Michael D Ford

The Effect of Brexit on Workers' Rights

This article is being written against a background of great legal uncertainty and political volatility. We have only recently learned from the Prime Minister, Theresa May, that the UK Government will invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of European Union (TEU) before March 2017 and will introduce a Bill in the next Queen’s speech the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ (GRB) repealing the European Communities Act 1972 (ECA) with effect from the date on which Brexit occurs. While the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice (ECJ) will end, according to Mrs May the existing aquis of EU law will be converted into UK law, to be repealed, revoked or amended at leisure in later years. Turning her back on years of Conservative hostility to EU-guaranteed employment rights, the Prime Minister emphasised that ‘existing workers’ legal rights will continue to be guaranteed in law’ so long as she held that office. For good measure she added that as a result of the review announced the day before, to be conducted by Matthew Taylor, these rights would be ‘enhanced’ by the Conservative Party, now magically transformed into ‘the true workers’ party’. In a debate in Parliament on 7 November 2016, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, confirmed that the Government would ‘entrench all existing workers’ rights in British law’ post-Brexit and provided some further clarification of what this entailed. As I write, no draft GRB has yet been published, there is little outline of the envisaged trading agreement with the EU, details of the Government’s proposals are