As an industry where 1-in-5 workers are migrants and there is already a turnover rate of a little over 25%, the care sector is quite understandably steeling itself for Brexit and the end of the free movement of workers. However, careful planning can help care home managers prepare their organisations for the challenges ahead…
Consider the financial impacts
You don’t need a degree in economics to work out that when the recruitment pool shrinks, finding staff is going to get more difficult and wage costs are likely to go up – and indeed a rise in starting wages is already being reported in the media. This may mean that not only will care homes struggle to find people to fill roles, they’ll be hard-pressed to keep up with wage inflation. The potential impacts of this may be far-reaching and could even lead to care homes being forced to close. However, forewarned is forearmed; forecasting for various possible scenarios will enable care homes to put safety first and adjust pricing in order to keep staffing levels in line with legislative requirements.
Consider what this may mean for professional staff
Much of the talk around Brexit will affect care home recruitment focusses on lower skilled employees such as cooks and care assistants, but recruiting skilled staff is also likely to become 
more difficult. For example, currently, under the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualification Directive 2005/36/EC, nursing is one of the seven professions in which EU nationals seeking employment in the UK are entitled to have their qualifications automatically recognised. If this agreement is no longer in place post-Brexit, the recruitment landscape may change, possibly by placing increased additional bureaucratic burden on care homes to ensure staff have the requisite qualifications.
Support existing EU staff
Under current government plans, it looks likely that existing EU staff will be able to remain in the UK and apply for ‘settled status’ upon completion of five years’ qualifying residence. In order to minimise the attrition of valuable workers, it is worth care home businesses exploring how they can support staff in providing the right evidence and documentation in order to reassert their immigration status and ensure they have leave to remain by the end of the two-year grace period post-Brexit. It may also be worthwhile employers considering whether they can provide any additional benefits to remain attractive as an employer (having taken advice on any knock-on effect from an employment law and/or tax perspective of course).
By-line, Gary McIndoe, MD, Latitude Law
