A Brexit bonfire of employment laws has been narrowly averted for now. But battle has been joined on the streets and in the courts over far-reaching new legislation designed to undermine and curtail strikes
Until a few weeks ago, employment lawyers – and the businesses and staff for whom they act – were standing on the edge of a very tall cliff. They nervously chewed their lips in the knowledge that, at the stroke of midnight on 31 December, all European-derived legislation – which includes fundamental employment laws – were due to be hurled off the edge to smash into a thousand pieces at the bottom, with no apparent plan to replace them. It seemed inconceivable that the government would allow this to happen, but as 2023 ticked on, nothing was done to prevent it. So on 10 May, the complete change in approach outlined by business secretary Kemi Badenoch in a Telegraph article and a written statement to parliament was greeted with relief by employment lawyers. The many significant employment laws that have their origins in the EU are now safe for the time being.
Rachel Rothwell
The cliff edge had been created by a ‘sunset clause’ in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill that would have seen all EU laws cease to apply at the end of this year. This was originally billed as around 4,000 laws that would be going up in smoke atop a blistering Brexit bonfire. But as the deadline drew nearer, it became increasingly apparent that this was wholly unworkable and...
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