As election season heats up, the major political parties are rolling out their manifestos. While not all details are finalized, here’s an overview of what the Liberal Democrats, Labour, and Conservatives propose regarding employment if they win the election.

Liberal Democrats

Pay:

• Increase paternity pay to 90% of the employee’s earnings, with a cap for high earners.

Support:

• Provide all workers, including self-employed parents, a day-one right to parental leave. This includes six weeks of "use it or lose it" leave and 46 weeks of shared parental leave, with parental leave pay set at £350 per week.

Reform:

• While specific reforms are not yet detailed, past policies have focused on enhancing workers' rights and support.

Labour

• Labour has released a comprehensive manifesto outlining their employment policies.

Pay:

• Raise the national minimum wage to at least £10 per hour.
• Close pay gaps, including those based on gender, ethnicity, and disability.

Support:

• Increase statutory sick pay (SSP) and extend it to all workers.
• Enhance family-friendly rights, extending statutory maternity and paternity leave, reviewing shared parental leave, and introducing bereavement leave.
• Provide more support for workers with family commitments through paid family and carer’s leave and flexible working.
• Strengthen measures to prevent workplace sexual harassment.
• Increase mental health support, raise awareness of neurodiversity, and review measures for managing stress and Long Covid-related health issues.

Reform:

• Grant employment rights from day one, removing qualifying periods for basic rights.
• Eliminate the distinction between "employee" and "worker," granting the same rights to all.
• Strengthen existing employment protections, including for pregnant staff, whistleblowers, workers facing redundancy, and those under TUPE.
• Make flexible working a default right from day one.
• Improve procedures for fire and rehire, and adapt unfair dismissal and redundancy laws.
• Enhance trade union rights, simplify union recognition, and require employers to inform workers of their union rights.
• Introduce a "right to switch off," protecting employees from having to respond to work communications outside working hours.
• Provide more job security for zero-hour contract workers, including the right to a regular contract after 12 weeks of consistent hours, reasonable notice for shift changes, and compensation for canceled shifts.

Conservatives

Pay:

• Introduce neonatal care leave and pay (specific details to be outlined).

Support:

• Implement a National Disability Strategy to support disabled workers (details to be outlined).
• Launch a back-to-work plan, including proposed reforms of fit notes.

Reform:

• Revise industrial action laws.
• Reform the umbrella company market.
• Overhaul non-compete clauses.
• Update TUPE regulations.
• Reassess the definition of “sex” in the Equality Act 2010.
• Reintroduce employment tribunal fees.
• As campaigning progresses, more details are likely to emerge, potentially altering these initial proposals. Stay tuned for updates as the election unfolds.