Introduction

With May 6th rapidly approaching, those of you in the motor industry involved in Human Resources may yet be swayed by the plans laid out below. For the benefit of the Employment Lawyers Association, spokespeople from the major parties have presented their respective positions on employment law, in an effort to woo any floating voters.  

The Labour party necessarily emphasises the Government’s record with progressive legislation to date and sets out the vision for a new Labour Government.  The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats set out their priorities for employment law which, they say, will most benefit the country.

The Government

• National Minimum Wage
  The labour party cite the N.M.W. as one of the last decade’s great successful reforms, despite previous opposition from the Conservatives and the business community. It is put forward by the Government as an example where the lowest paid in the workforce have been protected and (it is claimed) businesses have not in fact been damaged, as predicted. 
• The heart of Europe
  Lord Young says that: “the balance between rights, regulation and economic dynamism is at the heart of the debate on employment law and nowhere is the choice at the next election more clear than when it comes to Europe. The labour Government said clearly we should be at the heart of Europe, which has delivered undeniable benefits to both the workforce and to British business”. Lord Young cites, as an example, the Agency Workers Directive in which the agreement reached in Europe of 2008 meant that Britain’s rules could be based on the agreement reached in the UK between the CBI and the TUC. Lord Young claims that that deal was an example of how being at the heart of Europe was a benefit for the interests of the UK, as only by actively participating could the UK influence proposals that affected the UK economy and UK workers.
• Family and parental rights
  The Government stresses its record on progressive legislation for family and parental rights in recent years. They claim this has created a more flexible system and new rights have helped parents to reconcile work and family responsibilities.
• Protecting vulnerable workers
  The Government says that they are in the process of embedding the Vulnerable Workers Strategy, which has grown from the work of the Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum set up by the Labour Government to address issues for UK workers who are employed in an environment where they risk being denied employment rights.

Conservatives

Lord Hunt is the Shadow Minister for Business Enterprise and Regulation.

In respect of the left versus right divide in industrial relations, he suggests that the Conservative Governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major can be held up as examples of Governments whose robust labour market reforms during the 1980’s and 1990’s gave the unions back their decent members and restored rights for managers to manage.

He claims that the more flexible labour market created by the Conservatives meant that structural unemployment was lower in the UK than in the European Community.  He is proud of the record of the Conservatives when  they were in Government in dodging the attempts by the EU to introduce social policies into UK law. He says the E.U. has been motivated by a continental, social democratic agenda which, he maintains, is in conflict with the creation of an enterprise economy.

He states that: “Conservative policy is now to repatriate employment law back to the UK”.  He adds however that because this will require amendment by Treaty, the Conservative Government will continue to work within the existing Directives and engage fully with the European Union on employment matters to safeguard the national interest.

Lord Hunt suggests that the only reason that unemployment has not begun to soar in the recent recession is because of workers pragmatically agreeing to changes to terms and conditions and reductions in hours and wages rather than risk losing their jobs. He cites this as an example of the pragmatism of the people and not the policies of the Government.

He accuses the Labour party of being overly active in employment law with 25 Acts of Parliament and around 250 pieces of secondary legislation, motivated partly by their links with the Unions.

Turning to the priorities of a future Conservative Government, he emphasises the following:

