We are a month away from the General Election which is taking place on 4th July 2024. You have until 18th June 2024 to register to vote and remember to bring ID to the polling stations. You can find out more about this here: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Of course, this will be a monumental General Election. The first live debate between current Prime Minster, Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer will take place tonight (4th June 2024) at 21:00pm. You can tune in to see what they have to say.
For our audience, the principal question will be what the proposed employment law changes are and how they will affect your business. Labour have announced that it wants to cut reliance on foreign workers in sectors including construction, IT, social care, health and engineering. It states that government departments responsible for these sectors will need to draw up skills improvement plans to upskill British nationals. With all this in mind, who will manage these newly skilled employees in the workplace?
Our popular HR & Employment Law updates are a great place to start to keep up to date with any changes. As connoisseurs of employment law, we have been reflecting on the proposed changes from the three major political parties.
We have toplined the employment law proposals below from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Conservatives
Conservatives are set to continue their current agenda. This includes:
- Neonatal care leave and pay,
- Reform of industrial action laws
- Back to Work Plan including proposed reform of fit notes
- Address definition of “sex” in Equality Act 2010
- Re-introduction of employment tribunal fees
- Reform of non-compete clauses
- Proposed reform to TUPE
Labour
Labour have proposed the following:
- Remove qualifying periods for rights like unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave so they become day-one rights
- Remove current distinction between employees and workers so that all workers are afforded same basic rights and protections
- Strengthen existing rights and protections, including for pregnant workers, whistleblowers, workers made redundant, and workers subject to TUPE processes.
- Continue commitment to raise National Living Wage
- Increase Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and make it available for all workers including those currently excluded because of low wages.
- Act to close gender, ethnicity, and disability pay gaps
- Require employers to create and maintain workplaces and working conditions free from harassment, including by third parties.
- Default right to flexible working from day one with employers being required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable.
- Increase Family Friendly laws including extending statutory maternity and paternity leave, introducing the right to bereavement leave, making it unlawful to dismiss pregnant employees for six months after return from maternity leave except in specific circumstances and reviewing shared parental leave system.
- Strengthen rights of workers to respond to family emergencies
- Reform zero-hours contracts
- Improve information and consultation procedures on fire and re-hire
- Raise awareness of neurodiversity and review provision for stress, mental health, and Long Covid.
- Introduce a new right to disconnect and protect workers from remote surveillance.
- Update trade union laws
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats have proposed the following:
- Parental leave reform by giving all workers a day-one right to parental leave and pay.
- Increase paternity pay to 90% of earnings, with a cap for high earners.
Not only will the business leaders have to get their head around whatever the changes are, but so will your managers. We have a month to get ahead so why not take a look at some of our training courses which can help your managers know how to lead new teams, understanding their responsibility to employment law and confidence in their role. Send us an email on info@hrchampions.co.uk or give us a call on 01452 331331 to find out more.
Sourced from HR Champions: HR Champions – Employment Law & the General Election
