Labour in government: a step by step guide to employment changes

• Existing position

An employee needs two years' continuous service to bring an unfair dismissal claim (excluding automatically unfair dismissal claims).  

• Labour's proposals

The right not to be unfairly dismissed will be in place from day 1 of employment.

Labour has stressed that this will not prevent fair dismissals, and that employers will be able to operate probationary periods "with fair and transparent rules and processes".

• Existing position

Statutory sick pay is currently available to employees who meet an earnings limit and is not payable for the first three days of absence (waiting days).

Currently parental leave is only available to employees with one year's continuous employment.

• Labour's proposals

The minimum earnings limit will be removed, along with the three day waiting period. 

The parental leave system will be reviewed and parental leave will be a day one right.

• Existing position

 Zero-hours contracts (contracts between a business and a casual worker where the worker is engaged on an ad hoc basis with no guarantee of work for the business) are currently legal.

• Labour's proposals

Zero-hour contracts won't be banned altogether but Labour will end "one-sided flexibility".

After 12 weeks people with regular hours will be allowed to move away from a zero-hours contract to one that reflects hours they regularly work.

• Existing position

There are three types of employment status: employee, worker and self-employed.  

• Labour's proposals

A single status of worker will be introduced and there will be a transition towards a simpler two-part framework for employment status.

Labour will provide accessible and authoritative information for people on their employment status and attendant rights. It will also give self-employed individuals the right to a written contract and extend health and safety and blacklisting protections to them.

• Existing position

Fire and rehire, otherwise known as dismissal and re-engagement, is allowed.

A new code of practice – the Code of Practice (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Order 2024  about fire and rehire, introduced by the previous Conservative Government, is due to come into force on 18 July 2024. We aren’t sure whether it will still come in. 

• Labour's proposals

Labour will end "fire and rehire" and has committed to reforming the law to provide effective remedies against abuse. It will implement a "strengthened code of practice".

• Existing position 

Under current case law the "local unit" approach is taken for collective redundancy purposes, so individual workplaces are looked at as separate establishments rather than the entire business.

• Labour's proposals

Redundancy rights will be strengthened by ensuring that the right to collective consultation is determined by the number of people impacted across the wider business rather than in one workplace.  

• Existing position

The previous government issued a 'Consultation on clarifications to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and abolishing the legal framework for European Works Councils'. The consultation closes on 11 July 2024.

The consultation proposes making changes to clarify that TUPE does not apply to workers and also to clarify the application of TUPE where a single business is transferred to multiple transferees.  

• Labour's proposals

Labour will strengthen existing rights and protections for staff impacted by TUPE.

A quick and proportionate public interest test to evaluate value for money, impact on service quality and economic and social value goals will have to be carried out by public bodies before any service is contracted out.

Labour will reinstate and strengthen the last Labour government's two-tier code to end unfair two-tiered workforces. 

• Existing position 

In April 2024 various changes were made to the flexible working regime, including the new day one right to make a flexible working request.

• Labour's proposals

Flexible working will be the "default" from day one for all workers, except where this is not reasonably feasible.

• Existing position

Protection from unfavourable treatment continues until the end of maternity leave, or until a return to work (if earlier).

• Labour's proposals

Labour will make it unlawful to dismiss a person returning from maternity leave for six months after the return to work except in specific circumstances.  

• Existing position

Carer's leave, which was introduced in April 2024, is currently unpaid.

• Labour's proposals

Carer's leave will be reviewed and the benefits of introducing paid carers' leave will be examined.  

• Existing position

There is a statutory right to two weeks' parental bereavement leave and pay in the event of the death of a child or a stillbirth.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will introduce the right to bereavement leave for all workers. They say the law is outdated and ill-defined and they will clarify the law and entitlement. 

• Existing position

There is no current right to switch off in the UK.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will bring in the "right to switch off" following existing models already in place in Ireland and Belgium, giving workers and employers the opportunity to work together on bespoke workplace policies or contractual terms that benefit both parties. 

• Existing position

There is no specific legislation governing AI in the workplace in the UK. In March 2024 the government published guidance, 'Responsible AI in recruitment'.

• Labour's proposals

Labour commits to working with workers, their trade unions, employers and experts to examine what AI and new technologies mean for work, and to promote best practice in safeguarding against the invasion of privacy through surveillance and discrimination.

