Employment rights reforms – latest consultations

This month, we’re focusing on two: employers’ duty to inform workers of their right to join a union and trade union access to workplaces. If you have thoughts on any of the below questions, send them to cary[email protected] by 7 December (both close on 18 December).

In the December Lobbying Bulletin, we’ll cover the consultations on enhanced protection from dismissal for pregnant workers/new mothers and bereavement leave, which close for responses in January.

And our HR Team has updated its Summary Guidance on all the aspects of the employment rights reforms.

Consultation One: Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union 

The Employment Rights Bill sets out that employers will need to give workers a written statement letting them know that they have the right to join a trade union. The consultation is about how this would work. The key questions are:

• Should the Government provide a standardised template statement that employers can tailor and issue to all employees?
• For new workers, do you agree the employer should provide the written statement directly to each individual new employee (e.g. as part of onboarding documents)
• For existing workers, do you agree the employer should be able to choose whether to provide a statement directly to each individual worker or indirectly? (e.g. posting on a staff noticeboard or intranet)
• Do you agree that employers should be required to provide workers with a reminder on an annual basis? Should this reminder be given directly, or should indirectly be enough?

Consultation Two: Trade unions’ access to workplaces

This consultation is about how trade unions should be able to access workplaces to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers and to facilitate collective bargaining. 

The key questions include:

• Is five working days enough to allow an employer to respond to a trade union’s request for access? If not, what should the maximum time period be?
• If the employer grants access, is 15 working days long enough for the employer and the trade union to complete negotiating the terms of access?
• If the employer rejects access, should it have to state why? (whether the rejection is in whole or in part).
• If an employer and trade union do not agree on an access request, for what time period should either party be able to refer it to the CAC? Would 25 days be too short, too long or about right?
• Do you agree the CAC must refuse access in the following situations?
  • If the business (as a whole) has 21 employees or fewer. Or should the number be higher, to exempt more companies?
  • If there is less than five working days between finalising the terms of the access agreement and the first visit. Or should this time period be longer?
• Do you agree the CAC should be able to refuse access in the following situations?
  • If there is already an independent trade union to negotiate on behalf of the employees in that workplace.
  • If an employer would have to allocate more resources than is necessary to fulfil the agreement (e.g. constructing new meeting places or implementing new IT systems).
• The CAC will be able to impose fines for non-compliance. What criteria should it consider when deciding how much a penalty should be?
  • Gravity of the failure
  • Duration of the failure
  • Reason for the failure
  • Number of workers affected
  • Size of the organisation
  • Any previous history of non compliance
  • Any other criteria?
• What should the maximum fine for non-compliance be?
  • A fixed maximum fine of £75,000
  • A two-stage system: £75,000 for initial breach and up to £150,000 for repeated breaches
  • Neither of these options – another amount or system?