According to the government's own site, people on ILR without a BRP do not need one at any time unless they are moving their visa to a different passport [1].

According to the government's own site, people on ILR without a BRP do not need one at any time unless they are moving their visa to a different passport [1]. I also do not see any mention of it needed to get employment [2]. Having dealt with UK employment law indirectly I can see how your brother's (and subsequently your) employer might have gotten confused about the rules as they are not very clear (which just goes to show what a mess immigration law here is). That being said, the whole system is unnecessarily expensive, bureaucratic and confusing. I am not sure how that necessarily makes it directly xenophobic though (there are many other government procedures that have a similar unnecessary complexity). [1]https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits [2]https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work