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Whilst all business owners are heartedly sick of hearing and reading about Brexit the reality is that with the end of free movement many small and medium UK businesses are having to take business immigration law advice for the first time. In this article head of business immigration, Hans Sok Appadu, looks at business immigration for SMEs and those wanting to come to the UK to set up a business.
Many of those in the construction industry campaigned against Brexit as they were concerned about the impact of the end of free movement on the import and supply of construction material and on the availability of skilled European construction workers. The UK construction industry, and particularly so in London, relies heavily on its European workforce.
Many UK businesses are now calculating the cost of Brexit in terms of the end of free movement and the requirement, from the 1 January 2021, to sponsor EU workers under the points based immigration system and the skilled worker visa route.
More information about the new skilled worker visa was released in the October 2020 Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. The old Tier 2 (General) visa will be known as the skilled worker visa. The changes will affect non-EEA nationals from the 1 December 2020 and EU citizens from the 1 January 2021. In this blog we look at the key aspects of the skilled worker visa.
To say that the partners at OTS Solicitors were delighted by their continued success and recognition in Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession 2021 is an understatement. After all, the release of the 2021 Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession directory followed shortly after the firm’s success in the 2021 Legal 500 directory so it was a ‘good news month’.
2020 has been a tough year for everyone but on the 30 September 2020 the lawyers at OTS Solicitors were delighted to receive some great news about rankings in the Legal 500 2021 law directory.
OTS Solicitors are delighted and very proud to announce that Hans Sok Appadu has been promoted to a junior partner after five years of working at OTS Solicitors in London.
In any other year there would have been a massive amount of publicity and media comment about the planned skilled worker visa. Amidst a global pandemic, in many business quarters, the end of free movement and the introduction of the new skilled worker visa, hasn’t been high on the agenda. However immigration solicitors say, in just four months’ time, whether or not the UK leaves the EU with a Brexit deal in place, the government has said that it intends to overhaul the UK immigration system and introduce a new skilled worker visa.
If you are wondering what a Skilled Worker Licence is then you are not on your own in not understanding the planned new points based immigration system. Many UK business owners are still getting to grips with how Brexit and the end of free movement will impact on their recruitment strategy. Business owners are also grappling with the economic fallout of Covid-19 and trying to work out how Covid-19 will affect their business and their recruitment needs.
It is always sad to hear that a law firm has closed and today we heard that national law firm, Kingly solicitors, who had sixteen offices across the UK, has been closed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The firm had offices in Berkley Square London, just a short distance from our own OTS Solicitors offices in London.
UK employers and their employees are having a torrid time with fears over the UK economy and the impact on business because of Brexit and the passage of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill through parliament.
UK employers and their employees are having a torrid time with fears over the UK economy and the impact on business because of either Brexit or Covid-19 and the financial fall out. For employers who sponsor Tier 2 (General) visa workers it is best to keep on top of changing sponsor licence requirements and reporting duties.
In collaboration with leading set of London barrister’s chambers, The 36 Group, Teni Shahiean of OTS Solicitors is delighted to announce another free webinar for employers.
The drop-in client webinar on employment law will take place on Thursday the 11th June at 12:00.
The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered an immense economic and social fallout, the full effects of which won't be known for some time. However UK employers with Home Office sponsor licences don’t have the luxury of time as they need urgent clear immigration and employment law advice on how Covid-19 will impinge on their business and HR practices.
When it comes to immigration and the impact of Covid-19 there are daily developments. That isn’t surprising as in a global pandemic, with a UK government imposed lockdown and an economic recession, the pace and scale of changes affecting immigration are fast and furious. In this article we look at some of the recent Covid-19 immigration developments for individuals.
The House of Commons released a report on the 12 May providing more information and analysis on the new points based immigration system due to come into effect on the 1 January 2021. In this blog we look at the new visa categories and answer your questions on why employers need to apply for a sponsorship licence.
In collaboration with leading set of London barrister’s chambers, The 36 Group, Teni Shahiean of OTS Solicitors is delighted to announce a free employment law webinar for employers.
The drop-in client webinar on employment law will take place on Monday the 11th May at 14:00.
In order to register for this free online event please click the link below:
Many employees, employers and HR directors are overwhelmed by all the recent changes in employment law whilst also feeling isolated as they are unable to attend seminars and training events during the Covid-19 lock down.
In collaboration with leading set of London barrister’s chambers, The 36 Group, Teni Shahiean of OTS Solicitors is delighted to announce a free employment law webinar.
