No one can fully understand what will happen with Brexit, either way, and we don’t pretend to.
Employment law being reshaped by Brexit
Yes, some parts of our employment law, such as holiday entitlement, comes from the EU and so this may be subject to change long term. However, in the short term, what we do know is that we are already starting to see the face of HR and employment law being re-shaped by Brexit. For example, the end of free movement will force employers to reconsider the right to work of employees and what documents to check, which will impact every employer.
Concerns about employment levels
The mere concept of Brexit alone is also having an impact. As employment levels are at a record high, the talent pool of available candidates is low and shrinking as a significant number of EU nationals are reporting their reluctance to continue working in the UK. This is posing serious questions about how organisations will source quality candidates. Retention is also an issue, as competition between employers increases, the salary and benefits an employee can demand is also going to increase.
Concerns about trade
Times of instability impact can impact on the value of the pound and coupled with concerns about trade, many organisations are worried about supply and cash flow in the short term. Sadly we know this can result in shortages of work, the ability to keep figures in the black and even to continue to pay staff.
Forward planning and HR support
With forward planning, HR practices can support a business with tiding the wave of uncertainty; and in an upcoming free Brexit webinar in January, we will begin to indicate how. As we often do in the month of January, we will also do a quick run through of key legal changes going on this year to help you plan your diary.
Some of what we will cover is:
- Using feedback from our recent Brexit survey, we will address some of the common concerns raised
- The changing right to work
- The EU settlement scheme
- Managing the workforce in a period of downturn
- Increase in statutory rates (NMW)
- Payslip reforms
- Executive pay gap reporting
- And much more HR guidance…
