With the UK’s withdrawal date from the EU fast approaching (again) and uncertainty regarding who will be the next Prime Minster and how they might approach Brexit, there is more uncertainty for working people around their employment rights.
UK employment law is a mixture of national and EU provisions, with rights for part-time and fixed term workers, some paid holiday entitlement, working time protection and agency worker rights, among others deriving from the EU.
Many people do not realise that some of the protections they enjoy at work are in place because the UK has had to implement certain laws and follow case law as a result of its EU membership.
The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has understandably left workers worried about what could happen to their rights when we leave the EU, but it’s important to remember that there won’t be any immediate employment law changes.
Workers’ rights after Brexit
What are the potential effects Brexit may have on my job?
The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 effectively converts EU law into UK law, so that there is no legislative changes after Brexit in relation to:
- Discrimination (race, sex and disability)
- Holiday rights
- Maternity and parental leave rights
- Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) regulations
- Working time regulations (which impose a 48-hour working week)
- Agency worker rights (which offer equal pay and conditions for agency workers)
The Government also issued a technical notice in March about workers’ rights after Brexit saying that regardless of whether or not we get a deal, employees will continue to enjoy the level of protection they are currently entitled to under EU law.
Could this change with a new Prime Minister?
With some of the candidates for Prime Minister seeming to favour a no deal Brexit, and if such a candidate is successful, the UK could see an overhaul of certain employment law rights in the future.
There are many aspects of our current protection that are unpopular with employers, business groups and associates and could be subject to change, which include:
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Working Time Regulations
These EU imposed regulations were introduced over 20 years ago and have never been popular due to the principal rights (e.g. the maximum working week) and the difficulty in interpreting the principles, as well as the resulting cases about accruing holiday whilst off sick and the calculation of holiday pay.
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Agency Worker Regulations
Similarly, these rights have never gained much popularity in the UK and following the Government’s Good Work Plan legislation, introduced in December, agency workers and gig economy and zero hour contract employees are actually better protected.
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Collective redundancies
Possible changes in relation to the need to consult collectively with employees prior to giving notice of redundancy could be made to reduce the prescribed periods of consultation or compensation payable if a breach of the obligations takes place.
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TUPE
The Government may look to revise the complex laws in relation to TUPE to allow for more collaboration of employment contract terms and conditions.
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Maternity rights
Some businesses are not keen on the EU law which offers parents up to 18 weeks per child of unpaid parental leave as this can be quite disruptive. This has been highlighted as a particular issue for small organisations.
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Discrimination claims
In the main, there will most likely be no changes in relation to discrimination claims but the Government may look to enforce a statutory cap for compensation awards, should a no deal Brexit take place.
European Court of Justice (ECJ)
Leaving the EU will also mean the end of the jurisdiction of the ECJ, which provides guidance on the application of EU law to domestic Courts and Tribunals, in the UK.
This means UK Courts will not be able to refer cases to the ECJ, a Court that has been known to interpret the law more favourably for workers than the British Courts.
Any significant changes or sweeping reforms will require changes to primary legislation and therefore parliamentary approval, so the Government will have to decide if politically, reform of our employment laws is viable or desirable.
Some of the principles are intrinsically entwined in our working life – scrapping or reducing entitlements could therefore be difficult from both a legal and an employee relations perspective.
How Nelsons Can Help
Laura Kearsley is a Partner in our expert Employment Law team.
For further information or to comment on this article, please contact a member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.