A private members' Bill backed by UNISON, that raises the issue of workers' rights post-Brexit, is currently progressing through the House of Commons.
The Bill seeks to address the collective rights and protections of UK workers that are currently enshrined in EU legislation. It calls on the UK government to underpin those rights by ensuring they are fully enshrined in UK law.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis commented: ''We must hold this government to account, to ensure that our hard working public service workers are not cheated out of any rights as we negotiate leaving the EU.''
New research has suggested that UK workers may face cuts to holiday days and reduced holiday pay after the UK leaves the EU. There have been a number of cases in which the European Court of Justice have overruled UK courts in favour of giving workers better pay and conditions.
The degree to which Brexit will affect employees rights is still unclear. Many significant laws including equal pay, sex and race anti-discrimination laws and maternity leave, predate the UK's EU membership. However rights surrounding free movement, paid annual leave, and equal rights of part-time, fixed-term and agency workers, were all achieved under EU membership.
Ministers may choose to make few if any changes to workers' rights, and Theresa May has continually stated her commitment to social justice and vowed to strengthen workers through greater representation on company boards. However there have been no explicit guarantees that all EU social protections will be maintained.
The Bill is due its second reading in the House of Commons on 18 November 2016.
