Whether its D:ream with “Things can only get better” or Stevie Nicks with “Landslide”, there is always a soundtrack to an election.
And as the pundits continue to pore over the results, the rest of us sit back and wonder what is coming down the track.
From an employment law perspective, we have just had the 159 page “Good jobs employment rights Bill” consultation document released, accompanied by 78 pages of questions, and this will no doubt keep everyone busy for the next 13 weeks or so.
Across the water there is the newly-installed Labour government’s “New deal for working people” which covers over 20 areas of employment rights reform, ranging from zero hours contracts to new rights for trade unions.
When these two documents are superimposed upon one another, there is a degree of what might be called “dynamic alignment”, and the extent of change ranges from tinkering around the edges to seismic activity.
I suspect at this early stage there is a real focus on the management of expectation as the “first hundred days” clock begins to tick, and that means looking to make easy change before tackling some of the big beasts of employment law such as employment status.
The reforms could be classified under headings such as – parity catch-up, jurisdictionally specific, and big-ticket items.
When looked at collectively, the volume could seem overwhelming but there are good reasons for that, and a good deal of the proposals are not necessarily ‘new’ news but the scope and scale of the reforms are ambitious.
As with all things in life, ambition needs to be tempered by reality, and there is no doubt that lobbying and tweaking will be the order of the day as bold political soundbites are converted into definitive enforceable employment rights.
The more nebulous the subject the harder the conversion, and as such there will no doubt be further sound-bites ranging from “keeping promises” through to “dilution compromise” over the coming one hundred days.
What is for sure is that local employment law reform is on the cards, and the music has begun, ready for the sometimes uncomfortable social dance partners to do the dance of reform.
It remains to be seen if that is a slow, slow, quick quick slow sort of a dance, or something more akin to a Glastonbury mosh pit.
Regardless of the dance, the music has started, Labour are in power, there are only a few years left in the local political mandate and the reform clock is ticking.
So now the question remains: will it be all smiles and progress like Strictly, or will it be murder on the dancefloor? Grab your partners please.
- Mark McAllister is director of employment relations services at Labour Relations Agency NI
