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Article

19 Dec 2017

Author:
Frances O'Grady, The Guardian (UK)

Commentary: Workers could lose legal right to paid holiday under Brexit

Ministers including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are plotting to scrap the working time directive, according to numerous media reports. This is a crucial piece of EU law that protects working people – and which working people were promised would still apply after Brexit.

If Johnson and Gove succeed, 7 million workers could lose their guaranteed legal right to paid holidays. That includes nearly 5 million women and many workers on part-time and zero-hours contracts.

Stripped of the laws that restrain them, bad bosses could force their staff to work excessive hours, far above the current limit of 48 hours a week. Lunch and rest breaks would be under threat too, as would health and safety protections for night workers... 

[T]he Ceta deal between the EU and Canada [...] has [been] called... “the perfect starting point” for trade talks. But Ceta puts the rights of corporations and foreign investors ahead of those of working people...

Britain’s workers need a deal that not only safeguards the rights we already enjoy, but also in the long run, keeps UK workers’ rights apace with their equivalent in Europe...

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