New Labour government: what's next for employment law?

The new government made several promises to reform employment law in its manifesto, around 60 in fact. Now that Labour has won the general election, and the King’s Speech has outlined their priorities, it’s time to see what this could mean for employment law.

Employee contracts:

The pledges made by Labour in its manifesto on contracts were to:

·       Impose a new duty on employers to inform the workforce of right to join a union in their written contract

·       Ban “one-sided” flexibility in zero-hours contracts and exploitative zero-hours contracts

·       Introduce a right to a regular contract to reflect hours worked on a zero-hours contract

·       Require recompense for cancelled shifts on a zero-hours contract

·       Give self-employed people the right to a written contract

·       Introduce the right to switch off.

Pay:

In relation to employee pay, the pledges made by Labour were to:

·       Remove National Minimum Wage (NMW) age bandings

·       Enforce NMW law on travel time

·       Create Fair Pay Agreements in adult social care

·       Ban certain unpaid internships

·       Make Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) available for all workers as a fair earnings replacement

·       Ensure hospitality workers receive tips in full and workers to decide how tips are allocated

·       Make publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps mandatory for firms with more than 250 staff.

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Time off:

The pledges made by Labour in its manifesto on time off were to:

·       Remove qualifying periods for parental leave

·       Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers except where it is not reasonably feasible

·       Introduce right to bereavement leave

·       Examine benefits of introducing paid carer’s leave

Existing employment protections and obligations:

Labour pledged to make the following changes on existing employment protections and obligations:

·       Remove qualifying periods for unfair dismissal, sick pay, parental leave etc.

·       Strengthen existing rights and protections, including for pregnant workers, whistleblowers, workers made redundant, workers subject to TUPE processes and those making grievances

·       Remove current distinction between employees and workers

·       Strengthen enforcement against fire and re-hire practices

·       Simplify process of union recognition and strengthen protections for trade union reps

·       Support wellbeing of workers and their long-term physical and mental health

Equality:

The Labour Party made the following pledges on equality in its manifesto:

·       Require employers to create and maintain workplaces and working conditions free from harassment

·       Introduce liability for third party harassment

·       Require large employers with more than 250 employees to produce Menopause Action Plans

·       Simply enforcement of equal pay

When can we expect to see change?

The new government has not yet set out a detailed timeline on the implementation of these new laws. The manifesto included a statement that legislation would be introduced in Parliament within 100 days, although there are some exceptions to this like the plan to introduce a single status of worker and the parental leave review which will take longer.

In the King’s Speech at the state opening of parliament on 17 July 2024, it was confirmed that a new Employment Rights Bill is on its way. It also stated that draft legislation on race equality will be published to “enshrine the full right of equal pay in law”.

We now eagerly await the Bills being laid before Parliament when they will then be debated.