UK General Election 2024: What Could This Mean for HR?

When the Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, stood outside Downing Street on a stormy May Thursday afternoon to announce that a General Election would be held on 4th July 2024, many people were caught off-guard.

After all, most political pundits had predicted that a General Election was more likely towards the end of the year rather than now.

With less than a week to go now before election day, what do the country’s main political parties have planned if they’re successful in the election? And how will this specifically affect the world of Human Resources? We explore what the UK General Election 2024, a potential change of government, could mean for HR departments in this blog.

Drawing out clues from the party manifestoes

A manifesto is essentially an outline of a political party’s plans and policies if it gets elected into power. It’s effectively a plan of action – a collection of specific items that it would implement or change if voted into government.

When it comes to trying to work out what a particular political party has planned for areas that affect the work of Human Resources, drilling down into the specifics of their manifesto is a great way to gain insight.

Here, we explore the manifesto promises of the 5 main parties that are standing candidates across the UK, specifically from the angle of an eagle-eyed HR manager.

Conservatives

The governing party of the UK for the last 14 years, the Conservatives have introduced legislation that’s had a huge impact on HR departments up and down the country in their time in power – from rebranding and revising the Minimum Wage to introducing the Trade Union Act 2016.

With that in mind, it’s surprising to note that in terms of their plans directly related to the world of work, there’s surprisingly little listed in their manifesto. Their main pitch to voters this election is focused on cutting taxes, borrowing and immigration.

That said, there are a few points with relevance to HR professionals: specifically, those relating to tax and sickness policies. If the Conservatives are reelected, they have pledged to cut and eventually scrap, National Insurance altogether. They also plan to reform sickness policy by taking away the responsibility of issuing fit notes from GPs and giving it to medical and non-medical specialists instead.

Manifesto points relevant to HR

• Cutting 2p off every £1 of National Insurance for working employees (eventually abolishing it at the end of the next Parliament)
• Raising the minimum wage
• Funding 100,000 more apprenticeship places
• Amending the Equality Act 2010 to state that the protected characteristic of sex refers to biological sex
• Not raising Corporation Tax
• Taking responsibility for delivering fit notes away from GPs and giving it to occupational work and health coaches
• Introducing national service for all 18-year-olds

Labour

Currently sitting 20-points ahead of the Conservatives on average in the polls, most commentators suggest that Labour are probably the favourites to win (although that could change).

Labour’s manifesto provides a fair amount of detail about its plans for employment and work if elected. The party has created a dedicated document that outlines its plans – ‘Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering a New Deal for Working People’.

Specifically, Labour would increase redundancy rights, abolish zero-hours contracts, increase sick pay, introduce basic employment rights from day one of working and create a single age band for the Minimum Wage. Labour would also seek to improve access to the workplace for trade unions and repeal acts like Trade Union Act 2016, the Minimum Service Levels (Strikes) Bill and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

Manifesto points relevant to HR

• Banning zero-hours contracts, introducing a single status of ‘worker’
• Ending fire and rehire practices
• Increasing redundancy rights and protections
• Increasing statutory sick pay, remove the lower earnings limit and remove the waiting period
• Introducing basic employment rights (like parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal) from day one
• Abolishing age band differentiation for the Minimum Wage, and introducing a flat rate
• Creating a Single Enforcement Body to uphold employment rights
• Repealing the Trade Union Act 2016, the Minimum Service Levels (Strikes) Bill and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022
• Improving trade union access to workplaces and reforming rules around trade union recognition in the workplace

Liberal Democrats

The first of the political parties to unveil their manifesto, the Liberal Democrats had a head start on getting their plans for the economy and work into the public sphere, but not much has really been covered about them in the media.

One of the key focuses of the manifesto is a commitment to ensuring that UK labour standards at least match those of the EU. Other policies include increasing investment in education and training, creating a dedicated industrial strategy and reforming the work visa system to plug labour shortages.

The party is also proposing a range of policies related to the ‘gig economy’ and the zero-hours contracts. It proposes creating a new form of employment status – ‘dependent contractor’ – that would provide basic employment rights; giving zero hours and agency workers the right to request a contract after 12 months employment and providing a 20% higher minimum wage for workers on zero hours contracts, to reflect fluctuations in earnings.

Manifesto points related to HR

• Ensuring that UK labour standards at least match those of the EU
• Increasing investment in education and training
• Reforming the Work Visa system to address labour shortages in the economy
• Creating a new Worker Protection Enforcement Authority, to ensure that labour laws are upheld in workplaces
• Creating a ‘dependent contractor’ employment status in the gig economy – a middle ground between employment and self-employment, with entitlements to some basic employment rights.
• Reforming tax and the National Insurance status of employees, dependent contractors and freelancers
• Making the minimum wage for employees on zero-hour contracts 20% higher in times of normal demand to reflect loss of earnings in times of less demand
• Giving zero hours and agency workers the right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months
• Changing the burden of proof in employment tribunals specifically about employment status from worker to employer.
• Reform sick pay

Greens

When it comes to the world of work, the Greens’ manifesto plans are focused on improving workers’ rights and extending the right of workers to organise in the workplace. Proposed policies include repealing the trade union legislation introduced in the last 14 years, creating a dedicated ‘Charter of Workers’ Rights’ and enforcing a maximum 10:1 pay ratio for private and public organisations.

Manifesto points related to HR

• Repealing the Trade Union Act 2016, the Minimum Service Levels (Strikes) Bill and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022
• Creating a ‘Charter of Workers’ Rights’
• Enforcing a maximum 10:1 pay ratio for private and public sector organisations
• Increasing the minimum wage to £15 an hour, for everyone, offsetting the cost to employers by reducing their National Insurance payments
• Introducing employment rights for all workers (including gig economy and zero-hours workers) from their first day of work
• Denying operating licences to gig economy employers who repeatedly break employment, data protection or tax law
• Taking steps towards establishing a four-day working week

Reform

The successor to UKIP and the Brexit Party, Reform doesn’t have much to say about its plans for employment in its official manifesto – in fact, it doesn’t technically have a manifesto. Instead, it has a document called a ‘contract’. Regardless of what it’s called, the document with Reform’s policies in it generally revolves around cutting immigration.

If elected, Reform would raise the rate of National Insurance to 20% for foreign workers. They propose lifting the point at which workers are eligible to pay Income Tax to £20,000 and want to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

Manifesto points related to HR

• Raising the Income Tax starting point to £20,000
• Reforming the tax system
• Leave the European Convention on Human Rights

Keeping an eye on what’s to come

Whilst there’s no guarantee that political parties will honour what they’ve promised to implement in their manifesto commitments when they’re in power, looking at the policies they’ve proposed can be useful in terms of gauging potential changes that could be on the horizon.

Whatever party comes to power, it’s likely that significant changes will have to be made to the economy in order to remain competitive and deal with some of the pressing structural issues affecting it – like labour shortages and the skills gap. We hope this brief blog has given you an insight into the potential changes that could be coming.

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