The Government has announced groundbreaking legislation designed to harmonise relationships between bosses and their employees.
The Government has announced groundbreaking legislation designed to harmonise relationships between bosses and their employees.
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations aim to reduce workplace disputes and discord by giving employees the right to be consulted on issues that affect them at work. Employers will be able to agree consultation agreements with staff adapted to their particular business circumstances.
Under the legislation it will be up to employees to ask for information and consultation arrangements to be introduced and if 10 per cent of the workforce request it, employers are obliged to set up such a scheme. If employers do not abide by such arrangements, employees or their representatives can complain to the Central Arbitration Committee, and a penalty of up to £75,000 can be imposed.
‘Information and Consultation is a real opportunity for greater partnership and understanding in the workplace and that can only be a win-win situation,’ enthused Employment Relations Minister Gerry Sutcliffe. ‘People can cope with bad news, change and all sorts of information and situations if they know what is happening – it is uncertainty that causes problems.’
To help smaller firms adjust to the change, the laws will apply as follows:
- 150 or more employees from 6 April 2005;
- 100 or more employees from 2007; and,
- 50 or more employees from 2008.
Guidance on the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations has been published by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) to help businesses implement them successfully.
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