With Labour in power, employers need to be aware of possible changes to look out for that may be introduced. This blog highlights some of key changes that Labour may implement.
- Labour stated that they would make sure that the minimum wage is a “real wage” that people can live on. Therefore, it is likely that the minimum wage would increase. They are likely to remove the age bands and introduce penalties for non-compliance.
- Introduce zero-hour contracts ban.
- Removing Fire and rehire. Fire and rehire is the practice of an employer making an employee redundant and then re-engaging them on reduced terms and conditions. Good businesses rightly do not want to be associated with practices like fire and re-hire
- Redundancy and TUPE: Labour are likely to change redundancy rights and protections, for example by ensuring the right to redundancy consultation is determined by the number of people impacted across the business rather than in one workplace
- Introduce day 1 right for parental leave.
- Protection for pregnant women – making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant for six months after her return, except in specific circumstances.
- Bereavement leave: Labour will clarify the law and entitlement, introducing the right to bereavement leave for all workers.
- Right to “switch off”- giving workers and employers the opportunity to have constructive conversations and work together on bespoke workplace policies or contractual terms that benefit both parties.
- Ban unpaid internships.
- Tips: Labour will amend the law to ensure hospitality workers receive their tips in full and workers decide how tips are allocated.
- Sick pay: Labour would remove the lower earnings limit to make it available to all workers and remove the waiting period.
- Labour will introduce a new duty on employers to inform all new employees of their right to join a union, and to inform all staff of this on a regular basis. They are likely to require that this is included in the written statement of particulars.
- Union members and workers are likely to be able to access a union at work through a regulated and responsible route where there is support within the workforce. Labour will introduce rights for trade unions to access workplaces in a regulated and responsible manner, for recruitment and organising purposes.
- Labour will create new rights and protections for trade unions representative to undertake their work, strengthening protections for trade union representatives against unfair dismissal and union members from intimidation, harassment, threats and blacklisting.
- The Labour government will update regulations to outlaw the use of predictive technologies for blacklisting and safeguard against singling out workers for mistreatment or the sack without any evidence of human interaction. They we will give the regulator and Employment Tribunals the power to order the seizure and destruction of any list, digital or not, to prevent blacklisting happening again.
- Labour will put in place measures to ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay, including for work of equal value.
- Labour will require large employers with more than 250 employees to produce Menopause Action Plans, setting out how they will support employees through menopause, much like gender pay gap action plans.
- They are likely to increase the time limit within which employees are able to make an employment claim from three months to six months, bringing the time limit for all claims in line with the time limit for statutory redundancy and equal pay claims.
- Labour will require employers to create and maintain workplaces and working conditions free from harassment, including by third parties. They intend to strengthen the legal duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts.
- Labour is proposing to create a single status of “worker” for all but the genuinely self- employed. Labour intends that these “workers”, regardless of sector, wage or contract type, would be entitled to all the statutory rights and protections, including:
- protection against unfair dismissal;
- redundancy rights (including the right to consultation);
- right to minimum period of notice;
- family-related leave and pay; and
- right to request flexible working.
HR/Employment law sits at the very core of any business, that has employees. The above should be “food for thought” for employers. They should seriously be considering whether they can prepare themselves to implement changes as and when they are introduced and comply with their legal obligations and an Employer, whether that’s inhouse of outsourced.
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