General election 2015: implications for employment law

The Conservatives will eradicate exclusivity in zero hours contracts (page 21, Conservative manifesto). It must intend to achieve this by bringing section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (SBEEA 2015) into force, which will make exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts unenforceable (see Practice note, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act: employment law provisions: Zero hours contracts).

If the Conservative Party comes into power, it will support the national minimum wage (NMW) and want to see real-term increases in the next Parliament by:

It will also support the Living Wage and will continue to encourage businesses to pay it, if they can afford it (page 21, Conservative manifesto).

The Conservatives will increase the entitlement to free childcare to 30 hours for all three and four year olds of working parents (page 27, Conservative manifesto). David Cameron has since pledged, that if he returns to power, the increased 30-hour offer from 2017 would result in more than 600,000 extra 15-hour free childcare places every year (Election 2015: Tories pledge new childcare places, BBC News, 22 April 2015).

As part of its commitment to make government more efficient, the Conservatives "will end taxpayer-funded six-figure payoffs for the best paid public sector workers" (page 49, Conservative manifesto). Although there is no further detail given in the manifesto, the Party has previously indicated that it will introduce new legislation capping public sector enhanced redundancy payments to £95,000 (see Employment news round-up for week to 8 January 2015: Conservatives will cap public sector redundancy payments).

It is expected to bring into force sections 154 to 156 of the SBEEA 2015, which will require the repayment of public sector exit payments in certain circumstances (see Practice note, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act: employment law provisions: Public sector exit payments).

As part of its commitment to "Jobs for all", the Conservatives aim to prevent "disruptive and undemocratic strike action" by introducing the following reforms:

(Pages 18 to 19 of the Conservative manifesto.)

Previously, the following additional reforms have also been proposed by the Conservatives, although these are not specifically mentioned in their manifesto:

The Conservatives have pledged to create an extra three million apprenticeships over the next five years if they win the election (page 18, Conservative manifesto). On 9 April 2015, David Cameron announced 16,000 new apprenticeships to be trained over the next five years as part of a deal agreed with leading employers, including Morrisons and National Grid (Major employers pledge 16,000 new apprentices, CIPD, 9 April 2015).

The Conservatives will aim to halve the disability employment gap by transforming policy, practice and public attitudes to get hundreds of thousands of disabled people into employment. It is not clear how they propose to do this as no further details are provided in the manifesto.

The Party will also aim to promote full gender equality by requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees.

(Page 19, Conservative manifesto.)

The Conservative Party will take steps to eradicate the exploitation of migrant workers (page 21, Conservative manifesto).

It brought in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 to protect vulnerable people from exploitation (pages 31 and 58, Conservative manifesto).

It will introduce tougher labour market regulation to tackle illegal working and exploitation and use data from multiple agencies to identify businesses that employ illegal workers. It will take tougher action on employers who do not pay the minimum wage by allowing inspection teams to reinvest more of the money raised by fines levied on employers (page 31, Conservative manifesto).

A new Conservative government will introduce a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act 1998. This is with the aim of breaking "the formal link between British courts and the European Court of Human Rights" and to make "our own Supreme Court the ultimate arbiter of human rights matters in the UK" (page 60, Conservative manifesto).

The Conservative manifesto refers to helping those suffering from long-term yet treatable conditions, such as obesity or addictions, back into work by ensuring they receive the right medical treatment. If they refuse a recommended treatment, their benefits may be reduced. The Conservatives will also provide significant support to those suffering from mental health problems which prevent them from working (page 28, Conservative manifesto).

As part of its vision of "Building the Big Society", the Conservatives will make volunteering for three days a year a workplace entitlement for people working in large companies and the public sector (page 46, Conservative manifesto). On 10 April 2015, David Cameron announced the introduction of three days paid volunteering leave each year for all public sector employees and those in the private sector working for employers with at least 250 employees (David Cameron: 15 million workers to get three days' paid volunteering leave each year, Telegraph, 9 April 2015).

In December 2014, it was reported that the Conservatives were considering increasing the maternity allowance that can be claimed by self-employed mothers, see CIPD, Self-employed women may get more pay during maternity leave, 12 December 2014. There is no mention of this in their manifesto.

Labour will restrict the "exploitative" use of zero hours contracts by ensuring that workers who work "regular hours" in their first 12 weeks of employment are given a "regular contract". The Labour manifesto refers to those working regular hours for more than 12 weeks being entitled to a regular contract (page 23, Labour manifesto). It also plans to:

(Page 10, Workplace manifesto.)

