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Conservative Government’s employment law proposals

by Law and Labour15 May 2015

In the run-up to the general election, the Conservative Party proposed a number of changes to employment law if they returned to power. In the table below we round up some of their key proposals.

Human Rights Act	Replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a British Bill of Rights thereby preventing the European Court of Human Rights from being the ultimate arbiter of human rights issues.
Strike laws	Require a minimum turnout of 40% of all those entitled to take part in strike ballots and a majority vote by those employed in the health, transport, fire and education sectors. Allow employers to use agency workers to cover for striking employees. Strengthen the rules on picketing.
Zero hours contracts	Ban the use of exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts. We previously looked at this proposal in an earlier article Ban on exclusivity clauses to be widened.
National Minimum Wage	Increase the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to £6.70. Introduce more severe financial penalties for employers who fail to pay the NMW.
Tax	Increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500.
Equal pay	Introduce private sector equal pay reporting by requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees.
Public sector termination payments	Introduce new legislation to cap enhanced redundancy payments in the public sector at £95,000. Require repayment of public sector exit payments in certain circumstances.
Long-term absence	Reduce benefits of those suffering from long-term, treatable conditions if they refuse to follow treatment recommended for them.
Volunteering	Allow employees working in large companies (employers with more than 250 employees) or the public sector to receive three days’ paid volunteering leave.
Pensions	Introduce a single-tier pension system.

Photograph: “Houses of Parliament” /© Davoud D.

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Conservative Government’s employment law proposals

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