Employment Relations

The Employment Relations Bill has completed its passage through the House of Commons and is now before the House of Lords. As we predicted in the last edition of Briefing, it has gained a little weight since it was first introduced into the House of Commons - ten new sections, to be precise.

• Trade Union Recognition The Bill imposes new duties on employers in relation to pre-ballot union meetings, for example not to unreasonably induce workers not to attend, not to threaten or take action against those who plan to or do attend and not to unreasonably seek to be informed of what went on at the meetings. There are also new duties imposed on both sides not to seek to induce or coerce workers to vote in a particular way in a ballot or to use 'undue influence' in relation to voting. A DTI Code of Practice will give guidance on what amounts to unreasonable conduct and 'undue influence'.
• Rights of trade union members The Government is obliged, by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Wilson and Palmer, to introduce changes to the law on the rights of trade union members. These deal with the right of trade unionists not to be faced with an inducement from the employer not to be in a union, or to make use of its services or to give up collectively agreed terms. The Government is under considerable pressure from trade unions to further extend trade union rights in the workplace in light of Wilson and Palmer and we shall be pressing them to do no more than is strictly necessary to comply with the decision.
• Dismissal of strikers Employers must, under the existing law, have taken reasonable procedural steps to resolve the dispute, if they are to be free to dismiss those taking industrial action after eight weeks. The Bill now goes further and spells out what taking reasonable steps means in relation to conciliation or mediation meetings. This includes the employer being represented by an appropriate person, co-operating with arrangements for the meeting to be held, fulfilling any commitment to take action and answering any reasonable question. Our concern is that these provisions undermine the confidence the parties should have in the independence of the mediator/conciliator and in the confidentiality of the proceedings.
• Trade Union Modernisation Fund The Bill gives the DTI very wide powers to give money to trade unions to improve the carrying out of any existing function, prepare to carry out new functions and increase the range of services they offer. We must await the promised consultation with interested parties to know what precisely can be given to unions and for what purposes.