Amendment Paper as at
Tuesday 12th February 2002
CONSIDERATION OF BILL
EMPLOYMENT BILL, AS AMENDED
NEW CLAUSES
Complaints about grievances
Ms Secretary Hewitt
NC6
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) This section applies to the jurisdictions listed in Schedule [Tribunal jurisdictions to which section [Complaints about grievances] applies].
(2) An employee shall not present a complaint to an employment tribunal under a jurisdiction to which this section applies if—
| (a) | it concerns a matter in relation to which the requirement in paragraph 6 or 9 of Schedule 2 applies, and |
| (b) | the requirement has not been complied with. |
(3) An employee shall not present a complaint to an employment tribunal under a jurisdiction to which this section applies if—
| (a) | it concerns a matter in relation to which the requirement in paragraph 6 or 9 of Schedule 2 has been complied with, and |
| (b) | less than 28 days have passed since the day on which the requirement was complied with. |
(4) An employee shall not present a complaint to an employment tribunal under a jurisdiction to which this section applies if—
| (a) | it concerns a matter in relation to which the requirement in paragraph 6 or 9 of Schedule 2 has been complied with, and |
| (b) | the day on which the requirement was complied with was more than one month after the end of the original time limit for making the complaint. |
(5) In such circumstances as the Secretary of State may specify by regulations, an employment tribunal may direct that subsection (4) shall not apply in relation to a particular matter.
(6) An employment tribunal shall be prevented from considering a complaint presented in breach of subsections (2) to (4), but only if—
| (a) | the breach is apparent to the tribunal from the information supplied to it by the employee in connection with the bringing of the proceedings, or |
| (b) | the tribunal is satisfied of the breach as a result of his employer raising the issue of compliance with those provisions in accordance with regulations under section 7 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (c.17) (employment tribunal procedure regulations). |
(7) The Secretary of State may for the purposes of this section by regulations—
| (a) | make provision about the application of the procedures set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2; |
| (b) | make provision about what constitutes compliance with paragraph 6 or 9 of that Schedule; |
| (c) | make provision about circumstances in which a person is to be treated as having complied with paragraph 6 or 9 of that Schedule; |
| (d) | make provision for paragraph 6 or 9 of that Schedule to have effect in such circumstances as may be specified by the regulations with such modifications as may be so specified. |
(8) The Secretary of State may by order—
| (a) | amend, repeal or replace any of subsections (2) to (4); |
| (b) | amend Schedule [Tribunal jurisdictions to which section [Complaints about grievances] applies]; |
| (c) | make provision for this section to apply, with or without modifications, as if— |
| (i) | any individual of a description specified in the order who would not otherwise be an employee for the purposes of this section were an employee for those purposes, and |
| (ii) | a person of a description specified in the order were, in the case of any such individual, the individual's employer for those purposes. |
(9) Before making an order under subsection (8)(a), the Secretary of State must consult the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
(10) In its application to orders under subsection (8)(a), section 51(1)(b) includes power to amend this section.'.
As an Amendment to Ms Secretary Hewitt's proposed New Clause (NC6) (Complaints about grievances):
Mr John Whittingdale
Mr Phillip Hammond
Mr Charles Hendry
(a)
Line 43, leave out subsections (8) to (10).
Report on impact of Act
Mr John Whittingdale
Mr Philip Hammond
Mr Charles Hendry
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'Not later than one year from the date of coming into force of this Act, the Secretary of State shall prepare and publish a report on the impact of the Act, including in particular an assessment of:
| (a) | the total cost to employers of complying with the Act; and |
| (b) | the total cost to public funds of the Act; and |
| (c) | the distribution of costs and benefits arising from the Act between: |
| (ii) | employees of different descriptions; and |
and the Secretary of State shall, on each anniversary of the date of such publication, publish a revision of that report.'.
Assessment of effects of widening definition of 'employee'
Mr John Whittingdale
Mr Philip Hammond
Mr Charles Hendry
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'.—The powers granted to the Secretary of State in this Act to provide by Regulations that persons who do not fall within the definition of "employee" are to be treated as employees for the purposes of the Act and persons who fall within the definition of employee are not to be treated as employees for the purposes of the Act shall not be exercised until such time as
| (1) | the Secretary of State has prepared and published an assessment of the need for and expected effects of any proposed exercise of such powers; and |
| (2) | the Secretary of State has prepared and published an assessment of the expected costs and benefits of any proposed exercise of such powers and of the incidence of such costs and benefits.'. |
Assessment of costs to businesses
Mr John Whittingdale
Mr Philip Hammond
Mr Charles Hendry
NC3
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Secretary of State shall, within one year of the coming into effect of this Act, prepare and publish an assessment of the average administrative costs per employee to businesses of complying with each of the requirements of this Act
(2) The Secretary of State shall, by Regulations, provide for the average administrative cost per employee as determined by the assessment under (1) above to be reimbursed to employers from public funds.'.
Assessment of resources of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Mr John Whittingdale
Mr Philip Hammond
Mr Charles Hendry
NC4
To move the following Clause:—
'( ) Before making any order under section 55(2) of this Act relating to Parts 2 and 3, the Secretary of State shall prepare and publish an assessment of the additional resources likely to be required by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service as a consequence of the coming into force of Parts 2 and 3.'.
Participation in official industrial action
Mr Tony Lloyd
Rob Marris
Mrs Betty Williams
Mr Brian H. Donohoe
Mr Frank Doran
Mr Doug Henderson
'(1) The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is amended as follows.
'.—Section 109 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) (Upper age limit) is hereby repealed.'.
'(1) The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is amended as follows.
(2) Subsection (2B) of section 238 (dismissals in connection with other industrial action) shall cease to have effect.
(3) Section 238A (participation in official industrial action) shall cease to have effect.'.
'Before making any order under section 55(2) of this Act in respect of section 43, the Secretary of State shall certify that it appears to him on the basis of the latest data available to him that the number of working days lost through strikes in England and Wales during the latest period for which that data is available is less than 250,000 per annum.'.
