In the run up to the general election, Labour made clear its plans to transform workers’ rights claiming that they were ‘not fit for the modern economy’. Their ‘new deal for working people’ made a pledge to implement sweeping changes to UK employment laws within the first 100-days of government. So, with Labour proving victorious in the election, Philip Richardson, partner and head of employment law at Stephensons takes a closer look at some of those commitments and what lies ahead for employment law under a Keir Starmer premiership.
Day one rights
One of Labour’s key changes is the introduction of basic rights (parental leave, sick pay and unfair dismissal rights) from day one of employment. The aim here is to provide what Labour calls ‘two sided flexibility’, meaning that employees have access to basic rights without having to wait up to two years, and that employers can still make legitimate fair dismissals (redundancy, or reasons of capability for example) as well as ensuring that employers can still operate probationary periods, giving them time to assess new hires, so long as they are subject to fair and transparent rules and processes.
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. Labour plans to end what it calls the ‘scourge of fire and re-hire and fire and replace’ by reforming the law and introducing a reworked and strengthened Code of Practice (replacing the Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement which was due to be introduced on 18th July 2024).
Zero hour contracts
Another key area of focus for Labour is the banning of “exploitative” zero hours contracts. It has pledged to end “one sided flexibility” by ensuring that all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability. Through this, it hopes to ensure that everyone has the right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a twelve week reference period.
Equal pay
Labour has promised to strengthen working women’s rights to equal pay and take action to reduce the gender pay gap. Labour have also committed to introduce the right to equal pay for disabled people and Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority people, and to introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers.
Discrimination and harassment
Strengthening working women’s protections from maternity and menopause discrimination and sexual harassment (by imposing a duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment: something already due to come into effect in October) Labour also plan to introduce a Race Equality Act to enshrine in law the right to equal pay for ethnic minorities, and strengthen protections against dual discrimination.
Some of the other eye-catching commitments made by Labour include:
- Increasing the time limit for bringing employment tribunal claims to six months from three months.
- Amending the threshold for collective redundancy consultation obligations to apply to the number of affected individuals across the business rather than at each separate establishment.
- Ensure flexible working is “a genuine default” from day one for all workers except where it is “not reasonably feasible”.
- Introduce a right to bereavement leave for all workers and the possibility of paid carers’ leave.
- Making it unlawful to dismiss a pregnant worker for six months after their return to work “except in specific circumstances”.
- Strengthen the rights and protections for workers subject to TUPE processes.
- Ban unpaid internships except when they are part of an education or training course.
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