On 16th December, we will be joined by officials from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for a discussion on the Trade Union Right of Access consultation.
The call is a chance for you to outline your views and concerns - and ask any questions - directly to the team working on the consultation.
To guide this discussion, DBT has shared the following information and questions:
The Trade Union Right of Access policy provides a framework for trade unions and employers to negotiate access to workplaces to help unions provide information about union membership to workers.
Where a trade union and an employer are unable to agree an access arrangement through negotiation between themselves, one of the parties can request that the CAC take a decision on whether access takes place or not. When taking a decision on whether access should take place, and the terms on which it should take place, the CAC will be guided by the access principles set out in the Employment Rights Bill.
There are five access principles.
1.) That a trade union should be granted access for any of the access purposes in a manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the employer’s business.
2.) That an employer should take reasonable steps to facilitate access.
3.) That physical access should not be refused solely on the basis that digital access has been permitted.
4.) That digital access should not be refused solely on the basis that physical access has been permitted.
5.) That access should be refused entirely only where it is reasonable to do so.
These principles reflect the government’s intention that trade unions should have access to workers, but that this access should not unreasonably interfere with the employer’s business and that employers should not have to take unreasonable steps to facilitate access.
To help guide our discussion with you, we wanted to pose some specific questions, which are listed below, but please do feel free to give us any other feedback that you may have.
1.) When a trade union submits a request for access, there will be a set period of time in which the employer must respond. There will also be a set period of time in which the union and the employer have to negotiate terms of access between themselves after the employer has responded. In the consultation we proposed 5 working days and 15 working days for the response and negotiation period, respectively. We are considering increasing the length of the response and negotiation periods in response to feedback that this will better foster negotiation. Is this something you agree with?
2.) In the consultation document, the government set out some scenarios where access shouldn’t take place, and some scenarios where it might be reasonable for access not to take place. If you’ve read the consultation document, do you agree with these proposals? Are there are any other circumstances that you think the government should specify where access shouldn’t take place?
3.) In the consultation we propose that weekly access (physical, digital or both) is a reasonable requirement for employers to facilitate whilst also being frequent enough for trade unions to carry out the purposes of access agreements effectively. Do you have views on this proposal?
Please download the invite using the link below - or contact Cara if you are having issues doing so.