Election 2024 Manifesto round-up | Liberal Democrats: Employment

Commitments include the modernisation of employment rights, improving statutory sick pay, and expanding parental pay and leave

The Liberal Democrat party has today launched its manifesto ahead of the General Election on 4 July 2024.

Employment-related commitments contained in For a Fair Deal include to -

• Invest in people’s skills by -
  • replacing the broken apprenticeship levy with a broader and more flexible skills and training levy;
  • boosting the take-up of apprenticeships, including by guaranteeing they are paid at least the National Minimum Wage by scrapping the lower apprentice rate; and
  • identifying and seeking to solve skills gaps, such as the lack of advanced technicians, by expanding higher vocational training like foundation degrees, Higher National Diplomas, Higher National Certificates and Higher Apprenticeships.

• Establish a powerful new Worker Protection Enforcement Authority unifying responsibilities currently spread across three agencies – including enforcing the minimum wage, tackling modern slavery and protecting agency workers.

• Establish an independent review to recommend a genuine living wage across all sectors, with government departments and all other public sector employers taking a leading role in paying it.

• Modernise employment rights to make them fit for the age of the ‘gig economy’, including by -
  • establishing a new ‘dependent contractor’ employment status in between employment and self-employment, with entitlements to basic rights such as minimum earnings levels, sick pay and holiday entitlement;
  • reviewing the tax and national insurance status of employees, dependent contractors and freelancers to ensure fair and comparable treatment;
  • setting a 20 per cent higher minimum wage for people on zero-hour contracts at times of normal demand to compensate them for the uncertainty of fluctuating hours of work;
  • giving a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months for ‘zero hours’ and agency workers, not to be unreasonably refused; and
  • reviewing rules concerning pensions so that those in the gig economy don’t lose out, and portability between roles is protected.

• Shifting the burden of proof in employment tribunals regarding employment status from individual to employer.

• Give parents genuine flexibility and choice in the crucial early months by -
  • making all parental pay and leave day-one rights, including for adoptive parents and kinship carers, and extending them to self-employed parents;
  • doubling statutory maternity and shared parental pay to £350 a week;
  • increasing pay for paternity leave to 90 per cent of earnings, with a cap for high earners;
  • introducing an extra use-it-or-lose-it month for fathers and partners, paid at 90 per cent of earnings, with a cap for high earners; and
  • requiring large employers to publish their parental leave and pay policies.

• Fix the broken statutory sick pay system by -
  • making it available to the more than one million workers earning less than £123 a week, most of whom are women;
  • aligning the rate with the national minimum wage;
  • making payments available from the first day of missing work rather than the fourth; and
  • supporting small employers with statutory sick pay costs, consulting with them on the best way to do this.

• Make it easier for disabled people to access public life, including the world of work, by -
  • tackling the disability employment gap by implementing a targeted strategy to support disabled people into work, with specialist disability employment support;
  • raising employers’ awareness of the Access to Work scheme and simplifying and speeding up the application process; and
  • introducing ‘Adjustment Passports’ to record the adjustments, modifications and equipment a disabled person has received, and ensuring that Access to Work support and equipment stays with the person if they change jobs.

For more information, see For a Fair Deal from libdems.org.uk

See also the Liberal Democrats' commitments in relation to: Welfare Rights; Housing; and Community Care.

NB - manifestos from the range of main parties include: Conservative: Clear Plan, Bold Action, Secure Future | Green: Real hope, real change | Labour: Change | Liberal Democrat: For a Fair Deal | Scotland: Alba: Yes to Scottish Independence | Scottish Conservative and Unionist: Focused on your priorities | Scottish Labour: Our National Recovery Plan | Scottish National Party: A future made in Scotland | Wales: Plaid Cymru: For fairness, for ambition, for Wales | Welsh Labour: Change | Northern Ireland: Alliance: Leading Change | Democratic Unionist Party: Making Northern Ireland Work | Sinn Fein: Strong Leadership, Positive Change | Social Democratic and Labour Party: An Election for Change

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