In case you missed it (!) on 23 June 2016 the Brexit referendum took place which resulted in a 52% majority in favour of leaving the European Union.
Since the results were announced, we have received quite a few queries about what Brexit means for employers and employment law. So to help answer your questions, we summarised below a few key points that may help answer any lingering questions:
- In terms of legislation and case law, nothing has been changed by the mere outcome of the referendum. Britain is still a part of the EU, and will be for at least the near future, and consequently is still bound by EU laws and legislation. As much as some people may want to ignore all of the EU case law creating confusion about holiday pay, or rip up the TUPE regulations, the vote in favour of leaving does not permit this to happen.
- In terms of what will happen to legislation and case law if Britain does exit the EU, this remains to be seen. There is much EU-based legislation which may be repealed or varied when Britain is no longer bound to follow it, but this very much depends on the decisions of the government in power at the time. Equally, if negotiations result in Britain remaining part of the European Economic Area, if not the EU, it is likely to remain obliged to follow all EU laws rather than taking back complete control.
- Of more immediate concern to employers is the impact that the ongoing uncertainty of where Britain is heading is having on the economy and, in turn, business. Many businesses are likely to suffer a downturn in trade which will in all probability lead to the need to make redundancies. As always, a redundancy process needs to be conducted with care and employers may want to take advice on the procedure to follow.
- Equally, we have seen the reports of a huge increase in racial discrimination offences taking place as a direct consequence of the referendum. Employers must be alive to this and take immediate steps to prevent discrimination in the workplace, protect non-British employees and take disciplinary action against any member of staff who discriminates against a colleague on the grounds of their race or nationality.
- Another potential area of conflict that employers may need to manage carefully is the relationship between employees who voted remain and those who voted leave. Emotions run high among the two camps, and there is a possibility that a person’s firmly held views of Britain’s membership status of the EU could amount to a “belief” for the purposes of anti-discrimination legislation. Employees should be reminded that they are expected to remain professional towards colleagues who hold different Brexit views.
- Employees are certainly protected from dismissal on grounds of their political belief and therefore any decision to terminate the employment of someone because they voted “the wrong way” could fall within this category and, if it does, that dismissal may be unfair even if the employee has less than 2 years’ service.
If you have any specific questions arising as a result of the referendum, please feel free to contact me.
