Happy New Year to all our readers. As we enter a new year it is time to reflect both on 2022 and then on what we can expect in 2023.
There were a number of important decisions in 2022 with cases discussing religion and belief such as the Forster case on gender critical beliefs and the Stonewall cases. This is definitely a developing area of the law. There were cases on remedy and the ACAS uplift including our own Biggs case which made the national press. Working time and holiday continued to feature with the ongoing Pimlico Plumbers case and of course the COVID related cases continued to be determined. Consultations took place and the parental bereavement legislation was introduced but there was little legislative change.
In terms of what we can expect in 2023, there is some cases of course on appeal but nothing noteworthy at this stage. We expect one big change in that the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill will be passed which will repeal or assimilate all retained EU laws, abolish general principles of EU Law in the UK and repeal directly effective EU law rights and obligations. Much of UK Employment law is either “home grown” such as the Employment Rights Act or from Europe such as Human Rights laws, Equality laws, Working Time and TUPE. Rather than look at each piece of legislation one by one the Government has adopted a more radical wipe out and remake approach and it remains to be seen what impact this will have for employers in the UK. One to watch this space for.
A smaller piece of legislation is also expected in the form of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) bill which will introduce up to 12 weeks’ neonatal care leave and pay for parents whose babies need at least 7 days hospital care within the first 28 days. The Government is also looking at minimum levels of service during strikes in respect of transport which no doubt will be welcomed by employers even outside the industry after a disruptive start to the new year.
Written by
Astons Solicitors
10th January 2023