Labour party manifesto - speed read

According to the foreword, "The fundamental truth that runs through this manifesto is that Britain will only succeed when working people succeed." What follows is a summary of the issues from the According to the foreword, "The fundamental truth that runs through this manifesto is that Britain will only succeed when working people succeed." What follows is a summary of the issues from the Labour Party Manifesto 2015 which relate to employment:

Pay

• We will make sure employees have a voice when executive pay is set by requiring employee representation on remuneration committees.


• Raise the National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019.


• Give local authorities a role in strengthening enforcement against those paying less than the National Minimum Wage.


• Support employers to pay more than the National Minimum Wage by using government procurement to promote the Living Wage, alongside wider social impact considerations.


• Make Work Pay contracts will give tax rebates to businesses who sign up to paying the Living Wage in the first year of a Labour Government.


• Publicly listed companies will be required to report on whether or not they pay the Living Wage.

Zero hours contracts

• Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts.


• Those who work regular hours for more than 12 weeks will have a right to a regular contract.


• Abolish the loophole that allows firms to undercut permanent staff by using agency workers on lower pay.

Employment Tribunals

• Abolish the employment tribunal fee system as part of wider reforms to make sure that affordability is not a barrier to workers having proper access to justice, employers get a quicker resolution, and the costs to the tax payer do not rise.

Skills and training

• Tackle the growth of unpaid internships.


• Introduce a Compulsory Jobs Guarantee, paid for by a bank bonus tax. It will provide a paid starter job for every young person unemployed for over a year, a job which they will have to take or lose benefits.


• Guarantee every school leaver that gets the grades an apprenticeship.


• Create thousands more apprenticeships in the public sector, including the civil service.


• Every firm getting a major government contract, and every large employer hiring skilled workers from outside the EU, will be required to offer apprenticeships.


• Re-focus existing spending away from low-level apprenticeships for older people, and towards a system where apprenticeships are focused on new job entrants, lasting at least two years, and providing level three qualifications or above.


• Make sure that apprenticeships can lead to higher level qualifications by creating new Technical Degrees and supporting part-time study. They will be co-funded, co-designed and co-delivered by employers and they will be the priority for expansion within our university system.


• Replace out of work benefits for 18 to 21-year-olds with a new Youth Allowance dependent on recipients being in training and targeted at those who need it most.

Employee ownership

• Consider how to support employee buy-outs when businesses are being sold.


• Safeguard the public interest in the Royal Mail, supporting the creation of a staff-led trust for the employee share, and keeping the remaining 30 per cent in public ownership.

Tax

• Reverse the 50p tax cut.


• Not increase the basic or higher rates of Income Tax and National Insurance.


• Abolish non dom status.


• Restrict tax relief on pension contributions for the highest earners.


• Bear down on disguised employment.

Family friendly

• Extend free childcare from 15 to 25 hours for working parents of three and four-year-olds, and ensure all primary schools guarantee access to wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm.


• Double paternity leave from two to four weeks.


• Increase paternity pay by more than £100 a week.

Public sector jobs

• Recruit an additional 1,000 borders staff.


• Recruit 5,000 new home-care workers – a new arm of the NHS – to help care for those with the greatest needs at home.


• Recruit 8,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses and 3,000 more midwives.

Equality

• Will go further in reducing discrimination against women, requiring large companies to publish their gender pay gap and strengthening the law against maternity discrimination.


• Where there is evidence more progress is needed, we will enforce the relevant provisions within the Equality Act.


• Establish a comprehensive race equality strategy to break down the barriers still faced by black and minority ethnic communities.


• Build on history of championing LGBT rights, tackling homophobia with tougher laws at home and greater engagement abroad.


• Protect the Human Rights Act.


• Introduce legislation to make discrimination against members of our Armed Forces illegal.


• Appoint a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom, and establish a multi-faith advisory council on religious freedom within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.


• Appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy to promote respect for the human rights of LGBT people, and work towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.

General

• Push up standards and boost productivity by implementing the commitments in Labour’s Workplace and Business manifestos.


• Ban recruitment agencies from hiring only from overseas and crack down on rogue agencies by extending the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority where there is evidence of abuse.


• People working in public services, in public facing roles, will be required to speak English.

…. and if you're still not convinced, they will also end the badger cull!