Proposals by employers to introduce surveillance technologies will be subject to consultation and negotiation with a view to reaching agreement with trade unions or elected staff representatives.

• Existing position

There are currently four different rates: the national living wage, the 18-20 year old rate, the 16-17 year old rate and the apprentice rate.  No account is taken of the cost of living.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will ensure that the minimum wage is a real living wage and takes into account the cost of living.  The age bands will be removed and the Single Enforcement body and HMRC will have the necessary powers to ensure the genuine living wage is properly enforced.

• Existing position

The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and the associated Code of Practice were expected to come into force in October. Under these employers will have a duty to ensure that all qualifying tips are allocated fairly and make payment in full no later than the end of the month following the month in which the tip was paid by the customer.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will ensure that hospitality workers receive their tips in full. In view of this it seems likely that a Labour government will go ahead with implementing the Act and Code of Practice.

• Existing position 

It is possible for an internship to be unpaid if the work is voluntary, the individual is work shadowing, or the internship is part of a UK-based further or higher education course and lasts less than a year.

• Labour's proposals

Unpaid internships will be banned, except when they are part of an education or training course.

• Existing position 

There are no sectorial collective bargaining agreements currently in the field of adult social care, or in any other employment sectors.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will introduce a New Deal for Social Care Workers to ensure that these workers have a route to better conditions, training and progression. It will establish a new Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) in the adult social care sector and states that it will consult widely on the design of the FPA, learning from economies where they already operate successfully, and will monitor the implementation to ensure that it delivers for workers and employers in the sector.

It will assess to what extend FPAs could benefit from being rolled out to other sectors.

• Existing position

The previous Government introduced, via the Trade Union Act 2016, various changes including longer notice periods for industrial action, higher ballot thresholds for public services and a six-monthly expiry deadline for ballot mandates. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 enables the government to set minimum service levels for strikes in certain relevant services by way of regulations, and also allows affected employers to issue "work notices" to require certain workers to refrain from strike action in order to meet those minimum service levels.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will repeal the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

Labour will simplify the process of union recognition and the law around statutory recognition thresholds. Labour will remove the requirement for a union to show that at least 50% of workers are likely to support recognition for the process to begin. It will modernise the rules governing the final ballot in which workers vote on whether to recognise a trade union requiring a simple majority.

Unions will be able to use secure and private electronic balloting when engaging, communicating with and polling members. 

Workers in precarious and gig economy sectors have a right to organise through trade unions. 

• Existing position

Trade union members currently enjoy the right to reasonable time off with pay to carry out union duties and to undergo related training. They are also entitled to reasonable unpaid time off to take part in union activities.

All workers enjoy protection against victimisation by their employers on trade union grounds and are also protected from automatically unfair dismissal on various grounds including their becoming, or proposing to become a member of a union; taking part, or proposing to take part in union activities; or making use, or proposing to make use of trade union services.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will introduce a new reasonable right to access workplaces which will be governed by a transparent framework and clear rules allowing union officials to meet, represent, recruit and organise members. There will be a new duty on employers to inform all new employees of their right to join a union, and to require this as part of the written statement of particulars that all new workers receive when starting a new job.  

Labour will create new rights and protections for trade union representatives, strengthening protections for trade union representatives against unfair dismissal and union members from intimidation harassment, threats and blacklisting. They will also give trade union representatives sufficient facilities time so that they have capacity to represent and defend workers, negotiate with employers and train.

• Existing position

The Blacklisting Regulations make it unlawful to compile, use, sell or supply lists containing details of trade union members or activists past or present, used for employment vetting purposes.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will update regulations to outlaw the use of predictive technologies for blacklisting and safeguard against singling out workers for mistreatment without any evidence of human interaction.  It will end the loophole that allows employers to bypass laws through third party contractors and will give the regulator and Employment Tribunals the power to order the seizure and destruction of any list to prevent blacklisting happening again.

• Existing position

There is currently no mandatory requirement to publish action plans. 

• Labour's proposals

Labour will require large firms to develop, publish and implement action plans to close their gender pay gaps and ensure that outsourced workers are included in gender pay gap and pay ratio reporting.

• Existing position

Ethnicity pay reporting is currently voluntary, although there is government guidance available for those employers who wish to do so. There is no requirement to report on disability pay gaps.

• Labour's proposals

The publication of ethnicity and disability pay gaps will be made mandatory for employers with more than 250 staff.

