Has the Government put the brakes on its plans to scrap EU-derived employment law by the end of the year?

The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (aka the Brexit Revocation Bill) if passed would undoubtedly result in a massive shake up of our employment law. That’s because all retained EU law would automatically expire on 31 December 2023, unless the Government introduced specific legislation to preserve it.  

So, in theory, at the end of the year we could be waving goodbye to or, at the very least seeing some major changes to, the likes of TUPE, the 48-hour week, the Agency Worker Regulations, the Part-Time and Fixed Term Worker Regulations and paid annual leave. 

For obvious reasons, there’s been huge amounts of campaigning, particularly by trade unions, and environmental and business groups, which fear that the Bill is a threat to employee rights. What’s more, it’s also been reported that several Government departments have requested an extension to the revocation deadline (to 2026) on the basis that there simply would not be enough time to undertake the mammoth legislative task that would arise out of the Bill’s passing; there’s around 4,000 pieces of EU derived legislation on our statute books! 

The Bill is currently at the reporting stage of the House of Lords, which was due to take place imminently. However, it’s being widely reported that that the Government is quietly scrapping its plans to hold the report stage for now because of a warning from Tory peers that they would join a mass cross-party revolt in the House of Lords, which in turn could lead to a row ahead of the local elections (on 4 May). 

We’ll continue to watch this space and keep you updated with any other key developments. In the meantime, if you would like to talk to us about anything employment or business immigration related, we’d love to hear from you.