To what extent will Brexit have an impact on employment law regarding Equal Pay in the UK? Shakar Abdullah Ba Hons Business and Management with Law Cardiff Metropolitan University MAY 2017 Signed Statement Declaration: I declare that this Dissertation has not already been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. It is the result of my own independent research except where otherwise stated. Name: SHAKAR ABDULLAH SIGNATURE: ii ABSTRACT The aim of this research paper was to analyse the impact that the UK existing the European Union would have on employment rights regarding equal pay. The UK joined the European Union in 1973. By joining, the UK became one of the member states bound by the European Union Treaties that set out the obligations and privileges of being a member, It’s main aim is to keep the peace between the member states. Regardless of all the benefits and privileges of this membership, the people of the UK chose to leave the European Union(EU). The referendum took place on 23rd June 2016 with 51.9% voters voting in favour of leaving. The supremacy of Parliament played a massive role in answering this research question. It was vital to analyse the UK’s constitution to understand the relationship between the UK and European Union and to come to the conclusion that EU law had the power to override domestic law because Parliament gave the European Union that power. The rights regarding equal pay in the UK pre-dates those of the EU and although the Equality Act 2010 is a British statute passed by Parliament, it has been heavily influenced and embedded by EU law. As it has already been passed by Parliament, it is unlikely that changes will be made to the rights in the Equality Act 2010 regarding equal pay. This led to the analysis of Treaties as these are primary sources of EU law and directly applicable in the UK without parliament having to pass it. The rights from treaties such as article 157 TFEU providing extra protection to women regarding equal pay will not be applicable in the UK once they have completely existed from the EU. In conclusion, it is unlikely that changes will be made to the Equality Act 2010 however the European Communities Act 1972 will be repealed. The rights coming from treaties will not apply in the UK after its exit from the European Union but that does not mean that the citizens of the UK will be put at a disadvantage The UK government has already promised that the Great Repeal Bill will not only maintain the protection of workers rights but to enhance them. Word Count: 12,287 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all the people that have helped and supported me throughout my final year at University. Firstly, I would like to thank my parents for their continuous love, support and criticism and for also proof reading my work. I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation tutor Styliana Diamantidi for her knowledge and expertise that helped me successfully complete this research paper and broaden my knowledge on this topic as a whole. I would also like to express my appreciation to my head of year tutor, Myo Win-Pe for for always making time to support and guide me throughout the last two years. iv Table of Contents Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………….…ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….…..iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….…...iv Table of contents…………………………………………………………………………..v-vi 1. Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………..……….1 1.1 Aims and Objectives..………………………………………………………………….….4 2. Chapter 2: Methodology.…………………………………………………………………….5 3. Chapter 3: Evolution of Individual Rights ……………………………………….…..7 3.1 Hugo Grotius 1626……………………………………………………………………….…8 3.2 Thomas Hobbes 1651………………………………………………………………….….9 3.3 John Locke 1989………………………………………………………………………….….9 3.4 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1762….……………………………………………….…….11 4. Chapter 4: Nature of the UK Constitution………………………………………….12 4.1 Magna Carta……………………………………………………………………………….…13 4.2 Unwritten Constitution..…………………………………………………………….….13 4.3 The Rule of Law……………………………………………………………………….…….14 4.4 Separation of Power …………………..………………………………………….……..15 4.5 Judicial Review……………………………..……………………………………………….16 4.6 ECHR……………………………………………..……………………………………….………17 5. Chapter 5: Parliament Supremacy and the European Union ………….….19 5.1 Supremacy ………………………………………………………………………..…….…….20 5.2 Direct Applicability …………………………………………………………….…….…….20 5.3 European Union Bill…………………………………………………………….…….……22 5.4 Court of Justice of the European Union …………………………………….……23 5.5 UK Referendum ………………………………………………………………………….….24 5.6 Treaty Articles and their applicability in the UK………………………………24 6. Chapter 6: Equality Act 2010……………………………………………………………….28 6.1 Background and formation of Equality Act 2010…………………………….29 6.2 Protection provided by the Equality act 2010…………………………………31 7. Chapter 7: Post-Brexit…………………………………………………………………………35 v 8. Chapter 8: Conclusion/Recommendations……………………………………….39 9. Chapter 9: Appendices………………………………………………………………………43 10. Chapter 10: Reference List………………………………………………………………..47 v 1. