LABOUR'S EMPLOYMENT LAW CHANGES

A guide on the proposed employment law changes by the Labour government

Marjon Law, specialist employment lawyers is owner-led by Marc Jones, who is ranked and recommended in legal publications as a leading employment law solicitor, with over 20 years of experience practising solely in employment law.

The Labour party won a landslide victory in the General Election and [Sir] Kier Starmer is the new Prime Minister.

Labour launched the ‘Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People’ on 24 May 2024 and much of this reached its manifesto for the General Election.

(1) What employment changes have been proposed?

Some of the proposed changes are:

from day 1 of employment, an employer must dismiss an employee ‘fairly’ for reasons of capability, conduct or redundancy or during probationary periods provided that there are fair and transparent rules and processes
from day 1 of employment, employees will be entitled to parental leave and statutory sick pay
from day 1 of employment, flexible working will be the default except where it is not reasonably feasible
increase the time limit within which someone can bring an employment tribunal claim from 3 months to 6 months
introduce a “right to switch off”, following a similar model to that already in Ireland and Belgium
introduce a right for employees to make a collective grievance to Acas
reform ‘fire and rehire’ with effective remedies against abuse and replace the inadequate statutory code brought in by the Conservative Government, with a strengthened code of practice
ban ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts and ensure everyone has the right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a 12-week reference period
replace the 3-tier system for employment status in the UK, with individuals classified as employees, workers self-employed with newly defined single status worker and self-employed
create a single enforcement body to inspect workplaces and take action against exploitation
strengthen protections for whistleblowers, including updating protections for women who report sexual harassment at work
introduce a Race Equality Act giving the right to equal pay to Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and strengthening protections against dual discrimination
introduce a new right to equal pay for disabled people
introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting for employers with more than 250 staff
make it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant for 6 months after her return to work from maternity leave, except in specific circumstances
require employers with more than 250 employees to produce a Menopause Action Plan, setting out how they will support employees through the menopause
introduce a new duty on employers to inform all new employees of their right to join a union (as part of the written statement of particulars)
update trade union legislation by removing restrictions on trade union activity
introduce an obligation to collectively consult on large-scale redundancies when employees are at risk of redundancy across the whole of a business, rather than at one workplace or local employment unit
strengthen the existing set of rights and protections for workers subject to TUPE processes.

(2) What will this mean for businesses and individuals?

costs for businesses will increase
individuals will have more employment rights
individuals will have more secure employment
employment will, for business, become more inflexible
enforcement would be enhanced so that the current law would be made more effective
employment tribunal claims are likely to increase.

(3) Employment law rights come home

Since the UK left the EU, employment law is no longer made by or governed by Europe, which means greater autonomy for the UK to both change existing employment law and implement new employment law.

Whether the Labour Government will implement all or any of the above only time will tell!

This blog does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Appropriate legal advice should be sought for specific circumstances and before action is taken.