A lot of my clients are understandably concerned about what the General Election result will mean for their workforce – do you have any ideas on what this could mean for employment law?
The election resulted in a final outcome where the Conservatives are the biggest party but have no overall majority. The party are currently involved in talks to remedy the situation but many employers are likely to be concerned about how a hung Parliament will affect employment law.
Your clients, and many others, are likely to be concerned about how the result will impact the UK leaving the EU. Theresa May called the election to ensure she was given the mandate for a “hard Brexit” and the results seem to suggest the public did not support this. Some experts are now saying it is likely a “softer” Brexit will be carried out whilst others, including the Federation of Small Businesses, are calling for talks to be delayed or postponed.
The Conservatives campaigned on the basis they would introduce the Great Repeal Bill which will take all current EU laws on worker rights and create them in domestic law where possible. This means most EU worker rights will be in existence the day before and after Brexit. Labour pledged a slightly different law which guaranteed all existing protections under EU law. The final form of this legislation will be closely watched to see whether the Conservatives are a weakened party or whether they can push through their original plans.
The Conservative-commissioned Taylor report in to modern employment practices is still expected to publish its findings within the next few weeks. The review is likely to focus on issues such as the tests for employee status, ‘gig economy’ workers and the right to an employment contract. It is also expected that there will be a recommendation to introduce a right to request fixed hours for those on zero hours contracts.
Introducing legislation to protect workers who are in insecure, low-paid work is likely to be passed through the House of Commons as there is general cross-party support for improving worker rights within the ‘gig economy’. Zero hours contracts was also an area that the other parties pledged they would stamp out abuse so steps to improve rights under these contracts are likely to be successful.
The Conservative manifesto contained other employment changes including: introducing a statutory right to time off work for carers; creating a period of child bereavement leave for parents; and providing discrimination protection for short term mental health problems. For now, all employers can do is await the Queen’s Speech to see which of these pledges are being included on the agenda for the next Parliament.
