Labour Leader challenger Owen Smith has published his workplace manifesto pledges
Containing 25 pledges to improve worker rights, he main ones for SMEe’s to be most interested in from an HR perspective are:
Equality
- New Equal Pay legislation to close the gender pay gap.
- Simplify the enforcement of equality law and abolish fees for Employment Tribunals.
- Reintroduce discrimination questionnaires and employment rights from day one to protect workers with protected characteristics including pregnant women, older and young workers and disabled workers.
- Require publication of race equality plans for companies over a certain size.
Improve individual rights for working people
- Employment rights from day one
- Enhance definition of “worker” in employment law, to outlaw bogus self-employment, strengthen rights and address agency labour issues.
- Outlaw exclusively foreign recruitment
- Require all workers to receive a statement of rights, pay, hours, living wage and average wage
- Outlaw Zero-hours contracts
- Compensation for cancelled shifts.
- Restore access to justice for workers by abolishing fees for Employment Tribunals.
- Strengthen enforcement of National Living Wage.
- Strengthen enforcement of Health and Safety legislation, including restoring civil liability for breach of regulations and restore health and safety protection for self employed workers.
Ensure a voice for people at work
- Worker representation on all Remuneration Committees.
- Information and Consultation rules to apply to companies of 50 employees.
Jeremy Corbyn meanwhile wants to further the current compulsory pay audits for companies with more than 250 staff in order to show whether or not they are discriminating against female employees by extending this policy to every company with at least 21 employees and to cover other potentially disadvantaged groups, including disabled people and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
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