Executive Employees Permitted to Skip Travel Quarantine

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01 July 2021 | Updated 06 August 2021

Executive employees working for large multinational companies will be given a quarantine exemption when arriving in England.

The Department for Business (BEIS) said that the waiver would only apply to amber-list countries in exceptional circumstances when the trip is likely to have "a significant economic benefit to the UK" according to the Financial Times.

"Significant economic benefit" is considered to be having a greater than 50 per cent chance of creating or preserving at least 500 UK-based jobs, or creating a new UK business within two years, BEIS said.

A spokesperson from BEIS told the BBC that "this exemption is designed to enable activity that creates and preserves UK jobs and investment while taking steps to ensure public health risks are minimised."

The exemption is for executives who wish to make a "financial investment in a UK-based business" or for "establishing a new business within the UK".

How Do the Rules Work?

The official government guidances states that certain senior executives (board level or equivalent) travelling to England who would be more likely than not to bring significant economic benefit to the UK can avoid quarantine.

The senior executive wishing to use the exemption must notify the UK government prior to doing so. They must do this using the business, jobs and investment exemption form.

Only individuals who have received a letter from the UK government confirming that they meet the criteria for the exemption, based on the information provided, will be able to use the exemption. This letter must be obtained before travelling to the UK and presented to Border Force officials upon arrival.

Senior executives are classed as bringing ‘significant economic benefit’ if the work they are doing has a greater than 50 per cent chance of creating or preserving at least 500 UK-based jobs in either:

• an existing UK-based business which has at least 500 employees
• a new UK business within two years of the date of their arrival in the UK

Senior executives are only exempt if the business activity requires their physical presence and cannot be done remotely or by anyone who would not need to quarantine.

They must also still ​book tests to take after their arrival in England, if they will be staying for two days or longer.

Picture: a photograph of an airport check-in queue

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 01 July 2021

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