Legal advice: Will the law alter again?

Now that Labour has been voted back in, what employment legislation can licensees expect?

By Martin Donoghue of thePublican.com's team of legal experts at London solicitors Joelson WIlson.​

The General Election is over and Labour remains in power, albeit with a greatly reduced majority. In its last two terms, Labour introduced a wealth of employment legislation, so what can we expect this time around? Based on its manifesto proposals, we could see the following:

Family help​

• An increase in the period in which maternity leave is paid to nine months (worth an extra £1,400) with a view to further extending paid maternity leave to a year.
• Mothers to be given the option to transfer part of their pay and leave to fathers.
• The right to request flexible working to be extended to carers and parents of older children. Currently this right applies to employees who have children of up to six years old or up to 18 years old if the child is disabled.

Pensions​

A new system to meet future pension needs, to give everyone the chance to make adequate pension arrangements. The system is, we are assured, to be fair and simple to understand.

Holidays​

Paid time off on bank and public holidays will be added tothe existing right to four weeks' paid holiday.

Immigration​

Introduction of a points-based system, rules to make sure only skilled workers can stay long term, and an English language test for those who want to stay permanently. There will also be a £2,000 penalty on employers for each illegal immigrant employed.

Workplace smoking​

All restaurants and pubs that prepare food will have to be smoke- free, with smoking banned in bar areas of other licensed premises.

Rules against discrimination​

The aim is to promote equality, by:

• Narrowing the pay and promotion gap between men and women
• Strengthening the rules against discrimination on racial grounds, and
• Preventing mandatory retirement at 65 unless it can be justified on objective grounds.

Of course, whether all of these issues will make it to the statute book remains to be seen. And you never know what new employment laws will wing their way over from Europe.If you do not like the look of all of this, here is a flavour of what you could have had.

Had the Conservatives won, there were plans to:

• Provide financial assistance for childcare
• Make statutory maternity pay more flexible
• Assist and encourage saving for old age, and
• Introduce a points system for work permits.

Had the Liberal Democrats succeeded, there were plans to:

• Increase maternity pay
• Reform pension law to allow people to retire over a period of time
• Introduce a "green card" system for immigration
• Increase the circumstances where employers are required to consult with their workforce, and
• Abolish compulsory retirement ages.