Labour proposes to tackle low pay by raising the national minimum wage (NMW) to more than £8 an hour by October 2019 to bring it closer to average earnings (page 23, Labour manifesto). The Workplace manifesto made reference to raising the NMW to more than £8 an hour before 2020 and setting a new framework for the Low Pay Commission to bring the NMW closer to average earnings (page 8, Workplace manifesto). (Previously, Labour had pledged to increase the NMW to £8 by 2020 and Chuka Umunna had then stated that this was a target and a Labour government would not dictate a rise (see Employment news round-up for week to 20 November 2014: Labour assures businesses over national minimum wage).)

The Workplace manifesto also sets out plans to:

The Labour Party may also have plans to increase the maximum fine to £50,000 for those employers who avoid paying the NMW and close the loophole which allows agency workers to be paid less than the NMW. While there is no mention of this in the Workplace manifesto, this pledge is set out in the Whalley Range Labour Party's Labour’s pledges for 2015 election.

Labour's manifestos set out plans to introduce new "Make Work Pay" contracts which will give tax rebates to companies that commit to pay the Living Wage in the first year of a Labour government (page 23, Labour manifesto; page 16, Business manifesto; page 9, Workplace manifesto).

Labour will also:

(Page 23, Labour manifesto; page 8, Workplace manifesto.)

Both the Labour manifesto and the Workplace manifesto refer to Labour's plans to support working families by:

In January 2015, Labour announced a pledge to consult on improving flexible working for family carers, which could include the introduction of a period of "adjustment leave" to allow for short-term crises. It also stated that it would increase opportunities for flexible working across the public sector. However, there is no mention of these pledges in any of the manifesto documents.

Labour's plans to address "insecurity and unfairness in the workplace" include abolishing the "employment tribunal fee system" as part of reforms to ensure "workers have proper access to justice". It would ask Acas to oversee a reform process led by the CBI and the TUC (page 12, Workplace manifesto). The Labour manifesto likewise refers to abolishing the tribunal fee system, which it claims created "a significant barrier to workplace justice" as part of wider reforms to improve access to justice (page 23, Labour manifesto).

It is not entirely clear whether Labour plans to eliminate fees altogether, or introduce a new system.

Labour intends to "make it illegal to use agency workers to undercut wages by closing the loopholes in the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 that mean workers who are paid between assignments are excluded from the protections of the regulations" (page 12, Workplace manifesto). Labour first set out its plans to remove the "Swedish derogation" from the Agency Workers Regulations back in November 2014 (see Legal update, Labour plans to tackle "rogue" employment agencies).

The Labour manifesto emphasises that Labour will abolish the loophole that allows companies to undercut permanent staff by using agency workers on lower rates of pay (page 23, Labour manifesto).

Other plans to reform the use of agency workers include:

(Page 50, Labour manifesto; page 12, Workplace manifesto).

Labour is committed to:

In a campaign speech on immigration on 18 April 2015, Ed Miliband has pledged to set up a Home Office investigative unit to target the illegal exploitation of migrant workers, if a Labour government is elected. The team of more than 100 police officers and specialists from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority will have more powers to stop the abuse of workers and increase the prosecution of employers who breach employment laws. The unit would comprise of enforcement officers taken from the 1,000 newly recruited border agency staff announced by Yvette Cooper in March 2015 (Labour targets exploitation of migrant workers with new investigative unit, The Guardian, 17 April 2015). This announcement corresponds with Labour's manifesto pledges to put an end to exploitative practices that undercut wages and conditions for agency and migrant workers (see Agency workers above).

Labour's plans to support young people at work include:

(Page 24, Labour manifesto; page 18, Business manifesto; pages 20 to 21, Workplace manifesto.)

In relation to equality and human rights, the Labour manifesto states that a new Labour government would do the following:

(Page 67, Labour manifesto.)

Although not included in the Labour manifesto and the Workplace manifesto, the Labour Party have previously made pledges to:

Labour will require companies to include elected employee representatives on remuneration committees setting executive pay (page 21, Labour manifesto) and publish the:

(Pages 16 to 17, Workplace manifesto.)

The Labour Party would reverse the "shares for rights scheme" that introduced employee shareholders in 2013 (page 10, Workplace manifesto). However, it has not set out any detail of how it plans to do so. It is also not mentioned in the Labour manifesto.

Labour have also set out plans to:

The Party will stamp out abuse of zero hours contracts and will create a right for workers to request a fixed term contract. It will consult on introducing a right to make regular patterns of work contractual after a period of time (page 48, Lib Dem manifesto).

Recently, the Lib Dems stated they will consult on how best to tackle rogue employers that try to avoid any new restrictions on zero hours contracts (Liberal Democrats propose tribunal fee review, ELA Briefing, volume 22, page 11, April 2015). No further detail is given in the manifesto.

As part of their plan to help family finances, the Lib Dems intend to:

The Lib Dems want to promote flexibility at work and help with childcare costs by:

Recently, the Lib Dems have announced plans for employees who spend 35 hours or more each week caring for a friend or family member to receive a £250 annual ‘Carer’s Bonus’. Carers who qualify for the proposed allowance could also receive an additional five days of paid ‘care leave’ each year. The annual bonus is planned for 2017/18 and will start at £125, eventually rising to £250 (Lib Dems pledge £250 bonus for staff with caring responsibilities, People Management Magazine Online, 24 April 2015).

