International Employment Relations in UK: Brexit Impact Analysis Essay

This essay examines the international employment relations system within the United Kingdom, focusing on its key features and the significant impact of Brexit. It delves into crucial aspects such as wage and work time characteristics, highlighting their importance in a competitive labor market. The paper further explores employee representation, discrimination management, data protection, and contract termination as integral components of the UK's employment relations. A substantial portion of the essay is dedicated to assessing the potential consequences of Brexit on the UK's labor and employment industry, considering the implications for both employers and employees. The analysis covers changes in employment law, including work time directives, TUPE regulations, and agency worker directives, providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities presented by the UK's departure from the European Union.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
International Employment Relations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Main Features of the Employment Relations System:...............................................................3
Impact of the Brexit on the Labour and Employment industry of UK:.....................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
The global labour and employment market is observed to face an intense level of
competition in recent years. The inclusion of the various political policies and the changes in
the governmental legislations regarding the labour and employment have contributed with a
lot of changes in the way of business management for a majority of the business
organizations (Pugh, Cooper & Turner, 2016). The companies of the modern business world
are observed to be more inclined towards the effective management of the employment
relations and the increasing level of the business competition is seen to be one of the key
influencer for the companies in this aspect (Van Wanrooy et al., 2013). Having said that, the
political and the structural shifting are observed to be one of the major concerns for the
companies in managing their employment relations. The paper is focused in analysing one
such case with a precise focus on the United Kingdom labour market. The paper discusses
regarding the key features of the employment relations in the mentioned nation. Along with
that, the paper also discusses regarding the possible impact of the Brexit on the labour and
employment market of the nation. In analysing the impact of the Brexit, the paper highlights
the possible consequences that the companies, operating in the nation, are expected to face.
Main Features of the Employment Relations System:
With a precise focus on the Labour and employment market of UK, it is pretty
prominent that the wage and work time characteristics are the main basis of the employment
relations inside the nation. The senior managers of majority of the organizations operating in
the nation, are putting strong emphasis on the effective management of the wage and work
time characteristics inside their organizations (Bamber et al., 2016). With a precise focus on
the intense level of competition in the labour and employment market of the nation, it is
evident that the companies are facing the necessity of retaining the qualified and skilled

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employees. At the same time, the enhanced competitive rivalry amongst the organizations
operating in the nation, is also influencing the senior managers of the organizations for
improving the efficiency and the service excellence of the company and under such situation,
the importance of retaining the experienced and skilled individuals inside the organizations
are observe to be one of the prime objective for the companies. Hence, the effective
management of the work time and wage characteristics inside the organizations become one
of the major requirement for the companies across the UK labour market. With a precise
focus on the fact, the companies have the liability to improve their work time and wage
characteristics in accordance to the industry standards. The ability of the companies operating
in the nation, in effectively restructuring the wage and work time characteristics is significant
for the companies in increasing their excellence in being an efficient employer. The
incapability of the companies in formulating an efficient work time and wage characteristics
not only limits the companies in attracting the competent employees but also it increases the
dissatisfaction of the employees.
The work stress and job dissatisfaction are observed to be significant factors
influencing the employee turnover rate in majority of the companies operating in the nation
and under such situation, the lack of training and development for the employees operating in
the labour and employment industry of the nation, is considered to be one of the prime
concern for the companies. Brown (2011) claimed that majority of the employees who are
new into the system and require certain amount of knowledge for effectively conducting their
operational activities, are observed to be more inclined towards getting affected with the job
stress. According to Nash (2006), the scope provided by majority of the companies,
conducting their business operations in UK, for the improvement of the skills and
competencies of the employees is largely limited and that increases the number of faults
conducted by the employees of the companies. The increasing number of faults, in spite of

