The Labour Party this week published their Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People. Labour had originally published a green paper in October 2022, A New Deal for Working People, which was subsequently republished on its website on 1 January 2024 (New Deal green paper).

 

The new plan: 

 

  •  Restates Labour's intention to introduce legislation within 100 days of entering government. It suggests that some proposals can be acted on quickly and included in an Employment Rights Bill: for example, creating a single enforcement body or removing the lower earnings limit on statutory sick pay. It acknowledges that others will take longer, stating that a review of parental leave would take place within the first year of a Labour government and a detailed consultation would be undertaken on the proposal to move towards a single status of worker. 
  •  Affirms previously stated commitments to introduce day one rights including the right to claim unfair dismissal subject to any probationary period conditions (which now includes making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible), end the practice of "fire and rehire", ban "exploitative" zero hours contracts and extend time limits for commencement of tribunal proceedings (now stated to be six months). 
  •  Includes new proposals to enable employees to raise collective grievances about conduct in their workplace with Acas, ensure the right to redundancy consultation is determined by the number of people impacted across the business as a whole rather than in a single workplace and to require large employers to produce menopause action plans. 
  •  In a significant move that has yet to attract any mainstream media coverage, it no longer refers to removing any caps on compensation payable for unfair dismissal (previously a cornerstone of the green paper) or to introducing personal liability for company directors for breaking the law or failing to comply with tribunal orders. There is also no longer any reference to the introduction of joint and several liability between companies in a supply chain to ensure accountability if slavery or other criminal labour exploitation is discovered. 

As the General Election nears, we can be sure to hear a lot more about all parties' manifestos in relation to business, employers and employment law.