Pro-remain MPs Seek To Continue EU Employment Law In Britain

Pro-remain MPs have set up a new cross-party group named ‘Vote Leave Watch’ in a bid to convince Theresa May to commit to an agreement that will allow employment right protection for all UK workers to continue in accordance with current EU law, despite the possible alterations Brexit can allow for.

Chair of the Vote Leave Watch group, Labour MP Chuka Umunna, believes the existing rights of the workers will ‘fall away’ if not properly supported prior to Britain formally leaving the European Union. He has written to the PM encouraging her to maintain the status quo so that British workers still receive the rights they are accustomed to: “You owe it to the working people of Britain to make clear that the pledges made by your cabinet colleagues to retain EU legislation on workers’ rights will be delivered”.

The rights that Vote Leave Watch want to prioritise include those with current legislation relating to employee break times and annual leave. The party believes that worker rights can be preserved through the passing of new legislation intended to replace current EU laws yet retain much of their existing processes, such as the working time directive.

The party also seeks to convince the government to conduct an audit detailing each instance when a decision made by the European court of justice led to an enhancement of legal employment rights for UK workers. The intention of this is to make these points part of UK legislation.

Vote leave Watch is not the only organisation that values the employment benefits that the EU has given to its workers. General secretary of the USDAW union, John Hannett, has voiced his opinion of how British workers have been assisted under EU law against acts of “discrimination, unscrupulous bosses, and the worst excesses of Tory governments”.

Making a direct appeal to Theresa May, he states: “The prime minister came to office talking a good game about standing up for working people. She should guarantee that every single right for workers delivered by the European Union will stay in place.”