Amid all of the political drama surrounding Brexit in recent weeks, many commentators
missed the implications of paragraph 123 of the Government’s "Proposal for the Future Relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.” This document contains the proposal which has now passed Parliament and has been put to the EU as the blueprint for a future relationship.
Paragraph 123 of the document commits both the UK and the EU to the “non-regression of labour standards”. It is also proposed that the UK and the EU commit to uphold their obligations deriving from their International Labour Organisation commitments. This follows the "Great Repeal Bill" which is designed to enshrine current EU legislation within UK law even after withdrawal from the EU.
The effect of these provisions is that the current levels of employment law protection, including under the Working Time Regulations, Transfer of Undertakings provisions and much of our discrimination legislation will be unchanged for the foreseeable future. This assumes of course that the proposal is accepted and a deal is eventually reached.