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.

Another significant agenda item is a draft Equality (race and disability) Bill which is expected to introduce mandatory requirements for ethnicity pay gap reporting, along with disability pay gap reporting as well. This will likely require larger employers to report on their pay disparities by ethnicity as they currently do for sex, and provide significantly more redress for ethnic minority workers to challenge lower pay through the same process that has seen underpaid women challenge Asda and bankrupt Birmingham City Council. Businesses can get ready for these new reporting requirements with VinciWorks free guide to ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

Despite the Conservative’s attempts to amend UK GDPR failing just before the election, Labour looks set to revive some part of reforming the data protection regime with a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. This could allow for more sharing of customer data with third party providers, while mandating better cyber security through the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. Although we didn’t see a specific AI bill introduced, which was expected in some quarters to keep up with the EU’s newly implemented AI Act, some elements of AI protections for workers may be introduced through the employment rights bill

Another surprise inclusion in this first King’s Speech is the Draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill which will change the way Britain’s boardrooms operate. This law is expected to introduce up to 80 changes to corporate governance first proposed in 2018 in the Kingman review following the collapse of Patisserie Valerie and contractor Carillion.

Back then, Labour had criticised the Conservatives for foot-dragging over the reforms which had enjoyed broad support among auditors, accountants, and boardrooms. Bringing this bill into the most ambitious Labour King’s Speech since 1997 was a telling commitment that the government intends to keep its promises.

The legislation will introduce a new board room oversight body – the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA). But this is just one of over 80 recommendations contained in the 2018 report to improve audit and corporate governance.

One of the organising principles of Labour’s election manifesto was tackling the perception of London being a hub for dirty money. The Foreign Secretary David Lammy called London the ‘global laundromat,’ which they have pledged to tackle.

Corporate governance and audit reform is one part of a promised wider package to fight fraud and economic crime, and put the onus on boardrooms to do so. While some of those pledges might have not made it into the first King’s Speech, businesses should brace for further changes such as a corporate offence of failure to prevent economic crime, individual liability for corporate officers who fail to ensure compliance, and even an expansion of the money laundering regulations to cover industries such as PR agencies and property developers, as suggested by Dame Margaret Hodge.

We might also see new requirements on public buildings and venue operators to better mitigate against the risk of terrorist attacks with the announced Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. 

Ultimately, this Labour government have made reforming the way businesses operate an incredibly high priority. This stretches from improving corporate governance all the way to fighting economic crime and fraud. Sir Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech sets out what many analysts already expected, but this suggests there is still much more change to come.

For more about what compliance teams can expect from the Labour government, download our guide to Labour’s regulatory agenda.