Let’s squash these Brexit rumours

There are certain rumours floating around in relation to Brexit which have left us all wondering whether they could be true. Employers, HR professionals and employees will no doubt have many questions about the implications of voting ‘out’ and how exiting the EU may affect employment laws in the UK. I think it’s time to shed some light and squash these rumours once and for all. Find out more here: Rumour 1 - Statutory holiday and sick pay will come to an end Wrong! The Working Time Regulations do set out the entitlement to holiday. This Regulation does derive directly from EU law, however, it must be noted that an individual’s entitlement to holiday is set out in their contract of employment and cannot be taken away unilaterally, even if there is a change in the law. The UK went beyond this entitlement and increased the amount of holiday provided by the EU minimum of 20 days to 28 days. Therefore, removing this entitlement of holiday pay is highly unlikely. With regards to sick pay, this right is not influenced by Europe and therefore will not be affected. Rumour 2 – EU national employees will be dismissed and British workers in the EU will have to return This is wrong! To do so will lead to claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination. It must be remembered that we are still part of the EU and free movement will continue until we aren’t, which will probably be years considering all the negotiation that must take place first. Rumour 3 – The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will not have any influence on the UK when we exit This is true. This is because the UK signed up to the Council of Europe which is entirely separate from the EU. All cases involving human rights will still be heard by the ECtHR however, what will change are the referrals of cases to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to ask if the UK has implemented/interpreted EU law correctly. Rumour 4 – All UK employment laws come from the EU Wrong! There are some that do such as the Working Time Regulations, Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE) etc. However, not all UK employment laws derive from the EU. Many are ‘home bred’ such as sex and race discrimination, unfair dismissal, minimum wage etc. Rumour 5 – We will no longer have to abide by laws that originate in the EU First of all, it is important to remember that laws passed by Europe are not automatically binding on the UK until the legislation is passed here. Therefore, although the laws originated in Europe, laws have been passed in the UK to mirror these and until the UK repeals them we must abide by them. Rumour 6 – We will have lots of new employment legislation once we exit the EU Very unlikely! The government will have an enormous amount of pressure on them and it is difficult to understand how the government will cope with the amount of negotiation needed to unravel ties with the EU. Changing employment laws that are working perfectly fine is very unlikely to be on the top of its to do list.