It has been made clear that a Conservative government might seek to restore flexibility to the labour market and the balance between employer and employed. It is said that the intention is that employees should be able to work in the changing lifestyles of today, while companies once again enjoy the benefits of pro-competitive laws that encourage small business.

Here is a summary of what is said might happen if the Tories get a decent majority:

Regulations

As everybody knows between 1998 and 2009, new employment regulations placed an enormous burden on the country’s purse strings. Out of a total cost of all new business regulations of £76 billion, some 95% of the extra burden related to employment regulations.  Much of the (some might say) disproportionate regulation that afflicts us originates at the European level and we are told that the Tories feel that it is high time we stopped making things worse than they need to be.  They would strip the so-called ‘gold plating’ from directives such as the Part-time Work Directive, the Fixed-term Work Directive, the Information on Employment Conditions Directive (to exclude casual workers) and the proposed Agency Workers Directive regulations.   They would also consider more use of “sunset” clauses and that old favourite, the “one in, one out” principle.

Employment Tribunals

The Conservatives would raise the limit for deposits (currently £500) and/or cost awards (currently £10,000) to discourage weak or vexatious claims. The average cost to an employer of defending a tribunal case is around £9,000 and almost ten days’ worth of directors’ and or senior managers’ time is lost per case. We are told that the Tories would review the Tribunal Rules of Procedure.  This would be with the aim of ensuring a more balanced and consistent approach across tribunals and/or require (rather than allow) the president of the employment tribunals to make practice directions on the management of cases, generally, in order to promote greater consistency of approach by different tribunals.

The Tories tell us that they would harmonise the deadline and grounds for extension for bringing tribunal complaints and impose compulsory mediation for certain types of cases that would benefit from this most; for example, discrimination cases.  Mediation is seen by many as the future for resolving legal disputes.  Even where it fails, the issues will have been aired sufficiently to make the ensuring process quicker, easier and more likely to avoid vexatious claims.  We are told that they will consult on these matters before making lasting changes.

Flexible working for all parents and flexible parental leave

They want to give as many people as possible the chance to work flexibly, but also “want to be fair to employers”.  Currently, the right to request flexible working is available only to parents with children under the age of 17 or disabled children under 18.  They are committed to extending the right to request flexible working to all parents of children under the age of 18.  They are keen on limiting the policy to the “right to request”, rather than allowing a “right to demand”.  We are told that they will also seek to turn the public sector (Britain’s biggest employer) into a world leader in providing flexible working opportunities.

They believe paid maternity leave should be more flexible.  Their view is that while the first 14 weeks should automatically apply to the mother so she can bond with the child, it should be up to parents to decide how to use the remaining period.  We are told that their intention is to increase the flexibility of the system so that parents can decide how to divide their paid maternity leave and are able to make use of it simultaneously.  Under Labour, only mothers can take the first 26 weeks of parental leave.

TUPE

As our clients will be well aware, the TUPE regulations protect employees where their employer changes as a result of a transfer of the undertaking or business in which they work.  The employees automatically become employees of the new employer on the same terms and conditions.  This all springs from the requirements of EU law.  As matters stand, however, the TUPE regulations here in the UK go beyond what is required by EU law, for the EU directive states only that regulations should apply where there is a ‘transfer of an economic entity which retains its identity’.

A Conservative government would seek to rein in those of the government’s “service provision changes” – where activities are contracted out, contracted in, or reassigned from one contractor to another – that go beyond what is required.  This would take many transactions outside the scope of the law, giving firms more freedom to out-source work and change service providers, giving service providers more freedom to bid for contracts. An additional benefit (depending upon whose view you take) would perhaps be less work for lawyers!

Redundancy

The Conservatives would seek to incentivise employers to find alternative, suitable employment for potentially redundant workers, and also impose a greater onus on the employee to seek redeployment in the company.  Employees in sectors such as financial services tend to opt for a redundancy payment even when the employer has a good alternative role available, and the onus is currently on the employer to prove that the employee’s decision to refuse redeployment is unreasonable.  The Tories say that they would aim also to enhance clarity and consistency within the system.

Let’s see what happens…….

As this information has been prepared by Maitland Walker Solicitors as a general guide, we recommend you seek specific professional advice before acting on any information contained within it.  No liability can be accepted by Maitland Walker for any action taken or not taken as a result of this information. Maitland Walker is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.