The Lib Dems will review employment tribunal fees so that they are not a barrier to the enforcement of employment rights (page 48, Lib Dem manifesto). In an article for ELA Briefing, Jo Swinson MP, Employment and Equalities Minister, has advised that, if elected, the Liberal Democrats would "review the level of tribunal fees to ensure that they do not prohibit people from making bona fide claims" (Liberal Democrats propose tribunal fee review, ELA Briefing, volume 22, page 11, April 2015).

At the Party conference in 2014, Justice Minister, Simon Hughes MP said that the government intended to make an announcement before the end of the year on how it will tackle the issues raised by an increased number of litigants in person. No further detail has yet been provided and this is not mentioned in the manifesto.

The Lib Dems will protect the rights of trade union members to have their subscriptions deducted from their salary automatically. It will also encourage wider participation in trade union ballots through electronic voting (pages 131-132, Lib Dem manifesto). There is no further detail given although on 26 March 2015, the Lib Dems announced that Vince Cable had reached an agreement with the TUC to begin work towards enabling trades unions to ballot their members electronically. It stated that an expert task force would be set up to find the best way of implementing e-balloting in accordance with current legislation (see Liberal Democrats, First steps towards introducing e-balloting for trades unions).

The Lib Dems will support the major expansion of high quality and advanced apprenticeships (page 25, Lib Dem manifesto) by doubling the number of businesses that hire apprentices (page 44, Lib Dem manifesto). They will also help young people to obtain work placements. These placements will be tailored for those with disabilities or mental health problems (page 44, Lib Dem manifesto).

The Lib Dems' aims in relation to equality and diversity are for society to "treat its citizens equally and with dignity ... we must continue our work to fight prejudice and discrimination ...". On this basis, the Party will enact the remaining provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which are not in force (page 105, Lib Dem manifesto). Its plans also include improving equality and tackling discrimination in relation to the following:

By 2020, the Party will extend pay transparency requirements by:

(Page 47, Lib Dem manifesto.)

The Lib Dem manifesto refers to the need for a "highly skilled workforce and flexible business support" (page 25). One of the ways it proposes of achieving this is by providing support to medium sized businesses through a "one-stop-shop" for accessing government support, a dedicated unit in HMRC and the development of management skills (page 26, Lib Dem manifesto). At the annual conference in 2014, Vince Cable announced plans for a "one stop shop" to enforce workers' rights. The new Workers' Rights Agency would streamline the work of four existing bodies: the national minimum wage enforcement section of HMRC, the Working Time Directive section of the Health and Safety Executive, the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate and the Gangmasters Licensing authority (see Legal update, Liberal Democrats' Party Conference: employment law proposals). This detail is not included in the manifesto.

The Party has also announced an intention to double the number of employer inspections to ensure statutory employment legislation is being complied with in relation to migrant workers (page 126, Lib Dem manifesto).

The Lib Dems will keep the Human Rights Act 1998 and will introduce a second Freedoms Act which will have embedded rights to freedom of speech and protest (page 14, Lib Dem manifesto).

"UKIP recognises that zero hours contracts suit many people, we will not ban them" (page 41, UKIP manifesto). It proposes to introduce a legally binding Code of Conduct setting out the following:

(Page 41, UKIP manifesto.)

UKIP will take the following steps in relation to the national minimum wage (NMW):

UKIP will initiate a full review of childcare provision to make it easier for working parents to access the best childcare funding system that works for them. Parents who are self-employed, agency workers or on zero hours contracts or commission are likely to find it the hardest to find a childcare scheme that works for them according to UKIP.

It will de-regulate childcare provision and amend the voucher scheme. However, it will continue to fund the existing childcare provision of 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three to four year olds and all two year olds whose parents are on certain benefits. It will also honour the coalition government's commitment to providing a tax-free childcare scheme of up to £2,000 for children under twelve (page 25, UKIP manifesto).

UKIP's position is that Britain should exit from the European Union. It states this "is the only choice open to us, if we are to make our own laws and control our own destiny" (page 70, UKIP manifesto).

By leaving the EU and restricting immigration, UKIP will "give back some hope to British workers" by doing the following:

UKIP will not undermine workers rights by leaving the EU, it will simply adopt any European employment rights into UK law.

(Page 41, UKIP manifesto).

UKIP will remove Britain from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 which it states gives "European judges far too much power over British law making and law enforcement ...". It wants the Supreme Court to "act as the final authority on matters of Human Rights" (page 53, UKIP manifesto).

