Key HR Considerations Under the Conservative Party Manifesto

Top 3 considerations for HR Professionals:

1.       Review your sick pay and return to work policy and practices, in anticipation of Conservative Party’s proposal to move the responsibility for issuing fit notes away from GPs to specialist work and health professionals. There is a clear aim by the Conservatives for employees to stay in or get back to work so it is important to consider reviewing your return-to-work communication, practices, and policies to ensure that you can clearly document your return-to-work process and any adjustments that may be in place. This would help to mitigate against any risk of employees returning to work before they are fit to do so.

2.       With the proposed introduction of mandatory national service for all school leavers at 18-year-olds, consider and review your recruitment strategy if this age bracket of workers would normally form an integral part of your workforce.

3.       Consider and review budgets to accommodate the proposal to maintain the National Living Wage in each year of the next Parliament at two-thirds of median earnings. The current forecast suggests that this would rise to around £13 per hour, which could have a significant impact for businesses that pay on or close to the National Living Wage.