With the UK General Election on the horizon, this article sets out the key changes to employment law proposed by the Labour and Conservative parties.
Labour
Polling suggests that Labour has a 20-point lead ahead of the Conservatives, and they look set to form the first Labour government in 14 years. If elected, the Labour Party has promised an Employment Rights Bill to introduce reforms within the first 100 days.
Employment status
Labour has proposed reducing the three status categories of "employee," "worker," and "self-employed" to two. For the purpose of workplace rights and protections, people will either be classified as "workers" or "genuinely self-employed." However, this does imply the extension of employee-only rights to all workers, which could mean increased costs for employers with a large casual workforce.
Employment rights
- Day 1 rights: The most publicised change proposed by Labour is the right to claim unfair dismissal becoming a day one right. Currently, an employee must have two years' service in order to bring a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal. There is however, a suggestion that dismissals would still be fair if carried-out during "probationary periods with fair and transparent rules and processes".
- Flexible working will also become a day one right, except where it is not reasonably feasible. Full details of what is being proposed are not clear, but this could be a significant change from the current position where the right is to request flexible working, as opposed to flexible working being the default position.
- Statutory Sick Pay: The three-day 'waiting period' before statutory sick pay (SSP) is payable will be removed. This means that workers would qualify for SSP from their first day of absence rather than their fourth, as is currently the case. The lower earnings limit would also be removed.
- The right to disconnect: A new 'right to disconnect' has been proposed, which will give workers the right to disconnect from work outside of working hours and not be contacted by their employer. This would follow the lead of some European countries like Ireland and Belgium. Although it now appears that this pledge has been diluted, it is expected that workers would have the right to constructive conversations on the topic with management to develop approaches that work for the business rather than a blanket right to disconnect.
Family-friendly rights
- Parental leave: There is currently a one-year qualifying period for parental leave, but it is proposed that this will become a day one right. Parental leave gives parents the right to take up to 18 weeks' leave – at the rate of up to four weeks a year – for each child over the course of their childhood.
- Bereavement leave: A right to bereavement leave will be introduced.
- Pregnancy: It will become unlawful to dismiss a woman during pregnancy or within six months of her return to work, except in specified circumstances (to be defined).
- Paid family and carer's leave: The right to one week's unpaid carer's leave came into force in April 2024. Labour would look at making this a paid entitlement.
Fire and rehire
Labour has committed to end the practice of "fire and rehire" as a lawful way of changing an employee's contractual terms. This would include reforming the law to provide effective remedies against abuse and a more strengthened statutory code of practice than the one being brought into force by the current Government on 18 July 2024.
Labour have highlighted three potential areas for change on fire and rehire including:
- improving information and consultation procedures to make employers consult with their workforce and reach agreement about contractual changes;
- adapting unfair dismissal and redundancy legislation to prevent workers from being dismissed for failing to agree to a worse contract; and
- ensuring that notice and ballot requirements on trade union activity do not inhibit defensive action to protect terms and conditions of employment in situations where an employer is using fire and rehire tactics.
Redundancy
Labour have proposed that the right to redundancy consultation will be determined by the number of people impacted across the business rather than in one workplace.
Trade unions and industrial action
Labour intends to repeal with the following acts:
- The Trade Union Act 2016 – this act introduced turnout requirements for industrial action ballots and increased the notice that trade unions must give of any industrial action from one week to two. It also placed a six-month time limit on the validity of strike ballots, introduced additional requirements on the wording of the ballot paper and placed additional restrictions on picketing.
- The Strikes Act 2023 – this act introduced powers for the Government to set minimum service levels in specified industries and issue work notices to require certain workers to refrain from strike action.
Furthermore, Labour intends to simplify the statutory recognition process by:
- removing the requirement for a trade union to show that at least 50% of workers are likely to support recognition for the process to begin; and
- modernising the rules on the final ballot in which workers vote on whether to recognise a trade union, requiring unions to gain a simple majority.
Trade unions will also be given a new right to access workplaces, which will allow union officials to meet, represent, recruit, and organise members, provided they give appropriate notice and comply with reasonable employer requests.
Labour also intends to impose a new duty on employers to inform all new employees of their right to join a union and to remind all staff of this on a regular basis. This will be required as part of the written statement of particulars that all new workers already receive when starting a new job.
Finally, employees will be able to collectively raise grievances about conduct in their place of work with ACAS. This will become in line with the existing code for individual grievances.
Equality at work
Labour intends to increase equality at work by introducing the following:
- Protection from harassment for interns and volunteers;
- Ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with more than 250 employees;
- Revised gender pay gap reporting and pay ratio reporting rules to include outsourced workers;
- A requirement for employers to devise and implement plans to eradicate pay gap inequalities; and
- Large employers with more than 250 employees will be required to produce Menopause Action Plans, setting out how they will support employees through the menopause.
TUPE
Labour has proposed to strengthen the existing TUPE rights and protections for workers, albeit it has not stated how. Labour also claims it will end the presumption in favour of public sector outsourcing and oversee the "biggest wave of insourcing of public services for a generation".
Conservatives
In contrast, the Conservative manifesto notably lacks explicit references to employment law. We would expect the legislative programme of a re-elected Conservative government to proceed on a similar basis to the current Government.
However, the following changes may come into fruition:
- National Insurance cuts: The Conservatives have pledged to reduce employee national insurance to 6% by April 2027.
- Equality Act 2010 changes: An individual's "sex" is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. However, the Conservatives have proposed that "sex" be redefined as "biological sex".
- Fit note reform: the Conservatives propose a new system for fit notes, shifting the responsibility for issuing them from GPs to specialist work and health professionals. The new WorkWell service would be integrated to provide tailored support for individuals returning to work.
Summary
The results of the 4 July 2024 UK General Election could significantly change the scope of employment law as we know it. As the nation is gearing up to attend their respective polling stations, employers must stay informed and be prepared for the proposed changes that may come into force.
