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The Labour party’s election manifesto was released this week and focuses on expanding employment rights in the UK. Among the new initiatives they will bring in include banning zero-hours contracts and raise the minimum wage in its manifesto released ahead of the June general election.
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The manifesto also includes a pledge to abolish university tuition fees, offer an immediate guarantee about the status of EU nationals in the UK, and stop all planned increases to the state pension age after 66. Labour said all the pledges were costed and would be funded from extra tax revenue. It said income tax would increase to 45p out of every £1 for earnings above £80,000, and 50p for earnings more than £123,000.
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Other fundraising measures include corporation tax rises, a crackdown on tax avoidance, and an “excessive pay levy” on salaries above £330,000. Companies paying staff more than this will pay a 2.5% surcharge, while salaries above £500,000 will be levied at 5%.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said his policies would help to create “a fairer Britain”. The manifesto contains a 20-point plan for security and equality at work. Along with the plans to ban zero-hours contracts and raise the minimum wage it includes pledges to:
In relation to the gig economy, the manifesto pledged that Labour would set up a dedicated commission to modernise the law around employment status. Other suggested measures include shifting the burden of proof so that the law assumes a worker is an employee unless the employer can prove otherwise.
However, he added that increasing the minimum wage could raise the pension savings of the lower paid and include more part-time workers in saving for retirement. The launch of the Labour manifesto follows a leak of the document last week. Its employment-related pledges remain largely similar, but one notable difference was the omission of a pledge (included in the draft document) to establish a new employment allowance for businesses that struggle to pay the higher real living wage the party has pledged to bring in.
The Liberal Democrats will launch their manifesto later today, promising to give the public a second vote on Brexit and the option to stay if they believe the terms of exit are unacceptable. Several pledges will focus on young people; promising to restore housing benefit for 18- to 21-year-olds and help people get on the housing ladder.
For advice and guidance on what the election result could mean for your business please contact High performance Consultancy. We are a UK leading specialist in Employment law, HR and Health and Safety Services, contact us via the form below or by calling us on 0843 509 4543.
For the HR Magazine article on this story, with additional quotes, please follow this link.