[IER] Workers' rights at risk from Brexit, experts warn

[Sarah Glenister]

IER News Brief 31/03/17

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news brief

Friday 31st March 2017

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Workers' rights are being put at risk by the Great Repeal Bill, experts have warned this week.

Political leaders and legal experts said the Henry VIII powers government has awarded itself as part of the Bill - which allow the Conservatives to make amendments to EU law without a parliamentary vote - could be used to dilute workers' rights <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=e81fb61e07&e=71131c031b> .

Elsewhere, even legislation that is directly transferred to the UK statute could still be undermined in the future, either through the Courts <http://ier.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=9cba5ce572&e=71131c031b> , or through the weakening of workers' rights once EU protection is removed. In response, Unite has called for a 66% threshold to be put in place on any proposals to scrap EU law <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=acb9b00f54&e=71131c031b> , meaning that two-thirds of MPs would need to vote in support of such moves before they could come to pass.

Earlier this week, Chair of the IER John Hendy QC and President Professor Keith Ewing led a debate into the risks and opportunities of Brexit for employment rights <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=f0cbfc8dae&e=71131c031b> . Many thanks to the many delegates who arrived at NUT's Mander Hall on Tuesday for our free In Conversation event. If you missed out, keep an eye on future news briefs, as IER will soon publish an audio recording of the proceedings.

This week, we have also announced a new conference to be held on 27 April 2017 in Liverpool. Migration after Brexit: the challenge for labour standards <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=361c06a03a&e=71131c031b> , revisits March's London conference of the same name (read report and download papers here <http://ier.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=f2266b01d5&e=71131c031b> ), updated to take into account the implications of the Great Repeal Bill. Due to the importance of this debate at such a historic time for the UK, we have reduced our usual entry fee to just £50 for general admission, or £25 with concessions (students and the unwaged). Booking is now open, click here to reserve your place <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=06c24cb503&e=71131c031b> .

While there are fears for the protection of workers' rights after Brexit, there have also been fears for the current state of workers' rights in the UK and how they are undermined by the "gig economy".

A courier has been found to be a  <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=19385822cb&e=71131c031b> "worker" at tribunal after being misclassified as "self employed" by Excel, following on from other successful claims such as those by Uber drivers and couriers at CitySprint. Deliveroo are next in the firing line <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=1ee280ebab&e=71131c031b> , with 200 riders registering with law firm Leigh Day (which worked with GMB on the Uber case) to dispute their "self employed" status. But Deliveroo is likely to resist with all its might after telling a Select Committee that the reason it tries to dissuade riders from taking their cases to tribunal is because it cannot afford to pay the National Minimum Wage! <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=ae8b2bcfe5&e=71131c031b> 

In more positive news, congratulations to Unison on two accounts this week. The union's judicial review disputing the legality of employment tribunal fees reached the Supreme Court <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=7aa64682e7&e=71131c031b>  on Monday with a decision expected in the next six months <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=eebaa318e2&e=71131c031b> . Elsewhere, Unison's Ethical Charter for care workers has been recommended by a Select Committee as a blueprint for setting out reasonable standards for wages and conditions <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a1fb5e3edc&e=71131c031b>  in a social care sector that is approaching crisis.

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 News and comment

	

 Workers' Rights <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/b1c726de-bf3c-454c-9dd0-50d42672c9ff.png> 

	Deliveroo: 'We can't pay minimum wage, so we don't want riders going to tribunal'
Deliveroo Managing Director Dan Warne has told a Commons Select Committee that his company cannot pay the minimum wage and that is why it is resistant to its riders enforcing their rights at tribunal.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=34b42a4401&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 EU <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/ee3d5f11-51dd-41a3-98bc-5514d517aa2a.jpg> 

	Unite General Secretary calls for two-thirds majority support before EU rights can be scrapped
General Secretary of Unite Len McCluskey has called for a two-thirds threshold to be implemented in parliament before EU rights can be scrapped.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=4a718da5ae&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 EU <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/ee3d5f11-51dd-41a3-98bc-5514d517aa2a.jpg> 

	Judges could overturn workers' rights after Brexit, TUC warns
TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady has warned that that nothing in the Great Repeal Bill will stop judges from overturning workers' rights won in EU courts after the UK leaves the EU.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=f737ee69f3&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Low pay <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/c9de063b-cd73-4fc5-8d13-fb67b7e3e040.png> 

	Pay care workers more to prevent social care crisis, Committee urges govt
The government has been urged to improve pay and conditions for care workers to prevent a crisis in social care, as new statistics show that around half of care workers drop out of work in the first year.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=698ac6a0a0&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Workers' rights <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/b1c726de-bf3c-454c-9dd0-50d42672c9ff.png> 

	Agency work used to undermine workers' rights, UNITE AGS tells MPs
Assistant General Secretary for UNITE Steve Turner has told the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Commons Select Committee that employers are employing agency workers to avoid workers' rights.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=d463704be7&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 EU <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/984acf93-26b4-4166-99ab-e6c3ae893e6d.jpg> 

	Great Repeal Bill 'could affect workers' rights'
The government today published The Great Repeal Bill, giving itself sweeping powers to amend EU law without a parliamentary vote, and experts warn this could affect employment protections.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a02604cdc3&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Access to Justice <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/3217d00c-d174-45e5-a9cf-a588a59f2af4.jpg> 

