Britain’s…referendum over its EU membership has turned into a battle of the myth-busters…[T]he EU is not responsible for as many employment rights as you might think. The UK implemented the Equal Pay Act in 1970, before it even joined the EU. It already had sex and race discrimination laws too…It is true that the EU has strengthened, expanded and updated these rights over the decades…Yet…the biggest EU directives…contained big loopholes…for UK employers. Indeed, Britain’s labour market is the least regulated in the EU…That begs the question of which labour market regulations the government would do away with, should the UK leave the EU…The truth is that most employers are not angling for these EU-related rights to be repealed…A vote for Brexit…would have important implications for the labour market but that is because it would shake up immigration and trade. The impact on employment rights is a sideshow…

[Originally published 5 Apr 2016]