How might Brexit affect employment law?
On 23 June 2016, a referendum will be held in the United Kingdom to decide whether this territory should leave the European Union (‘Brexit’). If Brexit were to take place, this development could have a significant impact on employment law.
Much of the legislation relating to employment rights has its foundation in European law. In addition, UK courts have to abide by the decisions of the European Court of Justice when interpreting any employment law that has its basis in EU law.
In the table below, we summarise which areas of law are likely to change.
| Area of law | Likely to change? | Reasons |
| Equality | No | It would be difficult to get rid of the existing law in this area. |
| Working time and holiday pay | Yes | Workers and trade unions would complain if too many changes were made to their rights in this area. However, the law relating to holiday pay might be amended to simplify its application and clarify some unpopular rights that have arisen as the result of EU case law. |
| Transfer of undertakings (TUPE) | No | Although the law in this area is unpopular with businesses, it is unlikely to be repealed because it is a key part of many commercial agreements. Instead, minor amendments might be made. |
| Redundancy | No | The obligations are not onerous such that removal would be sought. |
| Agency workers | Yes | The law governing agency workers’ rights is complex and unpopular, making it ripe for amendment. |
| Immigration | Yes | If Brexit goes ahead, then nationals of the UK and the EU will lose the right to freedom of movement between each others’ states. It is likely the Government would put in place transitional arrangements allowing EU nationals already working in the UK to remain for a time as long as reciprocal arrangements applied to UK citizens working in EU countries. |
| Data protection | No | EU states will demand that the UK have adequate data protection measures in place should their businesses need to transfer personal data to the UK. Maintaining the current legislation will provide such security, but the legislation will need to be updated to take into account upcoming changes to EU data protection legislation. |
Despite the concerns noted above, any changes are unlikely to take place immediately following Brexit. The rules governing EU membership mean it will take two years for the UK to leave the EU. The Government would therefore be more likely to retain current legislation for a period of time before making changes to individual legislation on a piecemeal basis as and when necessary.
“European Union flag” by Flikr user Yanni Koutsomitis used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license