No matter what the future holds as regards the UK’s relationship with the EU, its legacy of employment law will continue for many years to come. So writes Charles Pigott, professional support lawyer at Mills & Reeve, in this week’s NLJ. From the law on collective redundancy consultation to minimum paid holidays to discrimination laws, the EU has been a major influence. This is less the case in certain areas, notably pay, rights on termination of employment and the law on industrial action.
If the UK follows the Norway model then EU employment law will continue to apply. However, this would require free movement of people to continue, which might be politically unacceptable for some. Many of these, says Pigott, “would involve some degree of restriction on the UK’s ability to re-shape its employment law”.