Walk on eggshells

摘要

With employers trying to overcome the skills shortage by taking on workers from Eastern Europe, how can firms avoid falling foul of immigration law? After eight Eastern European countries joined the European Union in 2004, some 447,000 workers have joined the UK building industry from those states - a far cry from the government's estimate of 13,000 a year! Speculation had it that this trend would continue if Bulgaria and Romania were admitted to the EU. Now that they will be, in January, the government has decided to restrict workers from those countries. Even so, employers, tread carefully.