UK govt rejects media report it plans to end 48-hour workweek and lower labour standards post-Brexit

The UK government has denied a report saying that it is planning to curtail workers’ rights in order to appease Tory MPs and save administrative costs after Brexit.

“We are not going to lower the standards of workers’ rights,” Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted.

“The UK has one of the best workers’ rights records in the world – going further than the EU in many areas. We want to protect and enhance workers’ rights going forward, not row back on them.”

Kwarteng was responding to a report by the Financial Times that cited sources saying that the UK government was planning an overhaul of the labour rights enshrined in EU law.

According to the paper, officials seek to end the 48-hour workweek, change the rules around rest breaks at work, and not to include overtime pay when calculating “some holiday pay entitlements.” FT said the government also wants to remove the requirement of businesses to log information about daily working hours, saving about £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in administrative costs.

The paper reported that deregulatory measures would “delight many Tory MPs” and anger trade unions. 

Commenting on the story by FT, Labour Party Shadow Secretary for Business Ed Miliband tweeted that “this leak exposes the truth about the Government’s priorities, which are way out of step with the needs of workers and their families.”

“In the midst of the worst economic crisis in three centuries, ministers are preparing to take a sledgehammer to workers’ rights,” Miliband wrote.

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