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Today's story in the @FT suggests government is considering 'ripping up' EU working time and holiday pay rules.
Three reasons why this is a bad idea.
(1) it's deeply unpopular with the public, including among both Remainers and Leavers - see our 2018 study:
Three reasons why this is a bad idea.
(1) it's deeply unpopular with the public, including among both Remainers and Leavers - see our 2018 study:
(2) It risks damaging UK-EU relations and the imposition of tariffs. While the UK-EU deal does not prevent UK from lowering labour standards in all cases, it does where there's evidence of an impact on trade and investment.
This flagrant act of deregulation could meet that test.
This flagrant act of deregulation could meet that test.
Moreover, the UK-EU deal allows for 'temporary remedies' (e.g. tariffs) where there is a breach of the non-regression commitments.
As I previously argued for @epc_eu, the working time regulations are perhaps the areas of EU-derived labour law with the most obvious links to competitiveness and trade/investment between UK and EU https://www.epc.eu/en/publications/Ensuring-a-post-Brexit-level-playing-field~26c1e0
And as @StevePeers has noted, the UK is likely to play up the economic benefits of such a move (already a mention of "£1bn savings" in the FT).
This would help the EU make its case that it affects trade/investment.
This would help the EU make its case that it affects trade/investment.
Third and finally, such a move would be bad for equality. As we argued in @IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, the organisation of working time has a disproportionate effect on women in the workplace https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/prosperity-and-justice
