Employment matters: the same but different?

The way the EU referendum was framed, and the manner in which the leave campaign was conducted, has left us with no clear idea of how the exit negotiations will be handled. It will probably take another general election to tell us that – if the EU is prepared to give us that much time. Without knowing which of the various options will be chosen – ranging from the Norway model to falling back on WTO rules – it is difficult to assess the likely impact on our employment law.

We do, however, know the starting point for the journey—our current body of employment law. The ambitions of the EU and the extent of its legislative competence are now set out in the Social Policy Chapter of the Treaty of Lisbon. That and its predecessors have, among many other things, given us TUPE, our laws on collective redundancy consultation and our rules on working time and