In an apparent U-turn, the Business Secretary has confirmed during a television interview that a proposed post-Brexit review of EU-derived workers' rights, due to be carried out by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has been cancelled. The review was expected to consider proposals to amend the Working Time Regulations 1998, including the possible termination of the 48-hour maximum working week, changes to rules on rest breaks and excluding overtime pay from the calculation of some holiday pay entitlements. The Business Secretary has also stated on Twitter that the government wants to "protect and enhance workers' rights going forward, not row back on them”.
It therefore now seems to be the case that no changes to EU-derived employment law will be pushed through by the government in the short term. In the longer term, that position may well change.