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 The title of this dissertation is ‘‘To what extent will Brexit have an impact on employment laws regarding Equal Pay in the UK?’’. This topic is very recent and will be on-going for the next two years during the negotiation stage. The focus of this research is sex discrimination regarding Equal Pay between men and women. This topic is very important because any decisions made while negotiating with the European Union on how the UK exits or any decisions made post-Brexit by the UK parliament will ultimately affect every single person in the UK. With most of the laws regarding employment deriving from the European Union, it is likely that changes will be made to the rights that workers enjoy right now. There is great uncertainty as to what will happen to employment rights in the future especially as there is no previous research done on this topic. This research paper will benefit employees that are unsure of what will happen to the rights that they enjoy right now, especially women in the workplace as most of their rights come from the EU. The main aim of this research is to specifically look at what may happen to Equal Pay rights after exiting from the EU by identifying the options that Parliament have and the likelihood of them going with each option. Before doing this, it is important to understand what rights are and where they come from. This is demonstrated in the chapter ‘‘Evolution of Rights’’ by looking at different theorists such as Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbs, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and their ideas of what a social contract is. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the concept of a contract between a government and its citizens to see if a government is able to take away rights after years of enjoying those rights. This leads to the next chapter that explores the complexity and the ‘‘Nature of the UK Constitution’’. The UK does not have a written constitution, instead it is made up of centuries of case law, statutes, acts of Parliament and European Law. The UK’s unwritten constitution can be criticised for not having clear and unchangeable set of rules that govern the relationship between the state and its people. On the other hand, an unwritten constitution is more flexible as parliament can pass any law. This chapter also explores parliament sovereignty, the rule of law and the separation of 2 powers that make up the constitution and emphasises on the supremacy of Parliament. This supremacy is crucial in determining what will happen to certain employment rights as it ultimately comes down to if Parliament have the power to pass, override or remove any laws then they can do absolutely anything with the laws that have come from the European Union, however this links back to the the social contract chapter and whether Parliament is able to take away rights that people have enjoyed for so many years. The ‘‘Parliament Supremacy and the European Union’’ chapter looks at how the UK joined the European Union and what effects this membership had on Parliament supremacy. Although the UK is a dualist state meaning that EU law has to be converted into domestic law to be binding, this is only the case for directives. This chapter will look at the argument that European Law is more supreme than UK law, the European Communities Act 1972 undermines the supremacy of Parliament by being directly applicable and having direct effect in the UK. The counter-argument is that parliament chose to give this power to the European Union because it is supreme. The next chapter focuses on the Equality Act(EA) 2010 which is a British Statute passed by Parliament. This chapter will analyse whether Parliament will make changes/remove or keep the Equality Act (EA) 2010 that combines over 116 separate pieces of legislation. It will start off broadly by looking at how the EA 2010 came into existence and what protections people had before this act in order to explain how European Law is embedded into this Act. It will then identify the laws in the UK regarding Equal Pay and compare them to European laws regarding Equal Pay. This is important as it will show the timeline of what laws came first and how they changed over time, it will also determine whether parliament is likely to repeal any acts by taking into account whether it was incorporated by Parliament into domestic law or if it was directly applicable. 3 As most of the European Laws that have been embedded into the Equality Act 2010 come in the form of directives, the next chapter will consider the extra protection provided by the European Union regarding Equal Pay in the form of treaties. Treaties are directly applicable and have direct affect in the UK meaning UK Parliament has not had the chance to incorporate it into domestic law.