[UK] Government announces employment law reforms

The UK government has announced that it will ensure EU equality and discrimination laws are reinstated before they expire at the end of this year. Other EU laws deemed to be a “burden” will now be amended, HR Magazine reports.

Among the equality elements expected to be kept are maternity law protections for returning mothers and the single source test which allows for the determination of equal pay claims between workers in different organisations, according to Sky News. 

The single source test was reportedly only one of a number of pieces of EU law due to be abolished or diluted under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act. Unions and legal representatives were concerned the move would lead to an erosion of workers’ rights.

However, on November 8 the government put a statutory instrument before Parliament to avoid this. 

Sayeem Ahmed - managing director of employment law consultancy, Neathouse Partners - said, “In retaining these laws, the UK government has chosen stability over the bold strokes of legislative change that some had anticipated post-Brexit.”

Alex Mizzi - legal director, Howard Kennedy - told HR Magazine, “EU principles around discrimination and equal pay are so well bedded in, and are so well understood, that I don’t think there was any appetite from government to row-back on these, so in employment law I think there will be very little divergence going forward.

“Whether this is in-line with the stated aims of Brexit, however, is another matter. But there would have just been too many complex decisions for government to have been made if case law had been removed entirely.”

Equality protections will now happen but on November 8 the government confirmed it would seek to slash £1 billion of red tape it said had resulted from “burdensome EU rules".

It said amendments to several retained EU laws would now be made to simplify annual leave and holiday pay calculations under the Working Time Regulations.

Changes to consultation requirements under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) will also reportedly take place though specific details of these amendments have not yet been released.

Source: HR Magazine

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

The UK government has announced that it will ensure EU equality and discrimination laws are reinstated before they expire at the end of this year. Other EU laws deemed to be a “burden” will now be amended, HR Magazine reports.

Among the equality elements expected to be kept are maternity law protections for returning mothers and the single source test which allows for the determination of equal pay claims between workers in different organisations, according to Sky News. 

The single source test was reportedly only one of a number of pieces of EU law due to be abolished or diluted under the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act. Unions and legal representatives were concerned the move would lead to an erosion of workers’ rights.

However, on November 8 the government put a statutory instrument before Parliament to avoid this. 

Sayeem Ahmed - managing director of employment law consultancy, Neathouse Partners - said, “In retaining these laws, the UK government has chosen stability over the bold strokes of legislative change that some had anticipated post-Brexit.”

Alex Mizzi - legal director, Howard Kennedy - told HR Magazine, “EU principles around discrimination and equal pay are so well bedded in, and are so well understood, that I don’t think there was any appetite from government to row-back on these, so in employment law I think there will be very little divergence going forward.

“Whether this is in-line with the stated aims of Brexit, however, is another matter. But there would have just been too many complex decisions for government to have been made if case law had been removed entirely.”

Equality protections will now happen but on November 8 the government confirmed it would seek to slash £1 billion of red tape it said had resulted from “burdensome EU rules".

It said amendments to several retained EU laws would now be made to simplify annual leave and holiday pay calculations under the Working Time Regulations.

Changes to consultation requirements under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) will also reportedly take place though specific details of these amendments have not yet been released.

Source: HR Magazine

(Links and quotes via original reporting)