• Regulation
  Lord Young claims that between 1998 and 2009 new employment regulations cost £72 billion.  He suggests that much of the disproportionate regulation originates at the European level and that he would consider more use of “sunset” clauses and the “one in, one out principle”, to cut down on regulation.
• Employment Tribunals
  The Conservatives say they would raise the limit for deposits for Claimants (currently £500) and/or costs awards (currently £10,000) to discourage weak and vexatious claims from Claimants.  He says this is necessary because the average cost to an employer of defending a Tribunal case in legal fees alone is around £9,000 (that is, for employers not in the MILS scheme! – editor) not to mention the valuable management time lost. He also states that they would review Tribunal procedure to ensure a more balanced approach across Tribunals and require the President of the Employment Tribunals to make practice directions to promote a greater consistency of approach by different Tribunals across the country.  He also wants compulsory mediation for certain cases.
• Flexible Working
  The Conservatives have committed to extending the right to request flexible working to all parents of children under the age of 18, but to continue the “right to request” rather than the “right to demand” as set up by the present Government. The Conservatives also say they want maternity leave to be more flexible and whilst they state that a certain proportion should automatically apply to the mother, so that she can bond with the baby, the remaining period of leave should be for the parents to decide how to use.
• TUPE
  The Conservatives criticise the TUPE regulations as going far beyond the requirements of EU law and would seek to withdraw the parts of TUPE that apply to service provision changes (where services (e.g. valeting) are contracted in/out or re-assigned from one contractor to another). They argue this would take many transactions outside the scope of TUPE, giving business more freedom to outsource work and change providers and to bid for contracts, without the obligations that TUPE imposes on them.
• Redundancy
  Lord Hunt says they would seek to incentivise employers to find alternative suitable employment for potentially redundant workers and also impose a greater onus for the employee to seek redeployment in the company.

Liberal Democrats

Lynne Featherstone is the Liberal Democrats spokesperson for Youth and Equality. The Liberal Democrats say that employment legislation is frequently cited by business as a major burden to employers, but although there is much talk of simplification, there is less clarity as to the specific measures which could actually be scrapped. 

The Liberals instead place greater importance on better management of new regulations to ensure they do not burden employers. Ms Featherstone says that Liberals overall bias is towards cutting regulation, but there are also areas where change is needed. She sets out the following five priorities on employment legislation:

• Name – blank job applications
  The Liberal Democrats see no reason as to why name-blank job applications could not be introduced to cut discrimination in the recruitment process. They suggest that conscious or sub-conscious discrimination against people with names from different ethnic backgrounds leads to minority sections of the community being passed over. Lynne Featherstone hopes this will end the possibly subliminal discrimination that arises from applications being discarded simply because of the names on the application form. Applicants would get a fair opportunity therefore to secure an interview to allow them to present their individual skills and abilities in person. They hope that by the interview stage the employer will learn much more about their background and prejudice will be harder as personality and character come through at interview far clearer than through an application form.
• Flexible parental leave
  The Liberal Democrats say that existing maternity legislation is based on an outdated model of parenting where the mother automatically adopts the key role. They would seek to extend the right to take off for antenatal appointments to fathers and replace the current system (where women are entitled to up to 12 months and men only 2 weeks) with a single system of parental leave allowing parents to share 12 months of leave between them in whatever way suits them best. Other than the compulsory two weeks following the birth, the remainder will be transferable. They also stress complete flexibility, so that parents can take time off together if they wish to.
• Equal Pay Audits
  The Liberals criticise the slow pace of change in the UK, as despite the fact it is 40 years since the EPA came into force, the gender pay gap remains unacceptable. They criticise the relevant remedies available to those who are treated unfairly suggesting that the current law means that it is a difficult and lengthy process for an employee to bring and prove an equal pay claim. The Liberals therefore want to introduce mandatory pay audits for all companies with more than 100 employees. Companies will be required to compare the pay of those doing equal work, identify pay gaps and establish plans to eliminate those gaps if they cannot be satisfactorily explained.
• Single rate for the National Minimum Wage
  The Liberals say it is unfair for there to be different rates for young people under National Minimum Wage legislation and that the Government’s recent announcement to extend the adult rate to include 21 year olds does not go far enough. The Liberals therefore plan to equalise the National Minimum Wage across all ages.
• Extending the right to request flexible working
  The Liberal Democrats plan to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, not just parents and carers, but plan to leave an employer’s rights to turn down a request as per current legislation.

Comments

Far be it from us to influence anyone to vote in a particular fashion, however the above summary at least provides some idea of the direction that the parties plan to take employment law, if you bestow on them the honour of your vote.

The last 13 years have certainly seen an activist Government and the Conservatives are keen to emphasise the general opposition to the pace of change, whilst at the same time putting forward some further changes themselves. Likewise the Liberal Democrats plans by no means signal a halt to the progress of employment legislation. No one is standing still or actively proposing the roll-back of any significant legislation and so it seems whichever Government is elected, further changes for employers and employees in the motor industry are just around the corner.