Systems of employee representation at the enterprise: UK report

Abstract

In the case of the UK, there is no straightforward answer to the question of the existence of a legal framework for employee representation at enterprise level. For much of the twentieth century, worker representation was regulated in accordance with the principle of voluntarism or collective laissez-faire: successive governments supported the creation and maintenance of trade unions and collective bargaining machinery as the preferred means of regulating industrial relations, but, as a general rule, they did not attempt to regulate employment relations directly by means of legislation. Consequently, workers had no legal right to be represented collectively, and employers had no legal duty to recognise trade unions, or to bargain with, consult or inform trade unions or any other worker representatives. The institution and organisation of enterprise worker representation was a matter for employers, trade unions and workers to decide without legal compulsion, and without the guidance of a comprehensive legal framework. Today the picture is rather more complicated. A number of different laws exist which require employers to inform and consult the workforce at enterprise or workplace level in respect of specified subject matter (e.g. health and safety), or on the occurrence of certain events (e.g. the sale of the business). A further law facilitates, but does not require, the institution of a works council or other arrangement for the periodic information and consultation of employees within undertakings. Much of this information and consultation (henceforth I&C ) legislation was introduced in implementation of European Union Directives. Quite separately from that legislation, statutory provisions exist which, in defined circumstances, can require an employer to recognise a trade union at enterprise level for the purposes of collective bargaining. The application of these I&C and union recognition laws is not comprehensive, however, nor do the laws seek to regulate worker representation at enterprise level comprehensively. As a consequence, employers, trade unions and workers retain a significant measure of freedom to organise worker representation without legal restraint, unilaterally or through collective or other workplace agreements. It has never been attempted in the UK to legislate for a single, coherent system of

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