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being the reflection of low learning of the employees, decreases the efficiency and the service
reputation of the companies. Hence the frustration of the new employees, increases and that
can only be managed with the improvement in the effectiveness of the training and
development procedures of the companies. The managers of the companies have the
necessity to improve their ability in identifying the developmental needs of the employees
with precise evaluation of the performances of the employees. In addition to this, their
capability in developing the training and developmental activities on the basis of the
identified developmental needs of the employees become crucial in increasing their
effectiveness in managing employment relations in an improved manner.
Other than this, the employee representation or the branding of the employers is
observed to be a new feature of the UK labour and employment industry. There are several
organizations operating in the nation with a keen management for the developing the
employees and the skills of representation of the employees. The main objective of the
managers of these organizations are observed to be grooming of their employees and at the
same time, the employer branding provides significant opportunity to the companies in
presenting itself as an efficient employer (Wallace et al., 2014). The improvement of the
brand is crucial for the employers in increasing their capability for targeting a larger numbers
of the efficient candidates and for improving their image as an efficient employer in the
labour and employment industry of the nation.
Apart from this, one of the main features of the employment relations system of the
mentioned nation is seen to be effective management of the discrimination amongst the
employees of the organizations. Waddington (2016) claimed that several companies are
observed to put strong emphasis on the effective formulation of the code of conduct and in
the effective management of their organizational regulations. The UK labour and
employment industry is observed to be pretty open towards the management of the diversity

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inside the organizations and that is pretty prominent with the formation of the inclusion and
diversity policies by the majority of the companies operating in the nation. The senior
managers of the companies are observed to prefer an equal distribution of the employees on
the basis of their skills, qualities and age. Along with that, the establishment of strong
organizational guidelines and the compliance to the governmental legislations regarding the
cases of the discrimination, are playing a significant role in promoting the diversity and
inclusion inside the organizations (Wilkinson et al., 2004). With a precise focus on the
diversity management activities inside the organizations, the companies are observed to focus
on providing added benefits which have the potential to increase the value of the companies
as employers. The inclusion of the maternity and the family leave rights are seen to be
significant in increasing the efficiency of the companies in managing the employment
relations.
Apart from this, one of the significant features of the employment relations system of
the nation is seen to be the data protection and employee privacy. The companies operating in
the UK labour and employment industry are observed to be significantly concerned towards
the effective management of the privacy of the employees. The mandatory compliance with
the General Data Protection Regulation which is supplemented by the Data Protection Act of
2018 is playing a crucial role in influencing the companies for effective maintenance of
employee data (Martin & Broadbent, 2019). Along with that, the application of the regulation
in strengthening the capability of the Information Commissioner in imposing monetary
penalization up to 17 million pounds is able to incorporate significant amount of seriousness
amongst the employers of the nation in processing the data of the employees without any sort
of prior confirmation from the part of the employees of the organizations (Martin &
Broadbent, 2019).

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Other than this, the termination of the contract is also an important feature of the
employment relations of the UK labour industry. The government of the nation is able to
ensure that all the companies operating in the nation manage their human resources in an
appropriate manner and that influenced the companies in serving a notice of termination to
their employees until and unless those employees are dismissed for the gross misconduct
(Martin & Broadbent, 2019). The companies need to make sure that they comply with the
employee’s contract of employment for formulating the length of notice period.
Impact of the Brexit on the Labour and Employment industry of UK:
With a precise focus on the possibility of Brexit taking place, the labour and
employment industry of the nation is expected to face a significant shift. The effective
management of the Brexit will be significant in decreasing the number of outsider
organizations operating in the nation. The strict imposition of the legislations for the
organizations of other nations is seen to be a major concern for those companies in
conducting sustainable business in UK and that has the potential to increase the number of
efficient employers in the nation. However, the decrement in the number of organizations
operating in the nation, will certainly reduce the number of job opportunities in the country.
Hence, the effect of Brexit is expected to introduce certain amount of difficulties for the
labours and workers of the nation. Other than this, the introduction of the Brexit has the
possibility of affecting certain sections of the employment law of the nation. Considering the
work time aspect, the new work time directive positions the employees for a weekly
operations of 48 hours (Teague & Donaghey, 2018). Along with this, the formation of the
provision for the determination of the paid holiday and minimum rest periods are considered
to be significant changes that will be introduced in the new referendum policies.

