The Labour Party's Manifesto 2019
Alan Kitto
The Labour party has published its manifest for the 12 December 2019 general election; key manifesto pledges are:
A living wage of £10 per hour for all workers aged 16 or over
To compel large companies to give employees 10% ownership of the company (to include payments of dividends)
To bring in additional rights for the self-employed, including free childcare, collective income protection insurance schemes and better access to mortgages and pensions
To set up a Ministry for Employment Rights, which will roll out (it seems) compulsory collective bargaining on minimum standards for pay and working hours by sector, that every employer will have to follow
To give everyone full employment rights from day one on the job ('full employment rights' is not explained further but is likely to mean an employee could claim unfair dismissal from day one of employment)
To strengthen protection for whistleblowers and strengthen unfair dismissal rights (no detail given)
To clarify worker status (no detail given)
To ban zero hour contracts (no detail given, other than requiring cancelled shifts to be paid)
To require breaks during shifts to be paid
To extend statutory maternity pay from 9 months to 12 months
To introduce four new bank holidays
To re-introduce employer's liability for harassment by third parties
To ban unpaid internships
To strengthen trade union rights, by allowing unions to use electronic balloting, strengthening unions' right of access to workplaces, and repealing the Trade Union Act 2016
To reduce average working hours to 32 hours per week within ten years
To keep employment tribunals free
To introduce new Labour Courts (no detail given).
To make the State (not individuals) responsible for enforcing equal pay
To require workplaces with >50 employees to obtain government certification on gender equality or face fines
To require all large employers to have flexible working and menopause policies
To introduce 10 days of paid leave for survivors of domestic abuse
To extend pay-gap reporting to BAME groups