The Impact on Employment Law Following Brexit

Following the historic day on Friday 24th June for British politics, Edmund Coxhead specialising in employment law at PCB Solicitors, has shared his predictions on the possible implications for businesses across the region.

Edmund is anticipating the recent referendum result is likely to have little short-term impact on current legislation, which shapes laws such as Working Time Regulation and Health & Safety in the workplace. 

“Nobody knows for sure how the UK’s exit from the EU is going to impact businesses,” explained Edmund. “However, it is unlikely that existing employment laws which implement EU minimum requirements will be fully revoked by the Government, especially in the short-term. 

“In some areas of the law, the UK actually goes above and beyond what is required by EU legislation, such as providing an additional 1.6 weeks of annual leave on top of the four weeks paid holiday stated in the EU, so it would be highly unlikely that this will change. Not only that, but many fundamental employment laws within the EU simply supplement rights already present in the UK before the EU legislated them, including the Equal Pay Act 1970.”

Edmund Coxhead leads the employment law team at PCB Solicitors and considers that some minor adjustments could be made to Transfer of Undertakings Regulation (TUPE) with a possible repeal of Agency Worker Regulations 2010. 

“The Government will no doubt want to reassure businesses in the UK and to make the least amount of changes as possible in the short-term to avoid confusion, and so we expect that little change will be made to current employment legislation. 

“Once the trade deals and the terms of the exit have been established we will have more answers as a nation, but these are going to take a long time to fully negotiate. I’d urge anyone with concerns about the potential implications to their business following the EU Referendum to get in touch with myself or a member of the employment team here at PCB Solicitors, who would be happy to help.”