Key employment law differences in Wales
[ch 1: page 30]The Welsh Assembly has decisively rejected key anti-trade union provisions of the TUA 16. Under the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 (TUWA), limits on public service facility time and check off (Chapter 5) and higher balloting thresholds for workers carrying out “important public services” (Chapter 6) do not apply to devolved public services in Wales, that is, the NHS, education, local government and the fire service.
In July 2019, the Welsh government went further, announcing plans for a Social Partnership Bill, to embed the principles of collective bargaining and dialogue in Wales and make it easier for unions, government and employers to work together. Other initiatives, based on recommendations by the Welsh government’s Fair Work Commission, include:
• a plan to require employers to meet minimum standards in order to be allocated public service contracts; and
• enacting the public sector socio-economic duty in Wales.
In addition, Wales retained its Agricultural Advisory Panel, following the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board, a move fought by the Westminster government all the way to the Supreme Court (Agricultural Sector Wales Bill [2014] UKSC 43). See Chapter 4, page 98.