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Many employers suspended their recruitment activities before the EU referendum and some have done so since citing uncertainty about the impact the Brexit vote will have on the future of their businesses. If you need to take on new employees, remember that you are not permitted to discriminate against employees or job candidates on the basis of their nationality, including during the recruitment process.

This means that you should not consider an applicant’s nationality during the hiring process, except to check that he or she has the right to work in the UK – including those from the European Economic Area (EEA).

Most EEA workers have the right to work in the UK without special permission and, although there has been much speculation about what might happen, there has not been any change to these rights.

Therefore, any less favourable treatment of a job candidate because of his or her EEA nationality could be considered discriminatory.

Employers should also ensure that they do not treat current employees unfavourably due to EEA nationality, for example when considering employees for renewal of fixed-term contracts, promotions, assignments or allocation of shifts.