The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations give employees rights to be informed and consulted on a regular basis about issues in the business for which they work.
The requirement to inform and consult employees does not operate automatically. It is triggered either by a formal request from employees for an Information and Consultation (I&C) agreement, or by employers choosing to start the process themselves.
Under the regulations, 10 per cent of the workforce can ask an employer to set up an ‘
Information and Consultation’
arrangement unless a pre-existing arrangement is in existence covering all employees; in which case it needs 40 per cent to overturn the existing arrangements.
Peter Schofield, Director, Employment and Legal Affairs at EEF, said: “Some 10,000 smaller companies may not yet have realised that they will have to comply with these regulations. We are alerting these companies to be aware of their new obligations from 6 April because the penalties for failing to comply can be significant -- up to £75,000 – which is clearly a very large sum of money for a smaller business.
“We are advising employers that these arrangements do not need to be onerous, and in fact there is much to be said for putting purely voluntary arrangements in place rather than waiting to see if employees call for an agreement under the Regulations. Even under the Regulations, employers are free to agree the scope of the arrangements with employee representatives. However, if there is failure to reach agreement, or failure to act on an employee request, default provisions are triggered which could lead to the significant penalties mentioned.”
This law is being extended on 6 April as a requirement of the associated EU Directive. It will be extended again on 6 April 2008 to companies with 50 or more employees.
Further information on the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations is available in the EEF Guide ‘Information and Consultation: A practical guide to the law’ or from the DTI.
- ends –
Contacts:
Dominic Shales, Paratus Communications
Tel: 020 7404 6691 / 07976 248321 dshales@paratuscommunications.com
Garry Hague, Paratus Communications
Tel: 01375-480844 / 07795-644284 ghague@paratuscommunications.com
About EEF:
EEF is the UK’s largest employer’s organisation and gives advice and guidance on employment matters to its membership of over 6,000 manufacturing, engineering and technology-based businesses which collectively employ some 900,000 people. EEF comprises eleven regional Associations, the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), and UK Steel.
EEF represents the interests of manufacturing, engineering and technology based industries at all levels of UK Government and the European Union. At the same time, EEF is one of the UK’s leading providers of business services in employment relations and employment law, health and safety, environmental services, manufacturing performance, and training and development with a comprehensive range of services providing practical advice and support around the entire employee life cycle. Within its specialist support teams, EEF employs more than 85 experienced legal advisers – including 50 qualified employment lawyers -- who provide an employment law service to all types of companies across the UK through EEF’s regional associations.
EEF also provides comprehensive education and skills training, and innovative business improvement ‘tools’, covering a broad spectrum of business areas to help companies improve all aspects of their skills base and business competitiveness.
In addition to being a barometer for the manufacturing sector’s economic health, EEF’s Information and Research Unit provides ‘up-to-the-minute’ business intelligence and analysis in the form of regular briefings, surveys, economic and business data, business trends, pay surveys, statistics and publications relevant to the interests of decision makers in the manufacturing sector.
EEF is a strategic partner with SEMTA - the Sector Skills Council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies.
EEF membership gives companies unique access to EEF’s extensive range of expertise and business knowledge. EEF also designs solutions and programmes to meet the individual requirements of member companies.
EEF has been rated the top support organisation for manufacturing businesses in the UK for the fifth year running by Manufacturing Magazine.