What does a New Labour Government mean for Employment Law?

After weeks of campaigns, televised debates and polling predictions, the Labour Party has won the UK’s 2024 general election. Imminent changes to UK employment laws are expected in the coming months that will significantly strengthen employee rights and entitlements.

As a business owner or HR professional, it’s crucial to stay ahead of any new regulations to ensure compliance and maintain a thriving workplace. Here is a summary of some of the key proposed changes:

But what does this mean for employment law?

“An extraordinary amount of change has already happened this year, with 10 new laws having come in already applying to all businesses, no matter how small. With the SME sector facing increased costs on several fronts, the bottom line for many businesses could be less growth, jobs, and competitiveness. There is a risk that all these additional costs may be too much to bear for certain employers, particularly SMEs.

“Unfortunately, this could lead to a reduction in business and the prospect of layoffs or redundancies. While reducing headcount should be a last resort, it’s vital to ensure that any termination of employment complies with the relevant redundancy or unfair dismissals legislation that applies.”

In Summary

Below, we summarise the main pledges made by the Labour party from their manifesto. They have committed to introducing legislation to Parliament within the first 100 days of its opening, and so we’re likely to see some movement on these soon.

Labour

- Day-one rights: Remove qualifying periods for basic rights like unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave so they become day-one rights.
- Single status of “worker”: Remove current distinction between employees and workers so that all workers are afforded same basic rights and protections, eg sick pay, holiday pay, parental leave, protection against unfair dismissal, etc.
- Strengthen rights: Strengthen existing rights and protections, including for pregnant workers, whistleblowers, workers made redundant, workers subject to TUPE processes and those making grievances; reinstate School Support Staff Negotiating Body; and encourage employers to sign up to “Dying to Work” charter to support workers with a terminal illness.
- Self-employment: Be given a right to a written contract.
- Raise wages for workers: Remove age bandings used in current system; reform role of the Low Pay Commission, including requiring it to take the cost of living into consideration when recommending rates; ensure travel time in sectors with multiple working sites is paid; act on “sleep over” hours in sectors like social care; create Fair Pay Agreements in adult social care; and ban unpaid internships except as part of education/training course.
- Sick pay: Strengthen Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), make it available for all workers and remove the waiting period. Rate to represent fair earnings replacement.
- *Tips (implemented 1 October 2024) : Strengthen the law to ensure hospitality workers receive their tips in full and workers decide how tips are allocated.
- Close pay gaps: Publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps to be mandatory for firms with more than 250 staff.
- *Tackle harassment (to be implemented 26 October 2024) : Require employers to create and maintain workplaces and working conditions free from harassment, including by third parties.
- *Flexible working 24 (implemented April 2024): Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers except where it is not reasonably feasible.
- Family-friendly: Make parental leave a day-one right; introduce right to bereavement leave; make it unlawful to dismiss pregnant employees for six months after return from maternity leave except in specific circumstances.
- *Caring responsibilities (implemented April 2024): Review implementation of carer’s leave and examine benefits of introducing paid carer’s leave.
- Zero-hours contracts: Ban “one-sided” flexibility; anyone working regular hours for 12 weeks or more will gain right to a regular contract to reflect hours worked; and all workers to get reasonable notice of any change in shifts or working time, and recompense for cancelled shifts.
- Fire and re-hire: Improve information and consultation procedures by replacing statutory Code of Practice introduced by current Government with a stronger one; and adapt unfair dismissal and redundancy legislation to prevent workers being dismissed for not agreeing to a worse contract.
- Wellbeing: Support wellbeing of workers and their long-term physical and mental health; and assess whether existing regulations and guidance are adequate to support and protect those experiencing the symptoms of Long Covid.
- Menopause: Require large employers with more than 250 employees to produce Menopause Action Plans.
- Right to switch off: Introduce a new right to disconnect and protect workers from remote surveillance.
- Artificial intelligence (AI): Work with workers, trade unions, employers and experts to examine what AI and new technologies mean for work, jobs and skills.
- Update trade union laws: Strengthen trade union right of entry to workplaces; simplify process of union recognition; strengthen protections for trade union reps; and new duty on employers to inform workforce of right to join a union in their written contract.
- Enforcement rights: Extend time limit for bringing employment tribunal claims to six months; simplify enforcement of equal pay; and establish a single enforcement body to enforce worker rights