Brexit and the impact on employment law

The UK has spoken and voted 'out' - what impact will this have on employment law and when will this take effect? The volume of EU directives and rules is immense - and they are all legally binding in the United Kingdom until the Brexit negotiations are complete. Once the UK has withdrawn fully, Parliament will decide whether to keep them or scrap them. It is important to bear in mind that the process of withdrawal will extend over several years. So for the weeks and months ahead it is very much 'business as usual' for employment law. However, as the country has voted to leave the European Union, it is important to know the effect that this will have on employment law:

• Considerable amount of EU employment law has been brought into effect through UK legislation, which would remain in force post-Brexit unless amended. Changes to primary legislation would require Parliamentary approval which involves careful analysis and a considerable amount of Parliamentary time.
• The Government would need to consider whether political reform would be desirable as the public has come to expect a certain level of workplace protection. However, changes to the likes of, for example, discrimination law seems highly unlikely as this is something the UK public expects as a minimum.
• Various employment rights such as unfair dismissal and the minimum age do not stem from EU directives as the UK provides protection which goes beyond EU minimum, therefore, such rights will not be effected by the withdrawal.
• UK courts and tribunals will no longer need to follow the European Court of Justice, which means that they will no longer need to take into account new EU decisions from that court. However, it is likely that tribunals will continue to apply previous decisions made by higher courts unless that higher court or Parliament decide to change this.
• Internal policies within a company often refer to certain EU policies such as sickness and equal opportunities. These are unlikely to change as striking out these entitlements would cause employee relation tensions and also it would be difficult under the legal perspective.

Overall, the vote to leave cannot result in an overnight change as there are many complex issues involved which may lead to legal uncertainty. Instead, negotiations of the UK's relationship outside the EU would have to commence, possibly lasting years. Therefore, it can be said that it is very much 'business as usual' until we hear anything else.