Domestic legislation already exceeds EU-required levels of employment protections in a number of ways.
This is according to guidance published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on workplace rights in the case of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit.
The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 brings across the powers from EU Directives so that workers in the UK will continue to be entitled to the rights they have under UK law, covering those aspects which come from EU law.
The UK Government states that it will provide legal certainty, allowing for a smooth transition from the day of EU exit, and will ensure that employment rights remain unchanged.
The workplace rights and protections that come from EU law include the following:
- the Working Time Regulations, which include provisions for annual leave, holiday pay and rest breaks
- family leave entitlements, including maternity and parental leave
- certain requirements to protect the health and safety of workers
- legislation to prevent and remedy discrimination and harassment based on sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and race or ethnic origin in the workplace, and any resulting victimisation
- the TUPE regulations, protecting workers’ rights in certain situations when there is a transfer of business or contracts from one organisation to another
- protections for agency workers and workers posted to the UK from EU states
legislation to cover employment protection of part-time, fixed-term and young workers - legislation covering insolvency referred to in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and Pension Schemes Act 1993, administering redundancy related payments to employees in case of insolvency.
However, the guidance says that a withdrawal from the EU in a ‘no deal’ scenario will impact:
- Employer Insolvency
- European Work Councils
