Labour’s workers’ rights plans could face ‘significant’ changes, lawyers warn

Labour’s promised reforms to workers rights could face “significant changes” before taking effect, employment lawyers have warned.

The party originally promised to bring forward legislation within its first 100 days in government to enact the package of reforms it has dubbed ‘A New Deal for Workers’.

But with a prospective Sir Keir Starmer government looking more likely, the party is now set to announce that all workers’ rights policies will go through a formal consultation process with businesses, according to the Financial Times.

The move, which could see measures delayed or toned down, would make the new deal the latest policy to be scaled back after the flagship £28bn green spending pledge was diluted.

It comes after warnings earlier this year from Confederation of British Industry (CBI) president Rupert Soames that the UK needs to avoid a “European model” of employment law and resist excessive regulation, and that Labour’s plans should be watered down.

Unions warned of a backlash, with Unite general secretary Sharon Graham suggesting a “red line will be crossed” if the party U-turns on previous employment pledges while TUC president Matt Wrack said any weakening of policy will draw a “hostile reaction”.

A party spokesperson insisted the package, led by deputy leader Angela Rayner, would remain a “core part of Labour’s offer” and that plans to “consult widely… have not changed”.

And in his speech at the Usdaw conference in Blackpool, Starmer highlighted a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) survey which “found that 80 per cent of managers believe that strengthening workers rights is beneficial for productivity. And they’re right – aren’t they? 

“I mean think about your workplace… how people respond when they feel respected.”

But two employment lawyers have told City A.M. Labour’s policies would have to undergo changes during the consultation process.

Emma Wayland, employment partner at Keystone Law, stressed that public consultation was now an “established feature of the legislative process” and could include informal input from stakeholders, formal consultation on proposed new laws and pre-legislative scrutiny.

She said: “It would be naïve of anyone, including trade unions, to think that headline ”cast iron” commitments could translate directly into law without further ado.

“It has therefore always been the case that the details of Labour’s proposals would have to be refined, and interested parties would have to have their views considered.”

Wayland also noted that due to practical constraints, “to have published legislation in place within 100 days would be almost impossible”. 

She added: “It remains to be seen what the final proposals will look like, but as things stand it seems likely there will be some significant changes, should Labour be the next party in power.”

Polling by the CMI found 83 per cent of British managers believe improving workers’ rights can positively impact workplace productivity, and four fifths said it should be a top priority.

A total of 92 per cent of managers said they felt plans for enhanced family-friendly policies and the introduction of a right to disconnect were very or fairly important for firms to adopt.

While Martin Pratt, partner at RWK Goodman, highlighted Labour’s announcement in January that the party would “give all workers day one rights on the job”.

He said: “The most striking proposal to an employment lawyer was giving people unfair dismissal rights from day one. That could make probation periods unworkable. 

“Employers would not be able to safely dismiss within a few weeks if it was obvious the hire was a mistake, making them reluctant to take the risk of an error, increasing unemployment.”

Pratt added: “If I were a betting man, I suspect it is that proposal specifically which will be watered down.

“Until 2013 the unfair dismissal qualifying period was one year, not two, and I think a return to something more like that is on the cards.

Conservative chairman Richard Holden claimed Labour was in “total chaos” about “whether to stick with Angela Rayner’s union laws, which businesses say will cost British jobs and damage our economy because they have no plan”.

He said: “Labour’s 70 new regulations will ban flexible working, bring back zero warning strikes and disincentivise small businesses from hiring new staff. 

“But Sir Keir Starmer cannot say whether it will be in their manifesto in full because he is too weak to stand up to his union paymasters or his out-of-control deputy.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “The new deal will be a core part of Labour’s offer to the country and we will be campaigning on this ahead of the general election.

“Labour’s ‘New Deal for Working People’ was agreed at the party’s National Policy Forum last summer, building upon our green paper.

“Our commitments to bring forward legislation to Parliament within 100 days to deliver the new deal and to consult widely on implementation have not changed.”