	Supreme Court to make decision on legality of tribunal fees within six months
The Supreme Court yesterday concluded a two-day hearing of Unison’s judicial review against the government’s introduction of employment tribunal fees in 2013.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=55ce9e7269&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Workers' rights <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/b1c726de-bf3c-454c-9dd0-50d42672c9ff.png> 

	200 riders take Deliveroo to task
Following a string of successful cases in which gig economy workers have been found to be misclassified as "self employed" and therefore entitled to workers' rights, 200 Deliveroo riders are set to take the delivery company to task about their employment status.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=791004c967&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Equality <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/41d5d27b-969b-4b55-bcb8-9a0e910471e3.png> 

	MPs call for fathers' rights around parental leave
A letter signed by a cross-party group of 44 MPs has called on the government to provide better workers' rights to fathers, according to the Independent.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=0a7b67763c&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Workers' rights <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/b1c726de-bf3c-454c-9dd0-50d42672c9ff.png> 

	Courier misclassified as "self employed", tribunal finds
In a further indictment of the gig economy, another tribunal has ruled that a person classified as "self employed" is in fact a "worker".
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=f8c767045f&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story


 Adrian Weir <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/1830cdfc-0fd5-443a-894c-4ce195696682.jpg> 

	COMMENT: Another corporate attack is looming
In this article, originally published in the Morning Star, Adrian Weir details the risks to the UK’s workforce of international free trade agreements, in particular those which include ISDS clauses, following Brexit.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=a6b10ebbf0&e=71131c031b> > click here to read full story

 




	

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Click here to read more about Labour Law Highlights 2016 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=fec8d9cc55&e=71131c031b> . Paid subscribers can read it for free online by logging into our website. For access to our extensive electronic library of all of our publications, as well as new publications sent straight to your door and discounts on our employment law conferences, subscribe to the IER <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=5073ea2dd1&e=71131c031b> .





	

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Edited by Rebecca Tuck
This year’s Labour Law Highlights is produced against the backdrop of a Brexit vote in the UK and a Trump victory in the USA. It promises to be a bumpy ride ahead!
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	Health and Safety at Work Act: Time for Change: £10
By Phil James and David Walters
The world of work is changing. Fast. But the framework of law tasked with protecting the health, safety and well being of workers is now 50 years old and – according to the authors of this report – no longer fit for purpose. The authors put forth proposals for reform
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	Access to Justice: Exposing the myths: £6
By Andrew Moretta
In the second of IER’s series of Mythbusters, Andrew Moretta considers the many myths surrounding access to justice, including the narrative surrounding the “red tape” and “burdens on business” ideology, which he believes paved the way for systematic attacks on the tribunal system.
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	Protect the right to strike: kill the bill: £5
By John Hendy QC & Professor Keith Ewing
Two leading experts on trade union rights – Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC – publish a short but comprehensive overview of the Trade Union Bill and its implications.
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	The Conservative Government’s proposed strike ballot thresholds: The challenge to trade unions: from £6
By Professor Ralph Darlington and Dr John Dobson
According to the authors of this timely report, the government is attempting to rush into law ‘the most sweeping and radical tightening of rules on industrial action since the Thatcher era of the 1980’s’. They warn that such proposals could result in ‘the biggest showdown over industrial relations for a generation’ and go on to drill down into one aspect of the government’s proposals – strike ballots.
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	The mythology of business: from £6
By David Whyte
The ‘myths’ that this publication takes into consideration are the kind of things that politicians now routinely say without thinking. Yet these 10 myths have very little foundation in reality and are rarely, if ever, accompanied with any concrete evidence to support them.
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  Events

	

 Migration after Brexit: the challenge for labour standards 2017: Liverpool <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/924ef670-1e57-49e9-ba1f-be9da94b0fdd.jpg> 

	Migration after Brexit: the challenge for labour standards 2017: Liverpool
27 April 2017 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, Liverpool
This conference will cover migration policy after Brexit, both from the EU and from elsewhere in the world, and the implications of future labour migration patterns for labour standards. The speakers will bring extensive expertise to the subject, as academics, campaigners and trade unionists.
Speakers include Bernard Ryan, Gracie Bradley, Narmada Thiranagama, Alan Bogg, Owen Espley and Sonia McKay
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=7a3303e4b1&e=71131c031b> > click here to read more and book your place


 Hope not Hate <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3/images/82134e63-b098-406d-ab8e-d6bfa0b6dfed.jpg> 

	A future for Post Industrial communities?
23-24 March 2017: Leeds
While de-industrialisation began before the Thatcher governments of the 1980s, it has continued to accelerate, and today the process is felt hardest in previously industrialised towns. There is strong evidence to suggest that these old industrial towns and cities that lost out most from the far-reaching economic change over the last 40 years as being one of the key driving forces behind the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
Hope not Hate has co-organised this conference with the hope of creating strategies for intervention that support communities to overcome 'narratives of division' and turn to 'narratives of hope'.
 <http://ier.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f121e48a8bb6d3101590c12d3&id=008cc911d6&e=71131c031b> > click here to read more and book your place

		
	

 


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