More Manifesto pledges – what changes are the Conservative and Green Parties proposing to the workplace? (Part 2)

First it was the Green Party, now the Conservative Party has made its manifesto available to us all to peruse on-line. The Conservative Party is promising "strong leadership", "a clear economic plan", First it was the Green Party, now the Conservative Party has made its manifesto available to us all to peruse on-line. The Conservative Party is promising "strong leadership", "a clear economic plan", and "a brighter, more secure future". But what does this mean for employers?

A summary of the Conservative Party's main workplace proposals is set out below.

The Conservative Party Manifesto 2015

Pay

• Increase the Minimum Wage to £8 by 2020.


• Support the Living Wage and encourage businesses to pay it whenever they can afford it.

Job creation

• Support 3 million new apprenticeships.


• Help businesses to create 2 million new jobs.

Unions and industrial action

• Increase the turnout threshold on ballots for strike action.


• Introduce tougher thresholds for industrial action in essential public services.


• Ban restrictions on employees hiring agency staff to provide cover during strikes.


• Prevent strikes being called on the basis of ballots conducted years before.


• Tackle the intimidation of non-striking workers.


• Legislate to ensure trade unions use a transparent opt-in process for union subscriptions.


• Tighten the rules around paid 'facility time' for union representatives.


• Reform the role of the Certification Officer.

Equality

• Halve the disability employment gap.


• Require companies with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap.


• Increase the proportion of public appointments going to women.


• Scrap the Human Rights Act and introduce a British Bill of Rights.


• Curtail the role of the European Court of Human Rights.

Family friendly

• Bring in tax-free childcare to support parents back into work.


• Give working parents of 3 and 4-year olds 30 hours of free childcare a week.

Volunteering Leave

• Introduce a new workplace entitlement to volunteering leave for three days a year, on full pay.

Immigration

• Maintain cap on skilled economic migration from outside the EU.


• Introduce tougher labour market regulation to tackle illegal working and exploitation.


• Legislate that every public sector worker operating in a customer-facing role must speak fluent English.

Tax

• Increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,400.


• Ensure a tax-free wage for those working 30 hours a week on the Minimum Wage.


• Raise the 40p Income Tax threshold to £50,000.


• No increases in VAT, National Insurance or Income Tax.


• Abolish National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25.