July 26, 2016

MP suggests that Brexit won’t mean significant changes to employment law

The Secretary of State handed specific responsibility for negotiating Britain’s departure from the EU has indicated there won’t be any radical changes to current employment laws.

In a blog piece published this week, veteran MP David Davis said: “regulation already in place will stay for the moment, but the flood of new regulation from Europe will be halted.”

Mr Davis, a known Eurosceptic, has previously said that certain Directives serve to stymie companies, but he seemed to rule out any sweeping changes to employment rights such as paid holiday or maternity leave.

“To be clear, I am not talking here about employment regulation,” he wrote.

“All the empirical studies show that it is not employment regulation that stultifies economic growth, but all the other market-related regulations, many of them wholly unnecessary.

“Britain has a relatively flexible workforce, and so long as the employment law environment stays reasonably stable it should not be a problem for business.”

Many companies around the UK have sought clarification about the future of employment rights and related legislation following the outcome of last month’s EU referendum.

For more information on our employment law services or advice on Employment Tribunals please visit or contact Richard Woodman, Gemma Ospedale, David Israel or Caroline Doran Millett.

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