European Commission plans to extend EU labour laws have been rejected by a House of Lords report.
The report, Modernising European Union Labour Law: Has the UK Anything to Gain?, says the relatively light regulation of the UK labour market has boosted flexible employment arrangements, which have benefited the UK economy.
The report comes in response to the Commission’s green paper on EU labour law and follows negotiations at the recent EU summit, which could mean big changes to UK employment practices.
Alan Tyrrell, employment chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), says: “Their report demonstrates that there is no desire in the UK for the imposition of further EU-inspired labour law.
“Unfortunately, this comes hard on the heels of the UK government signing away its right to prevent this happening in the future at the recent EU summit. This could have grave consequences for small businesses in the UK.”
Tyrrell points out that leading EU legal academics, such as Jacques Ziller, a professor at the European University Institute in Florence, have argued that the UK’s opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights is not legally binding.
A recent survey, he adds, shows that 35% of FSB members have decided not to employ anyone, considering that employees are “too great a business risk”. In 2006 the FSB legal helpline received 77,000 calls on employment law.
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