EU case law protecting workers’ rights ‘could be challenged following Brexit’

19 October 2016

Research by the House of Commons Library has warned that workers’ rights won through EU courts could be challenged in British courts and overturned if the government does not act to incorporate existing case law into legislation.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has awarded more favourable conditions to British workers around holiday pay. These include the banning of ‘rolled up’ holiday pay (where it is included in wages rather than provided during annual leave), the decision that workers should continue to accrue annual leave while they are off sick, and bringing to an end the exclusion of allowances and bonuses from holiday pay.

The House of Commons Library briefing said: “Post-Brexit, UK courts would no longer be required to follow existing and future ECJ decisions, and may merely regard them as having persuasive force. A potential consequence of that approach may be the re-litigation of controversial judgments, such as those relating to the calculation of holiday pay.”