Julian Richer, the founder of the Company Richer Sounds, wrote an article for the Times newspaper in which he talks passionately about his experience of the influence of good workplace culture on business success, and requests that the next Government should upgrade basic rights at work.
As for whether there is truly a link between workplace culture and business success, you do not have to look far for affirming such commentary. One of these many examples is Harvard University’s publication entitled Why Workplace Culture Matters dated 28 November 2023.
As for the basic rights at work, many will have been interested in the headlines about the Labour Party’s plan to reform employment law. In regard to basic employment rights, the most striking of its proposals, outlined in its Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering a New Deal for Working People, is to give workers additional employment rights from day one, including protection from unfair dismissal.
So, could we really go from 1 year to 2 years to 0 years for unfair dismissal protection? Labour has explained that employers would be able to assess new hires during a form of probationary period.
We of course already have automatic protection from discrimination from day one and in some other areas. Some employers may nonetheless see this proposal as a barrier to business success.
Labour’s ambition, which it does not seem to have watered down at any stage, is for every dismissal to be justified. The reality is this may anyway already be the ambition of many businesses and it may positively influence their cultures.
This blog was written by Ben Lindsay, Solicitor at didlaw
