The Government has laid the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill in Parliament. This could theoretically lead to significant changes in key areas of employment law discussed below, although the government’s plans in this regard remain unknown and therefore there is little employers can do to prepare at the moment.

In order to avoid leaving gaps in the UK legal system when the UK withdrew from the EU, the body of EU law in force at the end of 2020 was imported into UK law, and the UK legislation that implemented EU law was retained, under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (with necessary amendments). This body of law is called “retained EU law”.

If passed as drafted, the Bill will:

• Sunset retained EU law – sunset the majority of retained EU law so that it expires on 31st December 2023, unless specifically preserved. Before that date, the Government will need to review every piece of retained EU Law to determine which should be retained. In the employment context, this includes the regulations concerning TUPE, working time, part-time workers, fixed-term employees, and agency workers, as well as the directly effective equal pay rights under the EU Treaty (although rights under the Equality Act should be unaffected). Employers face a period of uncertainty until the Government confirms whether it plans to preserve and/or amend these laws. The Bill includes an extension mechanism for the sunset of specified pieces of retained EU law until 23 June 2026 should it...

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