Croatian Accession - Update For Employers

Just a few days ahead of Croatia's accession to the EU, there seems to be little fanfare about the enlargement of the Union and relatively little media coverage informing us about our new European partner. It strikes me that we (by that I mean 'I') know very little about Croatia, bar the odd sports personality and a rough idea of where it actually is.

However, much as I would like to embark on a Eurovision-style review of the cultural heritage of the 28^th EU member state, I thought it might be more useful, if somewhat less entertaining, to focus on the requirements which employers need to be aware of when employing Croatians. The question is then; what will change on 1 July?

Essentially, employers should note the coming into force on 1 July 2013 of the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013. The Regulations are important because they set out the regime by which employers must abide at least until June 2018.