The Department of Trade and Industry published the most recent draft of the Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations in July, which implement an EU Directive.
The Regulations will come into effect for firms with 150 or more employees on 6th April 2005. They will apply to firms with 100 or more employees in 2007 and those with 50 or more in 2008.
After the Regulations come into force, employers need not do anything unless employees trigger a request for negotiations. When there is such a request, the negotiation of an information and consultation agreement will take place against the benchmark of "standard information and consultation provisions", which the Central Arbitration Committee may ultimately enforce in the event of a failure to agree.
This is not the case, however, for pre-existing agreements reached before the Regulations come into force. These enable organisations to tailor arrangements to suit their circumstances, preserving the best of what they have already.
Robyn McIlroy, an employment law specialist with Masons, the international law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said:
"Given the potential impact of these Regulations on UK employers it is surprising that this issue has received so little publicity. In essence these Regulations mean that employers with over 150 employees may need to give information and consult with workers in relation to a much wider range of issues than ever before required by statute."
Acas, which works to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations, has now published good practice advice on the Regulations, prepared jointly with the DTI, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress. The advice covers such issues as employee representation, confidentiality and dispute resolution.
In issuing the advice, the Acas Chair, Rita Donaghy, said:
"The day-to-day experience of Acas staff that comes from involvement in workplaces across the country constantly reminds us that information and consultation are the basic building blocks of good employment relations. Employment rights and management decisions are never automatic in their effect. Critically important is that it is the dialogue that information and consultation makes possible that breathes life into the employment relationship, whether or not a trade union is recognised".
She also added that Acas was committing considerable resources to help organisations to reach agreements dealing with information and consultation in the light of the Regulations, believing that this was the route to ownership and commitment.
McIlroy recommends that organisations act now:
"One of the most significant aspect of these Regulations to my mind is the fact that there may be significant advantages for employers in setting up voluntary arrangements to consult with employees in advance of the implementation of the Regulations.
"If there is voluntary arrangement in place an employer can take the initiative on the parameters of the information and consultation arrangements, and any voluntary arrangement can only then be overturned if more than 40% of the employees wish to enter into another agreement."
In contrast, she explained, if there is no voluntary arrangement in place by the time the Regulations are in force, and an employer receives a valid request from 10% of the workforce to set up an Information and Consultation Body, default arrangements may automatically apply if agreement cannot be reached on the parameters of the information and consultation arrangements.
McIlroy continued:
"The default arrangements require employers to provide information and to consult employees on specific and very wide classes of information. Of course employers may decide to adopt a 'wait and see' approach - that is, to defer entering to a voluntary arrangement and see if a valid request is received from a sufficient proportion of the workforce.
"Either way getting advice now on the best and worst case scenarios of entering into a voluntary arrangement in advance of the implementation date is to be recommended."