residing in the UK but has not applied for EEA/EU status then it is too late and they cannot hire them. There are some scenarios in which individuals who want to apply can still apply for EU Settlement Scheme even though its submission date is long past its deadline on 30th June 2021.
Following are the situations where late submission of EU/EEA status application can be entertained:
- The person suffered severe medical conditions or went through a major medical treatment
- The person has been in an abusive relationship.
There can be many other reasons that might be considered valid enough to entertain the late application for e.g. person did not have proper accommodation, access to the computer, or did not have proper arrangements to follow the process due to COVID-19. It is important to remember that the late submission will only be entertained if the applicant must be residing in the UK before the end of 2021. If the candidate meets any of the above criteria then the organization may be able to hire him after the necessary protocol has been followed
Final words
The above-mentioned ways are not an absolute way to handle the shortage of hospitality workers but it is a loophole for the businesses that need to figure out a way to fill in the vacancies and keep their businesses going. If you are on the lookout for more legal guidelines regarding the matter then you must contact an immigration lawyer.
This content is a joint venture between our publication and our partner. We do not endorse any product or service in the article.
