Roisin Patton
by Roisin Patton
The UK government recently introduced changes to the immigration rules on global workforce mobility into the UK. The new Global Business Mobility route outlines five pathways for international companies to establish a UK footprint or temporarily transfer employees to the UK. Roisin Patton, an employment and business immigration lawyer at UK-based law firm Ward Hadaway, explains the impact this has on your business and its operations in the context of the global labour market.
How do the changes affect your business?
The changes are not as significant as we had hoped. Many of the five Global Business Mobility routes to the UK are routes that were in place but have been rebranded. One of the key changes that businesses need to be aware of is the new ‘secondment worker’ route. The route allows overseas workers to come to the UK to work temporarily on high value contracts and it is intended to support British industry. Prior to this we have had multinational clients struggle to transfer workers to the UK with ease in instances where the skillset was not available here, or there was a clear shortage in the market. Many high value contracts were underway before Brexit, and UK businesses are now experiencing recruitment difficulties that can affect the performance of the contract. We now have a new route that can help with this problem, but the skills level required for a visa under this route can still cause difficulty. Taking advice is recommended.
The expansion worker route is where an international business wants to set up a branch or subsidiary in the region. This concerns senior management workers or specialist employees being assigned to the UK for a temporary period to undertake work related to the expansion of a business in the UK. For instance, if a healthcare business wanted to establish its brand in the UK, it could bring in up to five workers for a period of time to set up the UK division and expand the business. Previously, only one overseas worker was permitted to come to the UK on the old version of this route so this is an improvement.
Although not as wide-reaching as we had hoped, there are some positive changes in the new Global Business Mobility visa offering that may help international businesses. This is welcome news at a time of significantly increased difficulty in mobilising workers between the UK to other EU countries as a result of Brexit. There are now visa requirements to consider when sending UK workers to European counterparts for temporary work, and country specific employment law will come into play which makes the process complicated and confusing.
The right advice, at the right time
For businesses, all immigration considerations are hugely complex and technical so it’s important that you seek the right advice and, critically, at the right time. Global mobility should be approached as a project that takes time to map out with specialist advice from the outset. This is relatively new territory for many businesses in the UK and across Europe but getting it right can create a commercial advantage and help businesses perform contractual obligations and continue to tender for new opportunities that require the transfer of skills into or outside of the UK.
Ward Hadaway has a specialist team of business and personal immigration lawyers, who can manage business immigration matters for the employer and employees in relation to their own visa applications. We also project manage global mobility projects requiring the transfer of UK workers overseas.
Ward Hadaway is one of the largest full service law firms in the North of England, with a reputation for quality, innovation and a practical approach to meeting their clients’ needs. With 90+ partners and over 450 staff, the firm’s approach of partner-led relationships with all clients is supported by a resource that has real strength in depth.
Roisin Patton is an experienced employment and business immigration lawyer who provides pragmatic and commercial solutions to people issues for businesses. Roisin advises employers on all aspects of employment law and also on business immigration and visa matters. She has experience in defending and representing employers in employment tribunal claims, as well as providing advice to manage risk of claims before employee dismissals take place.
GGI member firmWard HadawayNewcastle upon Tyne, Leeds, Manchester, UKT: +44 191 204 4000
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