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With a precise focus on the Tupe regulations which is designed for the protection of
employment, the rights of the employees on the outsourcing services or in case of the transfer
of a business, are observed to be protected. The implementation of the Brexit has the
possibility of simplifying the process for he employers and in addition to this, it is expected
to reduce the restrictions associated with the changing terms and conditions. Other than this,
the business researchers are observed to anticipate a possible relaxation of consultation and
information requirements prior to a Tupe transfer (Landau, 2019). Apart from this, the
business analysts of the nation are observed to comment regarding a possible introduction of
the compensation cap on the successful discrimination claims. This will be significant in
exposing the unethical business practices conducted by the organizations across the various
business industries of United Kingdom. The employees operating in the nation, will not
require a tenure of two years to be considered as eligible for making the claims of the
discrimination and under such situation, there is high possibility that the organizations
operating in UK will be exposed to higher degree of reputational damage and financial risk
(Martin & Broadbent, 2019). The agency workers directive is able to make sure that the
agency workers enjoy certain amount of basic employment rights similar to that of the
permanent workers and the record keeping requirements under such situation is pretty
prominent for the companies. Having said that, the apathy of the employers towards the
effective management of this, is pretty evident and that certainly increases the possibility of it
getting rolled back with the implementation of the Brexit.
With a precise focus on the Capital Requirements Directive or CRD 4, the inclusion
of the cap on the incentives of certain bankers is pretty prominent (Landau, 2019). The
mentioned directive plays a significant role in imposing the limitations such as the amount of
incentives cannot exceed the annuals salary, which has the possibility of rising up to two
times of the salary decorated with the approval of the shareholders. The government of the

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nation is observed to have significant amount of concerns regarding such an application of
the directive as it limits the freedom of the banks in determining the payments and that
certainly has the potential to place the banks at a disadvantageous position in case of hiring
the top level executives in comparison to the US or the Asian countries (Woolfson, 2017).
However, the directive certainly raised some eyebrows as this effectively led the banks
towards the offering of a high fixed salary which cannot be rolled back even in case, the
employees perform poorly. With the implementation of the Brexit, the above mentioned
aspect is expected to be managed in an efficient manner by the decision makers of the
country. Apart from this, the implementation of the Brexit is expected to reduce the funds for
the human rights protection services of the British women and that is pretty prominent with
the analysis of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of the nation. The funding for the
services against the domestic violence suffered by the British women is expected to be axed
(Independent.co.uk 2019). Hence the detrimental impact of the Brexit on the development
and employment of women in the nation is raising considerable amount of concerns in the
labour and employment industry of the nation.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note. It is visible that the system of the employment relations in the
nation is largely distributed over various aspects such as the wage, work time characteristics,
training and development of the employees, discrimination amongst the employees, added
benefits for the employees, data protection and privacy management along with the employee
representation and employer branding. However, with the implementation of Brexit, the
labour and employment industry of the nation is expected to face considerable amount of
changes which covers reduced labours and employment, imposition of strict legislations
regarding the management of the human resources along with the reduction in the funds for
the employment and development of women in the society. The success of the industry in

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managing these concerns will certainly place it in better position in improving the
sustainability of the labour market of the nation.

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References:
Bamber, G. J., Lansbury, R. D., Wailes, N., & Wright, C. F. (2016). International and
comparative employment relations: National regulation, global changes. Sage
Publications Ltd.
Brown, W. (2011). International review: industrial relations in Britain under new Labour,
1997-2010: a post mortem. Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(3), 402-413.
Independent.co.uk (2019). British women to lose 'fundamental rights' because of Brexit.
Retrieved 27 August 2019, from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-
news/women-brexit-britain-rights-services-ehcr-report-un-geneva-a8460321.html
Landau, P. (2019). What would leaving the EU mean for your employment rights?. Retrieved
27 August 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2016/may/24/what-
would-leaving-eu-mean--employment-rights
Martin, S., & Broadbent, J. (2019). Employment & Labour Law 2019 | United Kingdom |
ICLG. Retrieved 27 August 2019, from https://iclg.com/practice-areas/employment-
and-labour-laws-and-regulations/united-kingdom
Nash, D. (2006). Recent industrial relations developments in the United Kingdom: continuity
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Pugh, M., Cooper, N., & Turner, M. (Eds.). (2016). Whose peace? Critical perspectives on
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Teague, P., & Donaghey, J. (2018). Brexit: EU social policy and the UK employment model.
Industrial Relations Journal, 49(5-6), 512-533.

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Van Wanrooy, B., Bewley, H., Bryson, A., Forth, J., Freeth, S., Stokes, L., & Wood, S.
(2013). Employment relations in the shadow of recession: Findings from the 2011
Workplace Employment Relations Study. Macmillan International Higher Education.
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London: SAGE, 20-48.
Wallace, M., Lings, I., Cameron, R., & Sheldon, N. (2014). Attracting and retaining staff: the
role of branding and industry image. In Workforce development (pp. 19-36). Springer,
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Wilkinson, A., Dundon, T., Marchington, M., & Ackers, P. (2004). Changing patterns of
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