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As members of the European Union, Polish citizens had the right to work freely in the United Kingdom without the need for any kind of visa or work permit. All that changed with Brexit and the exit of the UK from the EU. This meant that EU citizens found themselves in the same position as citizens from the rest of the world, namely they are not entitled to work in the UK without an appropriate visa and work permit.
Viewed in the context of an increasing political narrative to reduce the number of migrants coming into the UK it has become increasingly complex and expensive to navigate the visa system, with the serious consequences for employers of getting it wrong – employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK can be punished with up to five years’ imprisonment and heavy fines.
However, there are still routes available, particularly for those working in areas where there are skills shortages, such as science and technology. This article is not intended to be an exhaustive review of the UK visa system, but takes an overview of the main routes available. We would always recommend that specialist legal advice is taken before embarking upon any of these routes.
Broadly speaking, the routes to be able to work in the UK divide into two broad categories, those where a job offer is required and those where it is not.
Largely these visas tend to benefit younger workers. Students who have studied in the UK under a student visa can obtain a Graduate Visa, which allows them to work in the UK for a further two years unrestricted. Likewise graduates of some of the world's most prestigious universities may be eligible for a High Potential Individual visa allowing an unrestricted right to work in the UK for two years, or three years for post doctorate graduates.
Visas linked to a specific job offer are available to a much wider range of employees.
The most common is the skilled worker visa. To benefit from this, an applicant will need a job offer from an employer in an eligible occupation. The range of eligible occupations is extensive and most roles can be accommodated. To employ someone under the Skilled Worker visa, a company will first need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship. To gain this licence, the company must prove to the Home Office that they are a legitimate business with a presence in the UK and be able to demonstrate that finances are in order. Having gained a sponsor licence, the employer can then issue its prospective employee with a certificate of sponsorship, allowing them to apply for a visa.
There are also some visas for overseas companies who would like their workers to spend some time working for the UK branch of a business in the UK.
A UK Expansion Worker visa allows a senior manager of a business to come to the UK to set up a branch of an overseas business that has not yet started trading in the UK. Such employees must have worked for their oversees employer for at least 12 months and earn a salary over £73,900.
At the other end of the scale the Graduate Trainee Visa allows for workers based overseas to come and work in the UK as part of a graduate training programme.
There is also a Secondment Visa which, under certain circumstances, allows people to work in the UK for a client of their overseas employer.
It is worth bearing in mind that whilst there are several options for workers to come to the UK, one of the common themes running across all kinds of visas is the expense. Each step of the process will have fees attached, with employees having to pay an additional surcharge to allow access to healthcare. In addition, the employers frequently must pay an additional Immigration Skills Charge for each foreign worker employed. Additionally, workers may very often have to prove a minimum level of savings.
Some visas will also test language skills too, particularly for the Skilled Worker visa with workers being tested on their written and spoken English.
The visa maze can be a frustrating and expensive one to navigate, but with clear rewards for both prospective employer and employee.
Given that a significant proportion of the UK's employment law comes from EU regulation, including discrimination rights, transfer of undertakings regulations, family leave and working time regulations, there will be some similarities between the employment rights enjoyed by employees in the UK and in Poland. In the UK, such rights include:
The employment contract should ideally state the choice of law that applies to the contract. If there is no choice of law in the employment contract, the law will usually be that of the country in or from which the employee habitually carries out their work. Where there is no habitual place of work, the contract will typically be governed by the law of the country where the business through which the employee was engaged is situated.
Regardless of the applicable law of the employment contract, there may be certain mandatory rules of the country in which the employee works that apply automatically and cannot be contracted out of. Where the UK is the host country and the facts show a sufficiently strong connection with Great Britain, these mandatory rules will include many statutory employment rights including minimum notice entitlement, unfair dismissal, paid time off, minimum rates of pay, and protection from discrimination.
When considering termination of employment where there is an employee working from Poland in the UK, employers will first need to determine which country’s laws will apply to the dismissal. However, it is prudent to ensure that any terminations of employment of employees working in the UK are carried out in accordance with the employment laws of the UK.
When an employee has been continuously employed for one month or more, they are entitled to receive a minimum period of notice of termination of employment from their employer. This is known as the statutory minimum notice period. If the contract of employment provides for a longer period of notice, then the contractual notice period will prevail over the statutory minimum notice period. Any contract which does not provide for notice periods, or which allows the contract to be terminated on shorter or no notice, is varied so that the statutory notice period applies.
An employee who, in most cases, has attained the required qualifying period of service (currently 2 years), has the right not to be unfairly dismissed. The dismissal of a qualifying employee will be unfair unless the employer can show that the reason (or principal reason) for the dismissal was one of the 5 potentially fair reasons, and they acted reasonably in treating that reason as sufficient for dismissal. Dismissals for certain reasons are deemed automatically unfair, and, in most such cases, employees do not need a qualifying period of employment.
The British government has proposed changes to the law around unfair dismissal. Under such proposals, unfair dismissal will become a day-one right for employees, subject to a new modified "light-touch" dismissal procedure applicable in most cases during an initial period of employment. Much of the detail will be contained in regulations and is currently unknown. However, the reforms which are unlikely to take effect before Autumn 2026 will represent a hugely significant change in the unfair dismissal landscape. Until then, the current qualifying period of 2 years' service will continue to apply.
We would recommend taking employment law advice from both the UK and from Poland to advise on:
To discuss any of the above further, please contact Nicola: nicolayoung@bexleybeaumont.com | 07799 538305
Or, please contact Alex: alexclements@bexleybeaumont.com | 07810 861620
