General Election 2019: Employment Implications

Worker rights

The Conservatives want to make the UK the "best place in the world to work". Key pledges on workers' rights include:

• creating a single enforcement body for employment rights and cracking down on employers abusing employment law
  
  
• giving workers without fixed contractual hours the right to request a more predictable contract reflecting their actual hours
  
  
• increasing the national living wage to £10.50 per hour by 2024 and lowering the age threshold to 23 in 2021 and then 21 by 2024 (currently the national living wage is £8.21 for workers aged 25 and over, with lower rates for those under 25)
  
  
• requiring employers to pass on all tips and service charges to workers in a fair and transparent way in accordance with a new statutory code of practice.

Family & diversity

Key pledges from the Conservatives on family and diversity include:

• encouraging flexible working and consulting on making it the default position unless employers have good reasons not to
  
  
• strengthening redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents
  
  
• allowing parents to take extended leave for neonatal care
  
  
• looking at ways to make it easier for fathers to take paternity leave
  
  
• introducing a right to a week's leave for unpaid carers.

Immigration

Key immigration pledges include:

• introducing an Australian-style points-based system where visas will be based on migrants' skills and the contribution they can make
  
  
• treating EEA and non-EEA citizens the same for visa purposes from 1 January 2021
  
  
• requiring migrants to contribute to the NHS by increasing the immigration health surcharge from £400 to £625 a year
  
  
• allowing foreign students to work for two years after graduation
  
  
• introducing bespoke new visa schemes for migrants to fill shortages in public services, including a new NHS visa for health professionals.

Worker rights

Labour is pledging the "biggest extension of workers' rights in history". Key pledges include:

• creating a new Secretary of State for employment rights and a Workers’ Protection Agency to enforce worker rights
  
  
• introducing sectoral collective bargaining to set minimum employment conditions for particular sectors
  
  
• strengthening trade union rights, including their right to enter workplaces, and making strike ballots easier
  
  
• creating a single status of "worker" for everyone apart from the genuinely self-employed
  
  
• ensuring all workers have full and equal rights from day one of engagement
  
  
• abolishing the opt-out of the 48 hour working limit and reducing the length of the average full-time working week to 32 hours within a decade, with no loss of pay
  
  
• banning unpaid internships and zero-hours contracts
  
  
• introducing a right to a regular contract after 12 weeks for zero-hours workers
  
  
• requiring rest breaks and cancelled shifts to be paid
  
  
• introducing a statutory real living wage of £10 per hour for all workers aged 16 and over (currently the national living wage is £8.21 for workers aged 25 and over, with lower rates for those under 25)
  
  
• strengthening protection for whistleblowers
  
  
• increasing protection against redundancy
  
  
• extending the powers of Employment Tribunals and introducing new Labour Courts with a stronger role for people with industrial experience on the panel.

Corporate governance 

Labour plans to give workers a stake in the company they work for and a greater say in how it is run by:

• requiring large companies to set up "Inclusive Ownership Funds (IFOs)" which would give employees a stake of up to 10% ownership of the company
  
  
• requiring one-third of boards to be made up of worker-directors elected directly from the workforce.

Family & diversity

Key pledges on diversity and family friendly rights include:

• creating a right to flexible working for all from day one of employment (instead of a right to request flexible working after 26 weeks' service)
  
  
• increasing statutory maternity pay from nine to twelve months
  
  
• doubling paternity leave from two to four weeks and increasing statutory pay
  
  
• banning the dismissal of pregnant women without prior approval of a government body
  
  
• requiring large employers to report on their disability pay gap and all employers to implement plans to eradicate the pay gap for gender, race and disability or face fines
  
  
• requiring large employers to obtain gender equality certification from the government
  
  
• requiring large employers to have flexible working and menopause policies
  
  
• requiring employers to maintain workplaces free of harassment, including from third parties
  
  
• making it easier for employers to use positive action in recruitment
  
  
• introducing "disability leave" to be recorded separately from sick leave
  
  
• introducing statutory bereavement leave and 10 days of paid leave for survivors of domestic abuse.

Immigration

On immigration, Labour says it will:

• establish a humane immigration system and end the 'hostile environment'
  
  
• seek to protect free movement rights if the UK leaves the EU
  
  
• end the minimum income requirement for family immigration
  
  
• restore the overseas domestic workers' visa.

Worker rights

The Liberal Democrats want to see "secure jobs, with proper rights and fair pay". Their key pledges on worker rights include:

• establishing a new Worker Protection Enforcement Authority to protect those in precarious work
  
  
• creating a right to flexible working for all from day one of employment (instead of a right to request flexible working after 26 weeks' service)
  
  
• establishing a new "dependent contractor" status to replace "worker" status, with entitlement to basic rights such as minimum wage, sick pay and holiday
  
  
• reviewing the tax and NICs status of employees, dependent contractors and the self-employed to ensure comparable treatment
  
  
• introducing a 20 percent premium on the minimum wage for people on zero-hours contracts to compensate for the uncertainty in their hours
  
  
• introducing a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months for zero-hours workers and agency workers
  
  
• introducing a presumption of employment or dependent contractor status, with the onus being on the employer to prove otherwise
  
  
• giving trade unions a right of access to workplaces along with other measures to strengthen their ability to represent workers
  
  
• reviewing the rules on pensions for gig economy workers
  
  
• offering parental leave and pay to the self-employed.

Corporate governance

Pledges for promoting employee ownership and strengthening employee and shareholder voice include:

• giving staff in listed companies with more than 250 employees a right to request shares, to be held in trust for their benefit
  
  
• requiring all listed companies and private companies with more than 250 employees to have an employee representative on the board
  
  
• requiring binding shareholder votes on executive pay policies.

Family & diversity

Key pledges on diversity and family-friendly rights include:

• increasing statutory paternity leave from two weeks to six weeks
  
  
• requiring employers to publish parental leave and pay policies
  
  
• requiring employers with more than 250 employees to publish gender, BAME and LGBT+ employment levels and pay gaps
  
  
• pushing for at least 40 percent female board representation in FTSE 350 companies
  
  
• outlawing caste discrimination.

Immigration

On immigration, the Liberal Democrats will:

• replace Tier 2 work visas with a more flexible merit-based system
  
  
• move policymaking on work permits from the Home Office into the Department for Business
  
  
• introduce a new non-political agency to take over processing of visa applications
  
  
• create a new visa allowing foreign students to work for two years after graduation.