It will introduce a Bill of Rights, which will protect all the human and civil rights acquired by British citizens under UK law and will apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (page 53, UKIP manifesto).

UKIP's manifesto refers to allowing British businesses to choose to employ British citizens first (page 41, UKIP manifesto).

At its annual conference in Doncaster, UKIP had stated that "Businesses should be able to discriminate in favour of young British workers" (see UKIP, Policies for people). Nigel Farage has also called for the scrapping of race discrimination laws which protect workers from discrimination in the workplace (see BBC, Nigel Farage would axe "much of" race discrimination law).

The manifesto does not refer to discrimination in favour of British workers or race discrimination laws.

UKIP has previously pledged to repeal the Agency Workers Directive (see UKIP, Policies for people). The manifesto states that agency workers have been penalised due to the increased use of zero hours contracts by employers as a way of escaping the requirements of the EU's Temporary Agency Workers Directive which gave agency workers the same workplace rights as employees (page 41, UKIP manifesto).

Under UKIP's proposals the Temporary Agency Workers Directive would no longer apply to agency workers as the UK would no longer by subject to European laws as a result of leaving the EU.

UKIP will not allow the NHS or third parties to employ home care workers on zero hours contracts. It will ensure these workers receive the national minimum wage, by being paid for the entire time they are on duty and not being expected to travel in their own time (page 19, UKIP manifesto).

The Green Party states it will end exploitative zero hours contracts (page 46, Green Party manifesto). There is no further detail provided.

The Green Party will "make the national minimum wage a living wage for all" (page 7, Green Party manifesto). It will do this by increasing the national minimum wage (NMW) to £10 per hour by 2020. This will mean a NMW of £8.10 an hour (and £9.40 in London) in 2015 (page 46, Green Party manifesto).

It will ensure all those on training or work placements as part of the benefits regime are either in college-based training or earning at least the NMW at work (page 55, Green Party manifesto).

The Green Party will phase in a 35 hour week. This will improve quality of life and "would combat unemployment by sharing available work out more equitably" (page 46, Green Party manifesto). It is not clear what this would entail.

The Green Party will:

(Page 46, Green Party manifesto.)

The Party will reduce employment tribunal fees so that tribunals are accessible to workers (page 46, Green Party manifesto).

The Green Party will revive the role of democratic trade unions, including the right to belong to a union and employer recognition of this, and the right to take industrial action, including strikes and peaceful picketing.

It will also put an end to blacklisting by setting up a full investigation into blacklisting in the construction industry and consider making it a criminal offence.

(Page 46, Green Party manifesto.)

The Human Rights Act 1998 will be retained as will the membership of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Council of Europe (page 58, Green Party manifesto).

Workers will be given a greater say in the running of companies, by including employee-elected directors in medium and large companies.

The Green Party will end the exploitation of interns by ensuring that no unpaid full-time internship lasts more than four weeks.

(Page 46, Green Party manifesto.)

SNP will support action to end unfair and exploitative zero hours contracts, by launching a time-limited consultation, involving businesses and trade unions, to agree the most effective way forward (page 15, SNP manifesto).

SNP will support:

As part of its continued support for the Living Wage, the SNP will :

(Page 28, SNP manifesto).

The SNP will commit to continue providing 600 hours of childcare for over 120,000 three and four year olds and eligible two year olds. It will almost double this to 30 hours of free childcare a week by the end of the next Scottish Parliament for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds (page 29, SNP manifesto).

It will also push for greater support for working parents with increased paternity leave (page 10, Key priorities, SNP manifesto). There is no further detail on what the proposed increase to paternity leave would be.

The SNP will create 30,000 new modern apprenticeships every year by 2020. Its aim is to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021 (page 26, SNP manifesto).

As part of its aim of "promoting equality and protecting human rights", the SNP wishes to see more equal representation of men and women in public life, in order to achieve this, it proposes:

Once powers over equalities are devolved, the SNP will bring forward an Equal Pay (Scotland) Bill to deliver equal pay for women in Scotland.

It will also maintain the protections under the Equality Act 2010, and ask the government to engage with key stakeholders on potential improvements. It will support calls to establish a Race Committee to advise on the work of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

(Pages 22 to 23, SNP manifesto).

On its vision of a stronger society, the SNP will press the UK government to work with the business community to look for ways to "formalise the relationship between government, employer associations and employee associations with a particular focus on encouraging wider trade union participation" and recognising the positive role of collective bargaining in improving labour market conditions.

The SNP supports increased employee representation on company boards and it will urge the UK government to consult on this issue.

It wishes to restore the 90 day consultation period for redundancies affecting 100 or more employees.

It will oppose plans to further restrict the right to strike and support trade unions with their plans to modernise the way strike ballots are taken and maximise participation with online voting.

(Page 17, SNP manifesto).

The SNP will keep the Human Rights Act 1998 and is against withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (page 23, SNP manifesto).