Labour has unveiled a series of reforms to transform the workplace for women. Dawn Butler, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Women and Equalities, has called it a “step-change in how women are treated at work”.
Labour aim to:
· Create a new Workers’ Protection Agency working in partnership with HMRC with powers to fine organisations that fail to report their gender pay, publish action plans to reduce pay gaps or take satisfactory measures to close the pay gap;
· Increase Statutory Maternity Pay from 9 to 12 months, allowing all working mothers or parents to spend a full year with their new born babies before going back to work;
· Give all workers the right to choose working hours that suit them from day one of the job;
· Require large employers to introduce a menopause workplace policy to break the stigma associated with the menopause;
· Tackle sexual harassment in the workplace;
· Enshrine the role of equalities reps in law so they have time and support to protect workers from discrimination.
Sarah Church, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for South Swindon, said,”Next Thursday, it is equal pay day, the day when women effectively stop getting paid for the rest of the year compared to their male counterparts. The policy decisions of the last 9 years have hit women hard, older women are missing their pensions and women in the workplace have seen an erosion of protection from harrassment and discrimination, and austerity has pushed more families into poverty.
Labour will extend the amount of time a new mother can spend with her newborn by extending Statutory Maternity Pay to 12 months, so that all mothers can afford to spend those vital early months with their baby. I had my 3 children while I was working and I know these changes would have made such a difference to both me and my husband as parents. This policy would have impacted 20,000 women across the South-West in the last year alone.
Labour will deliver a workplace revolution to bring about a step-change in how women are treated at work. We’ll boost pay, increase flexibility, and strengthen protections against harassment and discrimination.
“After years of our concerns being ignored, it’s time for real change.”
