UK ends EU Employment Regulations

The Government, specifically the Department of Business & Trade, has made an announcement regarding changes to employment-related Regulations imposed by the EU.

The changes are:

Holidays and Holiday pay

Merging ‘normal’ holiday leave with ‘additional’ holiday leave, creating one entitlement. “Additional” holiday leave is the leave created by working overtime etc., and this will affect the calculation of holiday pay in terms of commission payments etc.

The Government proposes introducing rolled-up holiday pay, so that workers can receive their holiday pay with every payslip, and merging the current two separate leave entitlements into one pot of statutory annual leave while maintaining the same amount of statutory leave entitlement overall.

Removing the requirement for record-keeping under the Working Time Regulations for working hours.

Suzie says:

Bit of a shocker the re-introduction of rolled-up holiday pay, as it is a great way for people not to be obligated to actually take the annual leave days – which is an employee well-being and mental health issue. My understanding of the original EU legalisation (yes, I was in HR when it was all introduced) around working time and leave days was introduced under the banner of Health and Safety – ie to make employees take a reasonable amount of time off work and to make employers give a minimum amount of time off a year.

Non-compete clauses

The government intends to legislate to limit the length of non-compete clauses to 3 months.

Other restrictions such as non-solicitation of suppliers, other employees etc remain the same.

Suzie says:

Honestly – the number of contracts I have seen with the “standard” 12 months restrictions for everything were ineffective and would have been challenged as unfair in any case.?The restrictions should not restrict an ex-employee from earning a living. So reviewing and amending all of the clauses in your restrictions would probably be a very good idea. I can’t say many Leaders in the SME world will be happy with this reduction.?Good for ex-employees!

TUPE

The government are consulting on removing this requirement for businesses with fewer than 50 people and transfers affecting less than ten employees, allowing businesses to consult directly with the affected employees. This will save businesses red tape and improve engagement with workers.

Suzie says:

This is actually quite useful – most TUPEs I have dealt with are under 50 employees, my way around the old rules was to individually consult as well as electing and consult with an employee rep committee.?Most people want to talk about THEIR situations in private with the employer in any case.

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Read the Department of Business & Trade Announcement – Click this link

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The government has announced in a written statement to parliament that is is abandoning the sunset clause in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. As the Bill is currently drafted, almost all EU law is automatically revoked at the end of 2023, unless a statutory instrument is passed to preserve it.

That position is being reversed, so that EU law will remain binding in the UK unless it is expressly repealed.?The Bill will be amended to contain a list of the retained EU laws that the government intends to revoke on 31 December 2023 - but anything not on that list will remain valid.

All of the above are proposals without any confirmed timelines – Our advice is keep doing what you are doing and we, at Breathing Space, will make sure all our clients are kept up to date, their processes and paperwork are amended and managers/employees are informed and know what is happening.