Labour’s full document can be found online here.
For those wanting a ‘crib sheet,’ this is a summary of the main areas/proposals that Labour is proposing to reform from a work/employment legislation perspective.
- Zero Hour Contracts: Banning ”exploitative” zero hour contracts
- Ending one-sided flexibility: Work should be “mutually beneficial”. Right to a contract that reflects their regular hours over a 12-week reference period and notice to change in shifts
- Day One Rights: Day One rights for a range of areas from statutory sick pay, maternity & paternity rights, right to bring an unfair dismissal claim
- TUPE and redundancy: Strengthen redundancy & TUPE rights and protections
- Single Enforcement Body: One body with trade union and TUC representation, to enforce workers' rights, including strong powers to inspect workplaces and act against exploitation. This will bring together bodies such as EASI and GLAA.
- Timeframe/Workers' Rights Bill: Labour pledges to introduce a new Workers' Rights Bill within the first 100 days of government, following consultation with businesses, workers, and other workplace stakeholders, aimed at enhancing job security and fair treatment for workers. Wanting to achieve 'single worker status' and create a simpler two-part framework to define worker status (following the Taylor Review).
- Worker security, flexibility & fair treatment: Create jobs that offer security, fair treatment, and decent wages, including enhanced protections for pregnant women, making dismissal within six months of return from pregnancy unlawful (except in exceptional circumstances). Also maintain flexible working options via flexi-time contracts.
- Boosting worker voices: Promoting stronger trade unions and collective bargaining to tackle insecurity, inequality, and low pay.
- Real living wage: Changing the remit of the Low Pay Commission to ensure the minimum wage reflects the cost of living, creating a genuine living wage.
- Equal pay measures: Strengthening measures to end pay discrimination, including ensuring outsourcing does not undermine equal pay, and enhancing equality impact assessments for public sector bodies.
- Eliminating discriminatory age bands: Removing age bands in the minimum wage to ensure all adult workers benefit equally.
- Enforcement of wage laws: Work with the Single Enforcement Body and HMRC to ensure compliance with minimum wage regulations and penalties for non-compliance, especially in sectors with multiple work sites.
- Sick pay reform: Strengthening statutory sick pay by removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period, ensuring fair earnings replacement.
- Fair tips legislation: Ensuring hospitality workers receive their tips in full, with workers deciding on tip allocation.
- Ban on unpaid internships: Prohibit unpaid internships unless they are part of an education or training course.
- Protection of the Equality Act 2010: Committing to upholding and protecting provisions of this Act, including the Public Sector Equality Duty.
- Social care worker reforms: Introducing a 'new deal' for social care workers to address retention and recruitment issues across the sector, improving conditions, training, and career progression. Also implement recommendations of the Resolution Foundation to improve worker conditions and patient care.
- Ending exploitative practices: 'Day One' rights for all workers. End 'one-sided' flexibility by banning exploitative 'zero hour' contracts that do not guarantee regular hours and ending 'fire and rehire' practices
- Right to 'switch off': Introducing the right to disconnect outside of normal working hours, preventing work from encroaching on personal time (like schemes in Ireland and Belgium).
- AI and automation technologies: Protecting jobs and rights in the face of new technologies by ensuring worker input into digital transitions - to protect against algorithmic decision-making and invasion of privacy.
- Surveillance & privacy: Ensuring the introduction of surveillance technology is subject to consultation/negotiation with trade unions or elected staff representatives to safeguard workers' privacy.
- Collective bargaining: Promoting collective bargaining across public and private sectors to improve economic conditions and to respond to tech changes.
- Neurodiversity awareness: Raising awareness and inclusivity of neurodiverse people in the workplace.
- Support for terminally ill workers: Ensuring dignity and security for terminally ill workers.
- Labour plans to establish a publicly-owned company - ‘Great British Energy’ - to partner with industry and the unions to drive investment in green energy. There will be a focus on local projects. Details are TBC.
- Labour also plans to launch an Industrial Strategy and an independent Industrial Strategy Council to oversee and advise the Strategy. The Strategy will set the direction and drive economic growth in identified sectors. Linked to this will be a focus on how AI and digital technology can support growth.
- Labour also plans other changes such as investment in infrastructure and transport – for example, the establishment of Great British Railways to improve services, reliability, and safety (again, full details are TBC).
