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The Queen's Speech: Employment Law implications

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After a crazy few weeks of politics yet again, last month Theresa May's minority government set out its legislative programme for the next parliamentary session. It comes as no surprise that it is dominated by Brexit with the Speech beginning "My government's priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union."

 

The speech was clearly paired back from what was probably originally intended had the Tories won the election by a majority and from an employment law perspective there is little detail at this stage but key points to note are:

 

Under new legislative measures:

  • Immigration. A new Immigration Bill, covering the whole of the UK, will establish a new national policy on immigration, including new powers concerning the immigration status of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals. The Bill will end the EU's rules on free movement of EU nationals in the UK and make the migration of EU nationals and their families subject to UK law once Brexit has happened, while still - according to the government - "allowing the UK to attract the brightest and the best".
  • Data protection. A new Data Protection Bill is intended to make the UK's "data protection framework suitable for the digital age allowing citizens to better control their data". It will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 and implement the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), putting the UK in a position to maintain the ability to share data with EU member states after Brexit.

Under the non-legislative measures heading:

  • Taylor Review. The government simply states that The Taylor review on employment practices in the modern economy launched back in October "is an important step towards ensuring fairness for all and it looks forward to publication of the report shortly" (Note: the report was originally due to be published mid-June).

This eagerly awaited report has the difficult task of reporting on whether employment law is keeping pace with new business models as a result of advances in technology and could be a game changer in many respects as to how many organisations operate.

Taylor has said his report would focus on:

  • creating a "national strategy for work", with quality at its heart;
  • making the tax system fairer to ensure "sound public finances";
  • ensuring "a fair balance of rights and responsibilities", with clear progression routes;
  • promoting technology that benefits the workforce while ensuring a "level playing field" with other businesses;
  • creating clear, legal distinctions between employees, the self-employed and workers, which currently fall between the former two categories; and
  • a greater role for the Low Pay Commission

The devil will be in the detail as always and these are pretty aspirational aims - whether they will be backed up by specific and practical recommendations, and actually be achieved only time will tell.  Watch this space.

  • National living wage. The national living wage (NLW) will increase to 60% of median earnings by 2020. After 2020, the NLW will continue to rise in line with average earnings.
  • Gender pay gap and discrimination. The Government broadly states that it intends to make further progress in tackling the gender pay gap and reducing discrimination on all grounds. No new measures are referred to in the Speech's accompanying background briefing notes, so again, we will need to wait and see what this will mean. Interestingly, there is no specific reference to plans on "reforming" the Equality Act 2010 to extend protections from discrimination to those suffering fluctuating or intermittent mental health conditions, trailed by the government before the election, as a proposed legislative measure.

Unsurprisingly, other proposals announced pre-election by the Government that not find their way into the Queen's Speech include:

  • representation for workers on company boards, under the Conservatives' wider reforms to corporate governance;
  • a new statutory right for employees to receive information about key decisions affecting their employer's future, subject to reasonable safeguards, and in keeping with but not exceeding the rights of shareholders;
  • a" new" statutory right to request leave for training purposes;
  • a new statutory right to leave to care for a family member;
  • a statutory right to child bereavement leave; and
  • introduction of new "returnships"

 



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