On 21st November 2019, the Labour party published their manifesto ahead of the general election on 12th December 2019.
The manifesto proposes significant changes to current employment law provisions, with a promise that the next Labour Government will transform people’s lives and the world of work for the better through the biggest extension of worker’s rights in history.
Key pledges include:
- Introducing a Real Living Wage of at least £10 per hour for all workers aged 16 or over
- Compelling large companies to give employees 10% ownership of the company
- Bringing in additional rights for the self-employed, including free childcare and better access to mortgages and pensions
- Setting up a Ministry for Employment Rights and Workers’ Protection Agency to enforce workplace rights
- Introducing compulsory collective bargaining on a wide range of issues, such as minimum standards for pay and working hours by sector
- Giving everyone ‘full’ employment rights from day one on the job
- Strengthening protection for whistleblowers and unfair dismissal rights
- Clarifying worker status
- Banning zero hour contracts
- Requiring breaks during shifts to be paid
- Extending statutory maternity pay from 9 months to 12 months
- Introducing four new bank holidays
- Re-introducing employer’s liability for harassment by third parties
- Banning unpaid internships
- Strengthening trade union rights, including access to the workplace and repealing the Trade Union Act 2016
- Reducing average working hours to 32 hours per week
- Keeping Employment Tribunals free
- Introducing new Labour Courts
- Requiring workplaces with more than 50 employees to obtain Government certification on gender equality or face fines
- Requiring all large employers to have flexible working and menopause policies
- Introducing 10 days of paid leave for survivors of domestic abuse
- Extension of pay gap reporting to black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups
- The creation of a “race equality unit” within the Treasury
- A reaffirmation of the National Investment Bank’s commitment to tackling discrimination for BAME business owners access to finance
- An improvement of religious belief and practice training for Home Office staff
- An assessment of the implementation of all BAME shortlists
- Selection panel members in the public sector to receive unconscious bias training
- Introduction of “blind CVs” to help tackle discrimination in job interview selection process
The Labour Party Conference voted in favour of free movement being retained generally, and that position is maintained in its manifesto. If the UK leaves the EU, it states that the Labour party will seek to protect the right to freedom of movement on the basis that it recognises the social and economic benefits for both UK and EU citizens.
For a useful guide on each party’s manifesto ahead of the election, please visit.
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