The government is set to begin the process of enshrining key EU-derived worker protections into UK law, including protections for women returning from maternity leave and the single-source test for determining equal pay.
Ministers will today lay a statutory instrument before parliament, which intends to maintain key worker protections when EU-derived laws are revoked at the end of this year, it has been reported.
There had been concerns that many workers’ rights would be lost or diluted when the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill takes effect, as equivalent protections do not currently exist in British legislation. However, in August, ministers pledged that these key protections would remain on the statute books.
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According to Sky News, the EU worker protections being retained in UK law include the single-source test, which ensures that men and women doing a comparable job under terms and conditions that could be attributed to a single source, which does not have to be the same employer, are paid equally.
The government will also retain protections that prevent women from experiencing less favourable treatment at work because they are breastfeeding; protections against unfavourable treatment when they return from maternity leave, where that treatment relates to pregnancy or pregnancy-related illness; and provisions allowing women to receive special treatment in connection with maternity, such as enhanced occupational maternity schemes.
It will also ensure that the definition of disability in the context of employment explicitly covers working life, and employers are held accountable if they allow discrimination in recruitment.
Max Winthrop, the chair of the Law Society’s Employment Law Committee, welcomed the news that vital rights “would not be for the legislative dustbin as of 31 December”.
However, he told Sky News: “When we are effectively replicating legislation from the EU, and I can understand why the government have done that because it would not be particularly popular to say ‘let’s scrap maternity rights’, it does leave the big question as to what exactly is it that we’ve gained from leaving the EU.
“It shows the complexity of junking 40 years worth of (EU) legislation, and the sorts of steps we’ve had to go through to maintain the protections that a lot of people probably thought they already had.”
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring that the fundamental rights and freedoms of people in the United Kingdom remain protected.
“Our work is ensuring that necessary protections are retained and will end the inherent uncertainty of relying on judicial interpretations of EU law.
“Today’s update will ensure that Great Britain maintains its proud history of equality and that necessary protections are clearly stated in our domestic legislation.”
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