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Employee
representatives – facilities, support and rights
The DTI is seeking views on the
facilities, support and rights available to workplace employee representatives.
There are a number of statutory
entitlements to reasonable time off with pay during working hours for
representatives to carry out their functions. Some of these are long-standing,
others have been introduced since the Government took office. The main current
and prospective entitlements are as follows:
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for individuals who are lay
officials of independent trade unions which are recognised by an employer,
there is a right to time off to carry out certain duties connected with
collective bargaining;
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for individuals who are
workplace health and safety representatives, there is an entitlement to such
paid time off during working hours as is necessary to perform their functions;
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for individuals who are union
learning representatives, there is an entitlement to reasonable time off to
undertake their functions; and
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for individuals who are
employee representatives in the information and consultation arrangements that
begin from the 6th April, there will be an entitlement to
reasonable paid time off to undertake their role.
The Government is interested in
gaining a better understanding of how these different arrangements are working
in practice.
The successive Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS) provide some
information. According to the 1998 WERS, 29% of worker representatives spend
less than one hour a week on their duties and a further 23% spend between one
and two hours a week on their duties. In contrast, 18% spend more than ten
hours on such activity. Over 80% of trade union representatives were paid by
their employer for time spent on their duties at work. WERS also provides some
information on the activities and tasks undertaken by employee representatives,
and the facilities and support available to them. Fresh data on these matters
will become available when the first findings of the 2004 WERS are published
this summer and the full findings are published in April next year.
The DTI wants to develop a more
comprehensive picture and gain a greater understanding of the views of
employers, management and trade unions on the rights and facilities available to
employee representatives.
The DTI would welcome views
plus supporting evidence by 1 June 2005.
Any views should be sent to
Bernard Carter, Employment Relations Directorate, DTI, UG 3124, 1 Victoria
Street, London SW1H 0ET (telephone - 020 7215 2760 or e-mail
bernard.carter@dti.gsi.gov.uk).
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