Sir Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech outlined Labour’s most ambitious legislative agenda since 1997 and includes a long list of policy and legislative changes that compliance teams should get ready for. Chiefly among these is the New Deal for Working People, which Labour have pledged to introduce in their first 100 days.

This far-reaching employment rights bill is set to introduce day one rights for all workers, implement work-life balance rules, increase and strengthen statutory sick pay and remove the waiting limit and lower earnings threshold, move towards a single status for workers and employees, and crack down on the gig economy. Along with banning zero-hours contracts, cracking down on ‘fire and re-hire,’ and an expected new single regulator to protect working conditions, this new legislation will keep HR teams busy.

Labour’s plan for government will affect dozens of areas of compliance, from whistleblowing to employment rights, money laundering and fraud to menopause and the Equality Act. 

Labour’s manifesto commitments and previously announced policies will define the regulatory agenda for this parliament. A mixture of primary legislation, secondary legislation and policy shifts at the regulatory level will see UK organisations affected across every department, from HR to marketing, senior management and back office staff.

With the UK going to the polls in a general election on 4 July, all polls are pointing to a Labour government. Economic crime is likely to be very high on Sir Keir Starmer’s agenda. In fact, seeing the UK as a haven for dirty money has been one of the guiding principles of Labour throughout the last 14 years of opposition.

If Labour form the next government, economic crime is likely to form the backbone of initial legislation given the unending criticism of the UK’s role in the ‘global laundromat,’ which London was called by shadow foreign secretary David Lammy.

If the poll predictions are correct and Labour forms the government after the general election on 4 July, one key area for change will be corporate governance. We’re already expecting a raft of new compliance regulations to fight economic crime and fraud, but Labour have pledged to go further and reform the operation of companies themselves.

The Conservative government had pledged to shake up the audit and corporate governance in the wake of various corporate scandals, such as those involving coffee shop chain Patisserie Valerie and contractor Carillion. A report by Sir John Kingman in 2018 outlined over 80 recommendations to review corporate governance. Chief among these was to replace the Financial Reporting Council with a much more powerful boardroom watchdog, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), and tighten regulation on hundreds of more private companies as ‘public interest entities.’

The polls are predicting a landslide victory for the Labour Party at the general election on 4 July, 2024. If the polls hold firm, then within a hundred days, a far-reaching Employment Rights Bill will be introduced to parliament. 

Called the “New Deal for Working People,” it will introduce rights for day one for all workers, implement work-life balance rules, increase and strengthen statutory sick pay and remove the waiting limit and lower earnings threshold, move towards a single status for workers and employees, and crack down on the gig economy, Self-employed people and contractors will have new rights to a written contract, late payments and be covered by health and safety protections. Zero hours contracts will be banned, more notice for changes to shifts or rotas, more action on the gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps, including a requirement for larger firms to develop, publish and implement action plans. There will be more rights to collective bargaining and redundancy rights, and the time limit for an employment claim will be increased from three to six months. Employment tribunals will be reformed to provide quicker and more effective resolutions.