Employment Relations Bill
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A
B I L L
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Amend the law relating to employment, to trade unions and to employment agencies and businesses.
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-
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Trade unions |
| Collective bargaining: recognition. |
1. - (1) The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) After Chapter V of Part I (rights of trade union members) there shall be inserted-
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"CHAPTER VA |
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: RECOGNITION |
| Recognition of trade unions. |
70A. Schedule A1 shall have effect."
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(3) Immediately before Schedule 1 there shall be inserted the Schedule set out in Schedule 1 to this Act.
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| Detriment related to trade union membership. |
2. Schedule 2 shall have effect.
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| Blacklists. |
3. - (1) The Secretary of State may make regulations prohibiting the compilation of lists which-
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(a) contain details of members of trade unions or persons who have taken part in the activities of trade unions, and |
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(b) are compiled with a view to being used by employers or employment agencies for the purposes of recruitment. |
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(2) The Secretary of State may make regulations prohibiting the use of lists to which subsection (1) applies.
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(3) Regulations under this section may, in particular-
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(a) confer jurisdiction (including exclusive jurisdiction) on employment tribunals and on the Employment Appeal Tribunal; |
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(b) create criminal offences; |
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(c) in specified cases or circumstances, extend liability for a criminal offence created under paragraph (b) to a person who aids the commission of the offence or to a person who is an agent, principal, employee, employer or officer of a person who commits the offence; |
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(d) provide for specified obligations or offences not to apply in specified circumstances; |
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(e) include supplemental, incidental, consequential and transitional provision, including provision amending an enactment; |
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(f) make different provision for different cases or circumstances. |
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(4) Expressions used in this section and in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 have the same meaning in this section as in that Act.
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| Notice relating to industrial action. |
4. - (1) The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 shall be amended as follows.
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(2) In section 226A(2)(c) (notice of ballot must describe employees entitled to vote) for "describing (so that he can readily ascertain them) the employees of the employer" there shall be substituted "containing such information in the union's possession as would help the employer to make plans and bring information to the attention of those of his employees".
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(3) After section 226A(3) there shall be inserted-
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"(3A) These rules apply for the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (2)-
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(a) if the union possesses information as to the number, category or work-place of the employees concerned, a notice must contain that information (at least); |
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(b) if a notice does not name any employees, that fact shall not be a ground for holding that it does not comply with paragraph (c) of subsection (2)." |
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(4) In section 234A(3)(a) (notice relating to industrial action must describe employees intended to take part in industrial action) for "describes (so that he can readily ascertain them) the employees of the employer who" there shall be substituted "contains such information in the union's possession as would help the employer to make plans and bring information to the attention of those of his employees whom".
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(5) After section 234A(5) there shall be inserted-
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"(5A) These rules apply for the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (3)-
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(a) if the union possesses information as to the number, category or work-place of the employees concerned, a notice must contain that information (at least); |
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(b) if a notice does not name any employees, that fact shall not be a ground for holding that it does not comply with paragraph (a) of subsection (3)." |
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| Ballots for industrial action: period of effectiveness. |
5. In section 234 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act (period after which ballot ceases to be effective) for subsection (1) there shall be substituted-
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"(1) Subject to the following provisions, a ballot ceases to be effective for the purposes of section 233(3)(b) in relation to industrial action by members of a trade union at the end of the period, beginning with the date of the ballot-
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(b) of such longer duration not exceeding eight weeks as is agreed between the union and the members' employer." |
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