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19 August 2016 / John McMullen
Issue: 7713 / Categories: Features , Brexit , EU , TUPE , Employment
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The referendum effect

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John McMullen discusses TUPE & Brexit

  • Thoughts on the possible impact of Brexit on the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, which are underpinned by the EU Acquired Rights Directive 2001/23.

Much lawyers' ink will be spilt over the next two years speculating on the effect on UK employment laws of the decision in the 2016 referendum that the UK should leave the EU. Necessarily, speculating on the precise effect of this decision on those aspects of UK employment law which are based on an EU Treaty provision or EU directive is, at this juncture, premature. For a start, negotiations to leave the EU under the authority of Art 50 of the Treaty on European Union have, at the time of writing, not even been triggered.

The UK government has indicated this will not be before January 2017. When Art 50 is triggered it will take up to two years of negotiations before a settlement is achieved. Until then, as the EU Commission (along with the UK government),

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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