Government announces Brexit-related employment law changes

The government has now published its policy paper, ‘Smarter regulation to grow the economy’, which gives a first glimpse of how it plans to reform employment law in a post-Brexit climate. 

The proposed changes apply to current EU-based legislation, and may have implications for employers, as follows:

Working Time Regulations

The government will consult on proposals involving the Working Time Regulations; these will include:

• Removing the reporting requirements on working hours
• Reducing the administrative burden and complexity of calculating holiday pay by introducing rolled-up holiday pay and merging the two separate leave entitlements (4 weeks’ basic leave and 1.6 weeks’ additional leave) to create one statutory entitlement.

This is in addition to reviewing holiday entitlements for part-year workers, which my colleague Julie Temple discusses briefly in her recent Wednesday Webinar which you can view here.

TUPE

The government wants to simplify the transfer process and reduce the administrative burden on employers without changing employee rights.

At present it is not possible for employers to consult with employees directly without first appointing employee representatives (although there is a micro-business exemption for businesses with fewer than 10 employees). The government will consult on removing this requirement for businesses with fewer than 50 employees and for transfers affecting less than 10 employees, enabling employers to consult directly with those affected.

Why is the government making these changes?

In its policy paper, the government says that the reforms it is proposing - combined with other measures such as full expensing and the labour market package announced in the Spring Budget - will create a more competitive and productive economy.

When are these proposed changes likely to come in?

No time frame has yet been given although the government has indicated that it will look to carry out a period of consultation in respect of proposed changes.

It has also been announced that the government will scrap the ‘sunset’ clause in its Retained EU Law Bill; this clause would have seen thousands of EU-based laws disappear at the end of 2023 unless purposefully kept or replaced beforehand. Instead, the government has decided that these will be replaced with a list of regulations, which can be revoked.

The government has released a list of the EU laws it plans to revoke. As it stands, there are no key employment laws in that list but it is not necessarily final and could be changed.

What next?

The policy paper has been described as an initial package and the first in a series. Given that the government has also emphasised its desire to retain powers in the current version of the Retained EU Law Bill so that it can continue to amend EU-based legislation, this could mean that further proposals for change are on the way and we will continue to keep updated on anything employment and HR related.

The possible changes to the Working Time Regulations are likely to be welcomed by many employers who have faced an increased burden in relation to calculating holiday pay. If you have made changes or are in the process of considering changes to existing holiday pay arrangements and would like to discuss the possible implications of the potential changes or any other matters relating to your employees and entitlements our experienced and expert team can provide bespoke advice and reassurance to businesses. 

If you are an employer and you would like assistance, please do get in touch.