UK workers must not be left worse off post-Brexit, say trade union solicitors

The government must guarantee that employment rights will not be diluted as lawyers expect changes to existing legal system

A rush to trigger article 50 without a clear strategy from the government will place employment rights and health and safety legislation under threat, a new law firm report argues.

The prime minister, Theresa May, recently met with European Council president Donald Tusk, who urged the UK to 'start the [Brexit] process as soon as possible'. 'The ball is now in your court,' he added.

However, in a review of the potential impact of Brexit on UK employment rights, the nation's largest employment law and trade union specialists, Thompsons, urged the government not to cave to political pressures and prematurely trigger article 50.

'Leaving the EU has profound consequences for workers in the UK. Many rights at work are underpinned by EU law. Equality, health & safety, paid holidays, protection on redundancies and changes of employer,' said Stephen Cavalier, Thomsons' chief executive.

'It is no good the prime minister simply repeating "Brexit means Brexit". That is meaningless to the British workers whose rights are under threat.

'The government must commit to including the trade union and labour movement in discussions on the terms for leaving the EU, and must guarantee that the rights of UK workers will not be diluted. Why should workers in the UK be worse off than everywhere else in Europe?'

Cavalier continued: 'The platitudes from the government are not enough. Working in people in Britain need concrete assurances that their rights will not be chucked into the Channel.'

Thompsons were responsible for a number of landmark cases which enshrined vital protections for workers into UK law, including TUPE/Acquired Rights Directive and Working Time, establishing equal pay for work of equal value, and working with the Labour party to pave the way for the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Writing in a recent issue of Solicitors Journal, Snigdha Nag, a barrister and senior lecturer at City Law School, suggested that the employment rights of millions of UK employees was set to be the number-one hidden issue - 'a looming iceberg' - in the Brexit debate.

'We owe many rights to the EU which assist in achieving a balance between family and working life. How many people benefit from our current levels of maternity leave and pay and the right to request flexible working each year? How many more will benefit from the recent provision for shared parental leave? All are thanks to the EU's directives for family friendly working,' she said.

Meanwhile, speaking to the House of Lords justice subcommittee, leading barrister Prof Alan Vaughan Lowe QC rated the chances of already settled EU citizens retaining their rights to live, work, and retire in the UK after Brexit as zero.

'I think there is zero chance [that the]… existing legal system affecting European nationals in this country will not change,' he told committee chair Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.