Employment Rights (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2018 - Motion to Approve

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 7:00 pm on 6 February 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Crawley Baroness Crawley Labour 7:00, 6 February 2019

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for setting out these draft regulations. Like other noble Lords, I am concerned about any potential loss of updating rights.

Does the Minister agree that, both on the European works councils and on TUPE, these regulations remove powers currently enshrined in primary legislation, under which Ministers can enact legislation to keep UK law in line with EU law? Will removing those powers mean that it will be harder to keep workers’ rights up to the same standard as EU workers’ rights, as EU law develops?

May I underline the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, and my noble friend Lord Monks on the “TUPE-like” reference? TUPE has been a boon, particularly for women workers moving between jobs, especially when we see how women’s pensions are often a lot less than men’s pensions.