Manchester, UK.
After a whirlwind six-week campaign, the Labour Party has secured their long-anticipated victory and will form the next UK Government.
Commenting on the results, Alan Price, CEO at BrightHR, says, “After 14 years of Conservative Government, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has stormed to victory after consistently leading in the polls.
“We welcome the Labour Party’s commitment to invest in digitalisation and empower the domestic tech sector, including plans to create a Regulatory Innovation Office to update regulation, reforms to accommodate greater investment into data centres, and new ten-year R&D budgets to create longer-term tech partnerships and boost innovation.
“The value of the technology sector in the UK is set to grow exponentially over the next few years, and strategic investment will be critical to ensure that tech businesses can continue to thrive against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty.
“In terms of employment law and workplace reform, the Labour manifesto includes over 60 pledges– all of which they have promised to deliver within the first 100 days of taking office – meaning substantial change for business owners across the UK in the coming weeks and months.
“Critically, Labour’s ‘plan to make work pay’ will see a significant transfer of power from employers to employees, with a vast array of new and expanded worker rights in areas including pay, family-friendly rights, flexible working, and equality and diversity.
“Labour’s first 100 days in office will be a pivotal time for business owners – particularly small business owners – to sit down and review their working practices and policies in preparation for these changes. With Labour proposing one of the biggest shake-ups of workplace rights in a generation, employers will need to adapt to being more transparent in their business operations, including clearly laying out their workplace policies and reporting on ethnicity and gender pay gaps.
“As a result, business owners must streamline their HR processes and have an efficient, automated system for tracking and reporting on employee data. With policies changing rapidly, efficiency and automation are key, but so is building transparency and trust with employees. This increases the need for tools like digital document signing, and cloud-based document management, which allow full transparency between both employer and employee to review any contractual changes.
With automated reporting capabilities, unlimited document storage, and advanced solutions for handling rotas, absences, and employee holiday requests, comprehensive HR software like BrightHR will help employers lay the groundwork for a smooth transition when working practices change in the coming months.”
Key Employment Law Changes Businesses Will Need to Watch Out For
Day-one rights: Labour has committed to scrapping the qualifying periods for basic employment rights including unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave. This means businesses will need to amend employee contracts and introduce new workplace policies to avoid legal fees and tribunal claims. With 900+ HR documents, templates, policies, and risk assessments, BrightHR has all the tools employers need to produce legally compliant documents easily and efficiently.
Pay: Labour has also pledged to increase the National Minimum Wage to £10 an hour and give all workers Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Failure to pay staff the correct amount could result in costly penalties for small business owners and enforcement from HMRC. By getting the right employment law advice and investing in an integrated HR and payroll software that automatically adjusts for changes in wage regulations, businesses can mitigate these risks and ensure accurate, compliant payroll runs.
Family-friendly rights: Labour plans to broaden statutory maternity and paternity leave, reassess the shared parental leave system, introduce a right to bereavement leave, and bolster protections for pregnant workers. Labour is also committed to providing additional support for workers dealing with family emergencies and commitments by offering paid family and carer’s leave, more flexible working options, and stronger enforcement of rights. They’ve also planned to put more safeguards for pregnant employees, whistleblowers, those facing redundancy, and those subject to TUPE in place.
Flexible working policies: It’s unclear right now how flexible working will change but there are measures business owners can put in place to future-proof their business. For instance, upskilling your managers with courses on how to deal with flexible working requests, having the right measures in place to manage different working schedules like shift and rota planning software, and making sure you have an efficient employee timekeeping system, will all be essential if business owners want to keep up with this major change.
Mental health and employee wellbeing: Labour have also suggested a greater emphasis will be placed on supporting the wellbeing and mental health of workers. This will involve introducing measures like work capability assessments to support people with disabilities back into work, employers would benefit from having a document template library with assessments like this ready to roll out. It might also be worth investing in an employee assistance programme to better support the mental health of your employees get ahead of any new regulations or laws introduced by the party on employer responsibility around mental health support.
Price emphasises, “The first 100 days of a new government will set the tone for the kind of impact a Labour government will have on small business owners. Significant change is on its way, especially if Labour make good on their promise to introduce the 60+ employment law reforms outlined in their manifesto. Employers must be proactive in reviewing their HR policies and finding solutions to manage and automate pay changes, leave and absence, lateness, holidays, flexible working, expenses, timekeeping, and more.”
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