The Coalition Government employment agenda

The Coalition Government has now set out its legislative agenda for the next five years through publication of "The Coalition: our programme for government" (the "Coalition Programme"). In this, the Government commits to reviewing "employment and workplace laws for employers and employees to ensure they maximise flexibility for both parties while protecting fairness and providing the competitive environment required for enterprise to thrive". The Queen's Speech earlier this week, which dealt with the legislative programme for the next 18 months, had little employment content other than a commitment to remove barriers to flexible working and the promotion of equal pay.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, all proposals are currently short on detail and unclear on timing. Nevertheless, we take a look at how proposals of interest to employers are shaping up.

Default retirement age - the Coalition Programme confirms the Government will phase out the default retirement age of 65. In an interview earlier this week, Pensions Minister Steve Webb confirmed the Government's intention to do this "as soon as we can".

Flexible working - the Government plans to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. At present, only parents of children aged 16 or under (or disabled children under 18) and carers of certain adults have the right to request flexible working. The proposals are subject to consultation with business on how best to implement the change.

Equality - the Coalition Programme commits to promotion of equal pay and to taking a range of measures to end discrimination in the workplace. It seems likely that the Equality Act 2010 will still come into force in October. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Conservatives will seek to amend the provisions they criticised prior to the election on gender pay reporting and positive action in relation to recruitment and promotion.

The Coalition Programme also commits to promoting gender equality on the boards of listed companies. There are no details on how this will be implemented although proposals by the Conservatives prior to the election included requiring "long lists" for all executive and non-executive directorship appointments to include 50% female candidates and the advertisement of all non-executive director vacancies.

Families and work - the Coalition Programme states that the Government "will encourage shared parenting from the earliest stages of pregnancy". Prior to the election both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives were keen to extend Labour's new legislation enabling parents or relevant partners to share leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Given the reference to shared parenting being encouraged from the earliest stages of pregnancy, there is speculation this may indicate plans to give fathers or relevant partners the right to take time off work to attend ante-natal appointments, an entitlement currently only available to mothers.

European legislation - the Government has made clear its intention to end the "gold plating" of European Directives to ensure related UK legislation does not go any further than is necessary, the stated aim being that British businesses are not disadvantaged relative to their European competitors.

The Working Time Directive - the Government has also confirmed that it plans to limit the application of the Working Time Directive in the UK, which whilst not explicitly stated, possibly refers to safeguarding the UK's opt-out of the maximum 48 hour working week.

Source Olswang