We reported in January 2024 that the Labour Party's then most recent publication 'Let's Get Britain's Future Back' made limited reference to workers' rights, referring only to proposals to ban zero hours contracts and 'fire and rehire' practices.
Since then, the more detailed proposals in Labour's Green Paper 'A New Deal for Working People' have come under increasing scrutiny as business leaders who anticipate a likely change of Government have engaged with what Labour's proposals could mean in practice.
So, what exactly is Labour proposing? We set out below some of the key changes as regards individual employment rights, with brief comments and alternative proposals from the Withers' employment team. Bear in mind however, that the road from 'Green Paper' proposal to enforceable rights is often a long and winding one. Any future administration may find that some of these proposals are likely to be counter-productive or unworkable.
Proposals to give unions greater access to workplaces and changing the rules on recognition of unions and strikes would arguably be easier to introduce than changes to individual employment rights. Such measures could bring about a profound alteration in the way that UK workplaces operate and might start to shift the emphasis from individual rights to those bargained for collectively.
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