• Existing position

There are no specific legal obligations on employers in relation to the menopause, although, earlier this year some EHRC guidance was issued on menopause and the workplace.  

• Labour's proposals

Labour will require employers with more than 250 staff to produce Menopause Action Plans, setting out how they will support employees through the menopause, and has committed to publish guidance for employers on measures to consider in relation to the menopause.

• Existing position

Race and disability are both protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of these protected characteristics are illegal. People who have the protected characteristics of race and/or disability have no specific equal pay protection.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will introduce a Race Equality Act to give Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people the right to equal pay. This will strengthen protections against dual discrimination and root out other racial inequalities. It will also introduce the full right to equal pay for disabled people, and support them to work by improving employment support and access to reasonable adjustments.

• Existing position

Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 imposes a socio-economic duty on public bodies which means that they will have to consider how their decisions and policies could increase or decrease inequality that results from socio-economic disadvantage.

• Labour's proposals

Labour has committed to enacting the socioeconomic duty under the Equality Act.

• Existing position

A terminal illness is likely to fall under the definition of a disability so there will be protection for the employee under the Equality Act 2010, however there is no specific workplace best practice guidance available.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will work with trade unions and other to ensure that workers diagnosed with terminal illness are treated with respect and supported at work, and will encourage employers and trade unions to negotiate signing up to the Dying at Work Charter, which promotes best practice.

• Existing position

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 currently only stipulates that racist and religious hate crime are aggravated offences.

Currently under the Equality Act 2010 a person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if they are "proposing to under, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person's sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex". A trans person who is at least 18 years old can apply for legal recognition of their "acquired gender" through issue of a gender recognition certificate.

• Labour's proposals

Labour has committed to protect LGBT+ people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence.

It commits to simplifying and reforming the existing gender recognition law. It states that it will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance, whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor, enabling access to the healthcare pathway.

Labour will continue to support the single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act 2010.

• Existing position

The Conservatives stated that they would set up a single enforcement body, however, nothing has come of this.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will put a single enforcement body for workers' rights in place. It will have strong powers to inspect workplaces and act against exploitation, including discriminatory practices against migrant workers.

• Existing position

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HTMS) is currently implementing a reform programme to digitise the employment tribunal process. Individuals have three months within which to bring a claim.

• Labour's proposals

Labour has committed to bringing employment tribunals up to standard, by working to further digitise them, and will increase the time limit within which employees are able to bring a tribunal claim from three months to six months.  This will allow more time for internal procedures to be completed which Labour suggests will potentially decrease the number of claims.

• Existing position

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality) Act 2023 is due to come into force in October. This will introduce a duty on employer to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, and give employment tribunals the power to uplift sexual harassment compensation by up to 25% where an employer is found to have breached the new duty to prevent sexual harassment.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will strengthen the legal duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts and require employers to create and maintain workplaces and working conditions free from harassment, including by third parties.

• Existing position

There is currently no specific mechanism available to raise collective grievances via Acas.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will enable employees to raise collective grievances via Acas to ensure that "bad or illegal" practices won't be able to continue without being properly dealt with as a result of workers being unaware that others have experienced similar issues.

• Existing position

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1972 imposes a duty on employers to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. There are also sets of Regulations dealing with specific areas and Approved Codes of Practice and guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to which employers should have regard.

• Labour's proposals

Labour will modernise health and safety guidance and work with employers, trade unions and other stakeholders to support the wellbeing of workers and their long term physical and mental health. It will review existing regulations and guidance to see whether it is adequate to support those experiencing long Covid symptoms, as well as ensuring that health and safety reflects the diversity of the workforce.

• Existing position

There is an Apprenticeship Levy. 

• Labour's proposals

Labour will reform the Apprenticeships Levy and create a flexible Growth and Skills Levy, with Skills England consulting on eligible course to ensure qualifications offer value for money.

• Existing position

The existing immigration rules include a points based system. 

• Labour's proposals

Labour will reform the current immigration system and employers who abuse the visa system and/or breach employment law will be barred from hiring workers from abroad.

Labour will strengthen the Migration Advisory Committee and establish a framework for joint working with skills bodies across the UK, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Department for Work and Pensions. They intend to bring in workforce and training plans for sectors such as health and social care and construction. 

They will stop employers who flout the rules from hiring overseas workers.