Brexit – The view from Manak

It is quite clear that we are in for a period of economic turbulence and 4^th August 2016 saw the Bank of England cut its key lending rate to a record low of 0.25%. The Bank warned that there will be “little growth in GDP in the second half of the year”. In response, the Chancellor said “Alongside the actions that the Bank is taking, I am prepared to take any necessary steps to support the economy and promote confidence.”

On the employment law front our Head of Employment Tony Bertin addressed major businesses in Kent in May 2016 at the Manak Breakfast Forums and said he expected few changes whatever the result.

The majority of our employment law is actually home grown and the right not to be unfairly dismissed dates back to 1971 before the UK even joined the then Common Market. It is in fact our law on discrimination that has been widely adopted by the EU.

In fact, since the referendum result Secretary of State for leaving the EU, David Davis has insisted there will be no major changes in employment rights. In a blog on the “Conservative Home” website he is quoted as saying “To be clear, I am not talking here about employment regulation. All the empirical studies show that it is not employment regulation that stultifies economic growth, but all the other market-related regulations, many of them wholly unnecessary.

“Britain has a relatively flexible workforce, and so long as the employment law environment stays reasonably stable it should not be a problem for business.”

In due course we at Manaks anticipate changes in the Immigration framework, but until negotiations begin with our European partners it is difficult to say what these might be.  However, we do not expect any serious issues for EU citizens already living and working here.

Our Head of Immigration Kemesha Lynch will be writing on this topic when we know more.