The first drop-in client webinar on employment law will take place on Thursday the 30th April at 13:30 In order to register for this free online event please click the link below:
Immigration solicitors know that many employers are exhausted with dealing with the impact of Covid-19 on their business, are weary of Brexit and wonder just how much more change their business can cope with. The reality is that more change is on the horizon. On the 9 April 2020, just before the Easter break and during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in London, the government released its promotional material entitled ‘’The UK’s points based immigration system: an introduction for employers’’.
Applying for a Home Office sponsor licence may be on your "to do" list but with Brexit, the end of free movement and the introduction of the new points based immigration system on the 1 January 2021, you may be thinking what is the rush? After all, why not see how things go and apply in January 2021? Sponsor licence solicitors say the best advice is to carry out a detailed strategic Brexit review now.
As London employment law solicitors we are in the fortunate position of being able to switch to remote working and client consultations, almost at the press of a button because we already had the infrastructure, processes and safeguards in place to enable our solicitors to work remotely. We’ve also offered a digital consultation option for several years via our online platform, skype or telephone conferencing.
We have written about Right to Work checks before, but as immigration solicitors in London with top Employment Solicitors making up part of our team, the importance of getting right to work checks right is something that we’re very much aware of.
It is one thing to expect employers and co-workers to understand the needs of a disabled employee or work colleague in a wheel chair and to make adjustments for them, but it is often much harder for work places to cater for the needs of employees with what are nowadays classed as “invisible disabilities”. Likewise, some employees do not want to draw attention to t
From the news last week, London employment law solicitors learnt that last year the gender pay gap at Transport for London grew to 21.5 per cent. That is a reported increase of 1.8 per cent from the previous year.
That is not great headline news for Sadiq Khan who chairs TFL. Perhaps we should all look to Iceland for the answer on what to do about the gender pay gap.
In the news this week is the 88 year old secretary who was employed by a National Health Service trust until she was sacked. The employee asserts that her dismissal was down to age discrimination whereas her employer maintains that she was sacked on the grounds of culpability for the failure to add the names of patients to a database of those awaiting reconstruction surgery.
You may question what on earth employment law has got to do with religious and philosophical beliefs, but an Employment Tribunal is considering whether veganism should be classed as a philosophical or religious belief. “Why?” you may ask.
Most employers and employees struggle with what is meant by bullying in the workplace. After all it can be a fine dividing line between robust staff and performance management and perceptions of bullying or a team member’s jokes turning from good work camaraderie into one staff member feeling singled out and bullied.
In a period of turbulent politics and confusion over Home Office conflicting announcements over Investor Visas, I am delighted to announce some good news emanating from the Home Office.
With the #metoo movement it seems that every day there is someone making allegations of sexual harassment against a celebrity.
These high profile cases generate publicity. However, what about the average employee? To whom do they turn to if they experiences sexual harassment in the workplace?
At first glance, the EU settlement scheme fees do not sound that much. The fee is £65 per adult and £32.50 per child. However, for a family of two adults and two children that is £260 to find. Not a small amount if you are a low paid EU migrant worker.
By Teni Shahiean, solicitor and CEO at OTS Solicitors
It is Christmas time! It is also the season for people to catch bugs and colds. Many employers think that if you book time off work and you are ill then it is just bad luck. Maybe some employers, who do not have the Christmas spirit, think it is better that an employee is sick in their own time, rather than at work.
By Oshin Shahiean, managing partner at OTS Solicitors in London
Top London immigration solicitors have been waiting 18 months for the release of the government white paper on immigration. It was finally released on Wednesday the 19th of December.
After a very hectic couple of days at the London Business Show 2018 we are now back at the offices of OTS Solicitors looking back on a very busy few days. We never realised that talking business could be such fun but with OTS Solicitors attending, exhibiting and speaking at the UK’s biggest business show with its 25,000 visitors we all thoroughly enjoyed the event. We will be booking our tickets and stand for the London Business Show 2019.
Nowadays not one day seems to go by without the press reporting on a business man receiving adverse publicity resulting from allegations of harassment of employees or a company falling foul of campaigns to avoid gender stereotyping of people in the work environment. The new culture and high profile campaigns make some business owners feel as if they are walking a tightrope between:
We pride ourselves on maintaining the impeccable 5.0 rating from our clients on Google Reviews - the highest rated among immigration solicitors in the UK!