2020 had been marked as a significant year for the UK with its departure from the European Union. The coronavirus pandemic quickly became the most important issue facing the Government under a third Prime Minister since the 2016 referendum. From the start, problems have dogged this Government in meeting the monumental challenges posed by Covid-19. The UK approached the work implications of this pandemic in some distinct ways, as compared to European Union Member States. This piece is longer than other country reports in this volume as a result of critically engaging with these differences.

Enzymatic reductive amination being highly novel, selective and green methodology has attracted significant interest in a short period of time. This article describes, discovery of novel RedAm activity and enzyme engineering to improve its performance over >200-fold, to make it suitable for commercial scale manufacturing. The enzymatic process was successfully implemented on commercial scale to make multi metric ton of a key intermediate for Abrocitinib manufacturing. This is the first application of RedAm technology for commercial scale manufacturing of a secondary amine via direct reductive amination of a ketone with methyl amine. This work contributes to the rapidly developing field of enzyme catalysis that is emerging as a critical strategy as a sustainable alternative to existing methods.

Similar to many other European countries, the Irish Government has attempted to address the employment implications of the Covid-19 pandemic through a mixture of income support schemes. Coming with the repercussions of the Great Recession remain in memory and the toll that took on the Irish banking sector, the Government seems to have endeavoured to take an approach that may be more conservative as compared to other EU Member States.

redress which has the potential to limit the enforcement of recognised employment rights, especially when determined by their impact on business.

While much of the emphasis has been on when and how economies may safely re-open due to the coronavirus pandemic, this article studies the undervalued workplace considerations therein. The initial responses of Member States to the pandemic are outlined for the purpose of setting out similarities and distinctions, but also and mostly to foreground an analysis to date of unresolved problems related to work. Important points for continued monitoring are also identified and an overview of some of the employment law considerations in re-opening workplaces are critically assessed. Consequently, teleworking garners particular attention due to its prominent role during the lockdown and its possible growing place in labour law in the near future.