Rishi Sunak has called a snap election for the 4 July. In the absence of publication of election manifestos, it is currently not clear exactly what the Conservative government remaining in power would mean in employment law terms, albeit we can assume the current approach to deregulation would continue. Labour originally published a very ambitious plan in their New Deal for Working People green paper back in September 2021 ("the New Deal"). Last month they published Labour's plan to make work pay ("the Make Work Pay document") which makes certain changes to what was originally proposed.
The Labour party has committed to introducing employment related legislation within their first 100 days in power, albeit it is not clear which of their proposals this will apply to. The Make Work Pay document purports to deliver the previous New Deal and promises to fully consult on how to put plans into action before legislation is passed. One proposal that has disappeared since the New Deal was published is the promise to remove the cap on unfair dismissal awards. However, the Make Work Pay document includes a commitment to extend time limits for making applications to employment tribunals from three to six months and to change the trigger for collective redundancy consultation (where 20 or more people are made redundant from one establishment in a 90 day period) from the number of people affected in one establishment (i.e. generally speaking one workplace) to the number of people affected across a whole business. This is likely to mean that collective consultation will be required more often.
Two things that the Labour party propose to act on quickly, according to the Make Work Pay document are the creation of a single enforcement body and the removal of the lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay. These are intended to be included in an Employment Rights Bill. It is also proposed that a review of parental leave will take place within the first twelve months of a Labour government. Intentions to ban zero hours contracts and end fire and rehire are also included. As regards the latter, the law is to be reformed to provide "effective remedies" against abuse and replace the "inadequate statutory code" brought in by the current Government.
Other proposals set out in the Make Work Pay document include:
- Qualifying service for rights including unfair dismissal, sick pay and parental leave being scrapped
- A number of existing rights and protections to be strengthened including making flexible working the default from day one for all workers "except where it is not reasonably feasible"
- Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant for six months after her return "except in specific circumstances"
- Updating trade union legislation
The vexed issue of employment status is to be addressed by a move towards "a single status of worker and transition towards a simpler two-part framework for employment status". Labour have indicated in the Make Work Pay Document that a detailed consultation would be undertaken on the this proposal.
As with all political party proposals, the devil will be in the detail and, were Labour to win the general election, it remains to be seen how many of these proposals make it onto the statute books, in what form and in what timescale.
For further detail on the proposals set out above and more information on what may follow please join our webinar on 11 June on what to expect in employment law if Labour win the next general election.
