At the Labour Party Conference this week, various policies of interest to employers were announced - some new, and some doubling down on previous indications given.

 

Angela Rayner, Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, referred to Labour's "New Deal for Working People", reiterating her pledge to introduce the legislation within the first 100 days in power, if elected. Labour would ban zero hours contracts, end "fire and rehire", improve sick pay and grant "basic rights" from day one. In addition, she said that the Low Pay Commission's remit would be expanded so that the national minimum wage would for the first time take account of the cost of living. Unions would be enabled to "stand up for their members" and collective bargaining boosted.   All of these significant proposals, inevitably, lack any detail at this stage - to cite just one example, it is not at all clear how one would ban zero hours contracts? 

Further proposals confirmed included a commitment to amend the Equality Act 2010 to introduce a duty on employers to take reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts, together with a new statutory code of practice setting out the obligations on employers. These could include having effective and well-publicised policies and procedures, providing appropriate training and assessing foreseeable risks. Employers would be liable if they were informed of any sexual harassment and did not take appropriate steps or had not taken measures to prevent it in the first place. Emily Thornberry, Shadow Attorney General, also announced that women who report sexual harassment at work should get the same protection as other whistleblowers. 

 

Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary, announced that Labour would honour the UN Convention for the Rights of Disabled People, introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting for larger businesses and facilitate workers securing reasonable adjustments from their employers. A new Race Equality Act would tackle structural racism, including the issue of low pay for ethnic minorities, with fines for organisations not taking appropriate action on their pay data. Following Baroness O'Grady's review into tackling the gender pay gap, action would be taken to make more progress, more quickly - though, again, it is quite unclear how that would operate in practice. 

As we near closer to a general election, employers and employees can expect the issue of workplace reform to be a significant part of all leading parties' manifestos.  Watch this space...