The Labour Government’s Highly Publicised Plans To Improve Workers’ Rights

Government plans to improve UK workers’ rights ‘lack crucial details’, says top thinktank.

The Labour government’s highly plans to improve workers’ rights and end years of wage stagnation, job insecurity and in-work poverty are riddled with ambiguity and missing key details, a leading think tank on the future of work has concluded.

A report by the Autonomy Institute, which campaigns for a fairer, more democratic economy, says a new deal for workers has the potential to lift the UK labour market out of a “lost decade” of increasing exploitation, while playing a key role in Keir Starmer’s mission to boost economic growth.

However, it said “many key details of the plan remain open” and that “it needs to go further if it is to truly represent a meaningful reform agenda.”

It insisted that all of Labour’s key pre-election promises must be implemented “in full and without further setbacks” when a workers’ rights bill is published later this year.

Earlier this year, Labour abandoned its pledge to abolish all zero-hours contracts, banning only “exploitative” elements of them, raising doubts about its commitment to full implementation.

The institute also said Labour appeared to have backed off on its promise to end “fake self-employment” by introducing a single “employee” status that would allow employers to save on costs such as national insurance contributions and paid holidays.

It called for more details on setting up a national care service to provide better conditions for care workers.

The report, published ahead of the TUC’s annual conference next month and the party conference season, reflects concerns among many groups representing workers and major unions that Labour may renege on some of its promises after facing huge pressure from business leaders who fear its agenda will increase the cost of jobs.

The report includes a new survey of 2,074 adults by Survation, which showed that only 24% of respondents thought all of Labour’s proposals would be implemented, while 76% thought some of them would be introduced.

Raising the minimum wage to a true living wage (£12 an hour outside London and £13.15 an hour within the capital) was rated as the best element of the entire Labour package by 39% of respondents. Tackling insecure contracts was ranked as a priority by 21% of respondents, while the right to “switch off” and not contact the employer outside of working hours was ranked as a priority by 20%.

Plans not included in Labour’s proposals include increasing statutory sick pay to levels comparable to other countries and reducing the working week to 32 hours without sacrificing wages.

The institute said some of Labour’s proposals to strengthen workers’ rights were framed in a way that appeared to give employers too much power to set terms and conditions, risking undermining potential benefits for workers.

To ensure workers benefit from Labour’s “right to switch off” policy, the institute suggested taking a page from the playbook in France and Portugal, where employers have been fined for breaking laws protecting workers from contact outside working hours.

The Autonomy Institute also found that popular and much-needed measures to shorten the working week were missing, while details on the level of statutory sick pay were urgently needed. It wants to see more detail on the workers’ rights bill, which the government says it will introduce within the first 100 days of its term.

Will Stronge, director of research at the Autonomy Institute, said: “The ambiguity in some of Labour’s proposals to strengthen workers’ rights increases uncertainty about the scope or effectiveness of the whole scheme.”

He said there was a real opportunity to deliver improvements for working people, but added: “To ensure workers benefit, the new deal for working people must be fully implemented and the Labour Code published and not further setbacks if it is passed later this year.” ”

A spokesperson for the Department of Business and Trade said: “Our Working Wage Plan sets out an important and ambitious agenda to ensure workers’ rights are fit for a modern economy, empowering workers and delivering economic growth. This is a core part of this government’s mission to grow the economy and raise living standards across the country.

“Our upcoming Workers’ Rights Bill will also deliver the biggest improvement in workers’ rights in a generation and is a key step towards delivering the Working Wage Plan. We are also working to find ways to quickly implement measures through other mechanisms.”