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Information and consultation
Inbrief
10 July 2020Employers with at least 50 employees can be required to establish arrangements for informing and consulting their employees on business developments. These arrangements are commonly called ‘works councils’.
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Trade union blacklisting – decision on amendment of claims ‘manifestly’ incorrect
02 July 2020The rail operator GTR has succeeded in an appeal against employees being allowed to amend their Employment Tribunal claims to assert trade union blacklisting. The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that this was not merely a “re-labelling”, despite the original claims being conceptually and factually related.
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Industrial action - summary judgment refused despite union’s ‘improbable’ defence
21 May 2020The High Court has considered a case which the employer, Royal Mail, alleged was a “classic case of unballoted strike action done at the instigation and with support of local officials”. The court refused an application for summary judgment, despite finding the trade union’s defence to be “improbable”.
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Christmas postal strike prevented due to union’s interference with postal ballot
18 December 2019The Court of Appeal (“CA”) has upheld the High Court’s decision to grant an injunction preventing a Christmas strike by postal workers. The injunction followed interference by the Communication Workers Union (“CWU”) in the postal ballot process by strongly encouraging its members to intercept their ballot papers before they were delivered to their homes.
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Dismissal unfair where investigating manager was motivated by dislike of employee's union activities
03 December 2019An employee was unfairly dismissed because the disciplinary process was manipulated by a manager who was motivated by dislike of the employee’s trade union activities, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed. This was despite the fact that neither the disciplinary nor appeal manager was influenced by prejudice against union activities.
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Strike injunction refused because ballot notification complied with legal requirements
31 October 2019Refusing an application by British Airways plc (“BA”) for an injunction to restrain strike action by airline pilots, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) ruled that the trade union had provided sufficient detail as to the “categories” of employees to be balloted under the statutory rules.
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David Hopper writes for People Management: What the law says on European Works Councils
Press
20 September 2019David Hopper has written an article for People Management reporting on a new ruling that sheds light on relocating employee representation in the wake of Brexit.
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Global Climate Strike – five key questions for employers
09 September 2019On Friday 20 September 2019, an unprecedented ‘Global Climate Strike’ is set to take place. Millions of employees across the world are being invited to walk out of their workplaces. What are the implications for employers?
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EWCs cannot slow down managerial decision-making
02 August 2019In the UK’s first appeal case on the operation of a European Works Council (“EWC”), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has ruled that EWCs cannot slow down managerial decision-making by delaying the provision of an opinion after being informed and consulted.
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UK CAC upholds the relocation of European Works Council arrangements to Ireland due to Brexit
21 June 2019The Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC”) has ruled that multinational companies headquartered outside of the European Union are not prohibited from relocating their European Works Council (“EWC”) arrangements from the UK in anticipation of Brexit. Relocation does not undermine employees’ information and consultation rights and is in accordance with the fundamental EU law principle of freedom of establishment.
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Court of Appeal decides that unions do not have a veto during collective bargaining
17 June 2019The Court of Appeal (“CA”) has ruled that offers made directly by an employer to its employees in relation to pay and working hours did not amount to an unlawful attempt to bypass collective bargaining contrary to section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (“TULRCA”). S.145B is only engaged if the employer’s purpose is to stop employees’ terms of employment from being determined by collective agreement on a permanent basis.
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EU Commission confirms its views on EWCs and a “no-deal” Brexit
01 May 2019The European Commission (“EC”) has recently revised its March 2018 guidance on the legal repercussions of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for European Work’s Councils (“EWCs”), including the implications of a “no-deal” Brexit.
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Outsourcing: TU recognition application against service provider and client thrown out
05 April 2019The High Court has dismissed a judicial review of two decisions of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) in relation to outsourced workers based at the University of London. The CAC had rejected applications by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) for recognition for collective bargaining.
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EAT rules in first UK appeal case on European Works Councils
20 March 2019In the UK’s first ever appeal case on European Works Councils (“EWCs”), the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has ruled that a Special Negotiating Body (“SNB”) can continue to exist after the third anniversary of a request to establish a EWC.
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Update on European Works Councils - will Brexit frustrate your EWC?
28 February 2019The final form of Brexit remains uncertain, as does its impact on European Works Councils (“EWCs”) that are governed by UK law.
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Brexit and European Works Councils - a status update and what you need to do next
29 January 2019The final form of Brexit remains uncertain as does its impact on European Works Councils (“EWCs”), the area of employment law that it will most immediately and profoundly affect. This article guides you through the current state of play and suggests how best to prepare for what might happen to your existing UK law-governed EWC arrangements.
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Employment Appeal Tribunal confirms that an employer’s attempt to bypass collective bargaining was unlawful
10 January 2018A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has confirmed that offers made directly by an employer to its employees risk amounting to unlawful attempts to bypass collective bargaining contrary to s145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This was a costly exercise for the employer as they were ordered to pay penalties of more than £400,000.
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The risk for employers in bypassing collective bargaining
16 March 2017Where an employer has recognised a trade union for collective bargaining purposes, can it still put an offer directly to its employees? This was the thorny issue for consideration in a recent Employment Tribunal decision.
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Industrial relations update
22 February 2017Our summary of recent “collective” employment law developments includes the latest on the Government’s industrial action reforms, the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the Boots case concerning a “sweetheart” recognition agreement and a decision of the Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC”) upholding an information request by the trade union Unite.
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Sean Dempsey comments for HR Magazine - The state of the union: The future of IR
Press
13 February 2017Employment law Partner, Sean Dempsey has commented in an article for HR Magazine which discusses the following question: are trade unions really representing modern workers or do they need to change with the times?