General Election 2015: The outcome and a look at what this means for UK employment law

With the Conservatives securing a majority win in the general election last month what does this mean for UK businesses in 2015/2016 and UK employment law in the next five years.

In this article Dionne Dury, from our Bristol office, summarises some of the key pledges made by the Conservative party and steps already taken by the new Government to deliver on its promises.

The key pledges:

Equality

The Conservative manifesto made a bold statement stating it would transform, “policy, practice and public attitudes to get disabled people into employment”. Unfortunately, the manifesto was not clear on how it intended to achieve this so watch this space!

What was clear from the manifesto was an intention to address the gender pay gap and support greater female representation on boards.

The party has already made steps towards achieving this goal with legislation requiring larger employers (of 250 employees or more) to disclose information on gender pay gaps. This legislation was laid before Parliament before it was dissolved for the election and must be implemented by April 2016.

National Minimum Wage (NMW)

The party also pledged to support an above-inflation rise in the NMW to £6.70 per hour by autumn this year (compared to the current rate of £6.31) and to achieve an increase to £8.00 per hour by 2020.

It has also been proposed that the tax-free allowance will be increased to £12,500 so that by the end of 2020, “people who work for 30 hours a week on the increased National Minimum Wage will no longer pay any Income Tax at all”.

Zero hour contracts / provisions under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act (SBEEA)

A pledge was made to prohibit exclusivity in zero hour contracts and the party has kept to its promise.

On 26 May 2015 a number of provisions, including the prohibition of exclusivity in zero hour contracts, were implemented under the SBEEA.

As well as providing a useful definition of zero-hours contracts, as being a contract under which a worker offers to undertake work on behalf of the employer on request, there being no guarantee of work, the Act confirmed that any provision in such a contract purporting to prevent the worker from undertaking work for a different employer or requiring the employer’s consent to do so, is unenforceable.

It remains to be seen whether a ban on exclusivity will address the perceived unfairness of these types of contracts.

The Act also introduced new penalties for employers who fail to pay Tribunal awards or settlement sums and fines for non-payment of National Minimum Wage. The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 has been amended so that the maximum £20,000 penalty for non-payment applies in respect of each worker who is underpaid NMW. Previously, the maximum penalty applied per under-payment notice to the employer, so this rise represents a potentially large increase.

The SBEEA has also provided clearer definition on the meaning of “small businesses” being, a headcount of fewer than 50 and a specified threshold for turnover and balance sheet and “micro businesses” being, a headcount of fewer than 10 and a specified threshold for turnover and balance sheet.

Tribunal reform

Despite the opposition parties calling for Tribunal reform or a reduction in the current Tribunal fee levels, the Conservative party made no such pledges in their manifesto and supported the retention of Tribunal fees.

However, this month saw the long awaited Government review of the Tribunal fee and remission scheme. The review is expected to continue for several months.

Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice at the beginning of this month showed a sustained reduction in the number of Tribunal claims lodged since the introduction of the scheme in 2013. The reduction suggests that the ACAS Early Conciliation process is encouraging parties to resolve their disputes. However, it is also possible that the reason for the reduction in the number of claims being issued is the fees themselves and this begs the question of whether employees are being given the appropriate access to justice?

UNISON’s appeal against the High Court’s rejection of their judicial review proceedings challenging the fees regime was heard on 16 and 17 June. The outcome of that appeal is unlikely to be known until the autumn but it will clearly impact on the outcome of the Government’s review. Even if the appeal is unsuccessful it is still possible that the Government decides in a reduction in fees.

Today (30 June 2015) Andy Burnham, the front runner in the Labour leadership race said that all upfront Employment Tribunal fees should be scrapped.

EU Referendum

The promise of a referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the European Union has significant implications for employment law. Some commentators believe that we are “governed by Brussels” with 90% of our laws coming from the continent. Whether or not this is the case, it is clear that a large proportion of employment law has an EU connection and a vote in favour of leaving would clearly have huge implications for UK employment law.

Keep watching this space for updates and changes as they occur.

For further information or advice on these or other employment related matters you can contact Dionne Dury on 01173305980, 07766562730 or dionned@foxwhitfield.com