Slavery in the UK
For the first time, a UK company has been found guilty under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of unlawful treatment of workers. This supplier of eggs to the big supermarkets were failing to pay their trafficked workers as well as a range of other breaches. Large sums are to be paid out, and big companies should note their obligation to check supply chains for slavery and trafficking in the UK. Read more on Slavery in the UK
What does Brexit mean for UK employment law?
Moore Blatch reports that “newly appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the EU David Davis has given a strong indication that existing employment law is unlikely to undergo radical change.” However, there is some uncertainty and EU workers are likely to be particularly affected once Article 50 is triggered.
Moore Blatch is urging local businesses which employ significant numbers of EU nationals, to plan for a worst case scenario, where EU nationals are no longer automatically able to work in the UK and are subject to the same points-based system currently applied to non-EU nationals. Should this occur, locally the food and drinks and agriculture sectors could be hit hard as they, in particular, employ many EU workers and rely heavily on that workforce.
Read more on Brexit here and the advice for businesses here.