Brexit : EU agency staff who don’t want to leave London agencies set to miss out on benefits
Employees from countries staying in the EU will be potentially tens of thousands of pounds worse off than British nationals.
Non-British employees who opt to leave the two EU agencies relocating from London because of Brexit are set to miss out on financial settlements worth potentially tens of thousands of pounds. Staff from the 27 countries remaining in the EU who do not wish to move from London with their agency will be forced to resign, meaning that they miss out on the severance payments. British workers, on the other hand, will have their contracts terminated, meaning they can receive the payments, which are intended to cover a period of unemployment.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA), with their 890 and 184 staff respectively, will leave their current homes in London’s Canary Wharf in March 2019. The end of July was the deadline for cities across the EU to submit bids to the European Commission to host the prestigious agencies. The final decision on a new location will be taken in November.
The staff have no say in where they end up, so many are biding their time and will only make a decision about whether to relocate with their agency once they know which European city will be its new host.
By : Cat CONTIGUGLIA – POLITICO : 08/07/2017
