Will a Labour Government result in Fairer Employment Laws?
On 4 July, the Labour party won their first parliamentary majority for 14 years.
Prior to this, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner gave a “cast iron guarantee” at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference in 2023, that the party would introduce an Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of taking office.
On 24 May 2024 Labour published their “New Deal for Working People” setting out their proposals to “make work pay” if they came into office. Their Labour manifesto published on 13 June 2024 boldly declared that “Britain’s outdated employment laws are not fit for the modern economy” and reaffirmed their plan to meet their 100 day deadline.
If Labour do what they say they will do then UK employment laws will provide better protection for employees.
A key aspect of Labour’s new employment law proposals is the introduction of new ‘day one’ rights. The most important of these would be the right not to be unfairly dismissed. This would apply from an employee’s first day at work, rather than having to wait until they have two years’ service to lodge a claim at an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal.
Employers would still be able to dismiss a new employee who had not yet passed their probationary period. But the probationary process would have to be “fair and transparent”. Although this term has not yet been defined it is likely to mean that any dismissal would follow the current rules for proving a dismissal is fair such as dismissals on the grounds of capability, ill health and conduct.
Currently, only employees bringing discrimination claims or those who have automatically unfair reasons for dismissal, such as whistleblowing or health and safety concerns are usually protected. This is not fair and often leads to employees having to argue they have been subjected to unfair treatment or dismissed due to one of their protected characteristics such as race, sex or age. This can make claims unnecessarily complicated, clogging Employment Tribunal lists as they usually result in hearings of more than three days.
Labour also propose to ensure that flexible working is a ‘genuine default’ from day one for all workers except in situations where it is not reasonably feasible.
Also, the manifesto promises to change the remit of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) when calculating the minimum wage. The LPC currently considers median wages and economic conditions, but the new proposal will also reflect the need to consider the cost of living. They also propose to remove the current age bands which will mean that the minimum wage will apply to all adult workers.
Labour have pledged to end fire and re-hire (the practice of dismissing employees and then rehiring them under new contractual terms) with just a couple of exceptions. The existing statutory code will be replaced by a strengthened Code of Practice.
They have also pledged to ban “exploitative” zero-hours contracts with everyone having the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a 12 week reference period.
Other proposals in Labour’s New Deal green paper that they have committed to implement in full include increasing the time limit for bringing Employment Tribunal claims from three months to six, amending the threshold for collective redundancy consultation obligations to apply to affected individuals across the entire business rather than separate locations, and the banning of unpaid internships that take place outside of an education or training course.
Labour also intend to introduce more apprenticeships through the establishment of ‘Technical Excellence Colleges’ and by transforming the apprenticeship levy.
They have said they will introduce a right to bereavement leave to all workers, to make it unlawful to dismiss a pregnant worker for six months after their return to work (except in specific circumstances), and impose a duty on employers to inform their staff of their right to join a trade union.
Labour also plan to strengthen rights to equal pay, taking action to reduce the gender pay gap and introducing a race equality act to enshrine the rights to equal pay and discrimination protections to Black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups, although it is not yet clear how these protections differ from the existing ones in the 2010 Equality Act.
Should these proposals become law, this will be the largest expansion of employee rights to take place in the past fourteen years.
Those on the right will argue that this will be difficult for businesses but the truth is that many employers face hefty compensation claims when they behave unfairly to employees with less than two years’ service. They do this forgetting that failing to make reasonable adjustments for someone with a disability or treating someone less favourably due to their protected characteristic are an exception to the two year service rule.
I would ask why would any business owner want to behave unfairly and what benchmark for good practice does this encourage? After all, providing work for people that depend on their salaries to pay their mortgages and rent is a big responsibility and should not be taken lightly. More money for Acas to educate employers and managers on their duties and obligations would be helpful so employers understand what their responsibilities are.
Our Employment Law Team at martin searle solicitors regularly campaign for equality with campaigns such as Mind the Bump, Disability Matters and #MeToo Matters.
To successfully deal with our current funding and economic challenges we need fairness in the workplace to unite and work towards common goals. We welcome Labour’s proposals as we believe it is important to treat all workers fairly, regardless of their length of service.
For expert advice for employers and employees, contact our Employment Law Team on 01273 609911, or email info@ms-solicitors.co.uk.
