INSIGHT
On 29 June 2023, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 completed its passage through Parliament and was granted Royal Assent.
Originally, the government had intended that the Act would revoke all EU-derived secondary legislation (including TUPE and the Working Time Regulations), However, having acknowledged the scale of the task involved in identifying all such legislation, the government replaced the sunset provision with a list of around 600 pieces of legislation which will be repealed at the end of 2023 (none of which is significant from an employment law perspective.)
However, the new approach will impact the content and operation of retained EU law and rules of interpretation. From January 2024, the Act will:
– Abolish directly effective rights
– Bring an end to the principle of supremacy of EU law and
– Remove EU interpretative principles from UK law
These changes will have far-reaching consequences for employment law (for example in relation to equal pay, working time and holiday pay). The Act is likely to create uncertainty and make it more difficult for businesses to understand their obligations and for employees to understand their rights.
