Whether you already have a voluntary I and C forum or want to set up one, you should aim for it to meet the
conditions set out in the ICE Regulations to qualify as a ‘pre-existing’ agreement.
For you there is a significant advantage in the agreement having this status. It means that disgruntled employees must have the support of at least 40% of their colleagues to overturn your voluntary agreement and trigger a requirement on you to negotiate a new one under the more restrictive conditions of the ICE Regulations. If less than 40% of the workforce supports the formal request to alter the existing arrangements, you have the option to ballot the workforce first on whether they should be preserved. This is known as an ‘endorsement ballot’.
That said, if, in an endorsement ballot, a majority of those voting and 40% of the employees in the business back the formal request for revised I and C arrangements, you must start the statutory process for negotiating a new agreement (see below) rather than continue operating the pre-existing voluntary one.
So, a voluntary agreement gives you more stability in your I and C arrangements. Also, in practice, employees will only invoke the statutory process to overturn them if your voluntary agreement is not seen to be effective.