The Labour Government has taken its place in the House of Commons and the King’s Speech has passed, leaving organisations and employers keen to see what might come next.
The recent King’s Speech, delivered by the monarch and written by the new government, set out the legislative plans for the new session and, on this occasion, this included 40 bills, the highest number of bills to appear in a royal speech since 2005.
As well as this, it is notable that the Commons now has the highest number of female MPs – 263 – in post. This includes the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and the first female deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner – both state school educated.
Sir Keir Starmer says his government is ‘mission driven’ – Labour cites five missions to rebuild Britain: kickstart economic growth, make Britain a clean energy superpower, take back our streets, break down barriers to opportunity and build an NHS fit for the future.
So, how do these pledges tie in with DE&I? The details are yet to be hammered out by the fledging administration but there are strong themes running through Labour’s manifesto and in the Bills set out in the King’s Speech.
This statement in Labour’s manifesto is founded on the principles of DE&I: “Whoever you are, wherever you come from, Britain should be a country where hard work means you can get on in life …We are a country where who your parents are – and how much money they have – too often counts for more than your effort and enterprise. Too many people see success as something that happens to others. This is an appalling waste of talent as well as a huge
injustice. So, breaking the pernicious link between background and success will be a defining
mission for Labour.”
The latter will be welcome news to those who recognise and act on the need for, and benefits
of, fairness in the world of work and beyond, though like any government’s manifesto pledges,
the outcomes remain to be seen.
To address the shortfall in apprenticeships, and skills shortages, which Labour says have left young people without the opportunities they need, a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education is due to be brought in and there will be a guarantee for the provision of training, an apprenticeship, or help to find work for all 18‐ to 21‐year‐olds.
The newly formed Skills England intends to bring together business, training providers and unions with national and local government to ensure the workforce is highly trained and capable of delivering Labour’s Industrial Strategy, which is founded on building a partnership between public and private sectors to meet challenges around economic growth.
Labour says it will support children in the early part of their life, which means, “giving parents the flexibility they need to care for their children. Labour will review the parental leave system, so it best supports working families, within our first year in government.”
This would mean flexible working is available by default from day one of an individual’s employment, for all employees. By doing this, Labour hopes workers’ work‐life balance improves and that the move will help parents and carers to better manage their work and home commitments. The Government reasons that, if living and working standards improve, productivity will rise and so will economic growth.
Also, in the workplace, employees will have the right to claim unfair dismissal, statutory sick pay (SSP), and parental leave from their first day of employment, removing the current qualifying periods. The party wants employment protections that are ‘fit for the modern economy and ready for the future of work’.
The manifesto states: “We are committed to Securonomics, which will give working people security in their day‐to‐day lives – this involves banning exploitative zero hours contracts and ending fire and rehire. Labour will end ‘one sided’ flexibility and ensure all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability, banning exploitative zero hours contracts and ensuring everyone has the right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a 12‐week reference period.”
The latter is supported by the Low Pay Commission, and, following this theme of fairness at work, the Government has turned its focus on reforming the law to provide remedies against ‘fire and rehire’ abuses, replacing the existing statutory code with a strengthened code of practice.
“Ending fire and rehire means workers can be safe in the knowledge that terms and conditions negotiated in good faith can’t be ripped up under threat of dismissal,” states Labour. “Workers will be able to plan and save for the future with security in their pay and terms. Good employers will also know that they will not be undercut by competitors who only engage staff under threat of the sack.”
Now, UK employers with more than 250 staff must report their gender pay gap data by April 4 annually. The Labour government wants organisations with more than 250 employees to also publish ethnicity and disability pay gaps, to obtain a more comprehensive overview of gaps in the workplace – this will be enforced by a new regulatory unit with trade union backing. But reporting discrepancies in gender pay will no longer suffice. Large employers will be expected to put together, publish and enact strategies to close their gender pay gap, extending this to outsourced workers.
Another requirement for companies with more than 250 employees is to develop a menopause action plan to support those going through what can be a challenging time of life for many women.
Also, the minimum wage will be raised to a Genuine Living Wage, which will take into account the cost of living, reducing poverty and helping to redress wage inequality. Employment laws are due for a reboot, too, with unfair dismissal applicable from day one of a job, enhanced trades unions rights, and new protections against discrimination and harassment at work.
“Everyone in this country deserves a government that matches their ambition. Labour will ensure no matter whatever your background, you can thrive, and therefore we will enact the socio‐economic duty in the Equality Act 2010,” states Labour.
The Government will place women’s equality at the heart of its missions – its plan to Make Work Pay is set to transform the lives of working women, including by strengthening rights to equal pay and protections from maternity and menopause discrimination and sexual harassment. Labour will take action to reduce the gender pay gap, building on the legacy of Barbara Castle’s Equal Pay Act.
A Race Equality Act will be enshrined in law, giving full right to equal pay for Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority people, strengthening protections against dual discrimination and rooting out other racial inequalities. The Government will also reverse the Conservatives’ decision to downgrade the monitoring of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate.
The manifesto states: “Labour is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and to the principle of working with them, so that their views and voices will be at the heart of all we do. We will introduce the full right to equal pay for disabled people. Building on gender pay gap reporting, we will introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers.
“We will support disabled people to work by improving employment support and access to reasonable adjustments. We will also tackle the Access to Work backlog and make sure people can try out a job without fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it does not work out.”
All existing strands of hate crime will become and aggravated offence, further protecting LGBT+ and disabled people. Also, Labour will deliver a full trans‐inclusive ban on conversion practices, while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Government wants to modernise, simplify, and reform the ‘intrusive and outdated’ gender recognition law to a new process, retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor, enabling access to the relevant healthcare pathway. The Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women will be supported and the Government will continue to back the implementation of single‐sex exceptions.
FAIRER Consulting MD Dan Robertson says, “We are not partisan at FAIRER, but we welcome these initiatives as set out by this new Government. Creating a fairer world of world requires vision and a commitment to action. Investing in skills for young people, shining a spotlight on race and disability discrimination through pay audits and offering flexible work options are the right measures in a broader toolkit to achieving fairness and inclusion for all.”
This article covers some of the detail spelled out by Labour in its manifesto and in its Bills. For more detail, please see labour.org.uk and to discuss how the changes might affect your business, get in touch with FAIRER Consulting.