Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EU workers have just months to register for settled status

The UK’s agricultural industry relies heavily on staff from EU countries.
The UK’s agricultural industry relies heavily on staff from EU countries.

Farmers who employ seasonal or permanent workers from the EU have been reminded their staff need to apply to the UK Government’s settled status scheme by the end of June 2021 if they want to work here in future.

The UK’s agricultural industry relies heavily on staff from EU countries and the farmers’ union has emphasised the importance of preparing for recruitment post-Brexit.

The government’s scheme gives “settled status” to EU nationals who have already been in the country for five years or more; and “pre-settled status” to EU nationals who have been in the country for under five years.

The pre-settled status category can be accessed by any seasonal worker in the country this year who wishes to return in future years.

NFU Scotland (NFUS) president Andrew McCornick encouraged farmers to remind their permanent or seasonal workers of the need to apply for the scheme to ensure they can work in the UK in future.

“Importantly, seasonal staff from the EU are entitled to apply for pre-settled status as there is no threshold for time spent living and working in the UK in order to make an application,” he said. “This will be vital for any existing seasonal workers who wish to return to work in Scotland or the UK in the next five years.”

Mr McCornick also voiced his concerns about the UK Government’s new points-based system for immigration which he said would not provide the necessary flexibility to ensure that jobs in Scottish agriculture or ancillary industries would be filled beyond 2021.

He added: “NFUS encourages all employers of EU nationals, if they have not already, to engage with staff about their plans beyond January 1.”

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk