Reaching a workforce agreement
[ch 6: pages 40-41]A workforce agreement is an agreement between an employer and its employees whose terms and conditions of employment are not covered by a union-negotiated collective agreement. In certain circumstances, employees not represented by a union are entitled to elect representatives to reach a workforce agreement. For example, the provisions set out in the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 can be modified either through a collective agreement (as defined by TULRCA) or a written workforce agreement signed by elected representatives of the workforce (or by employees if there are 20 or less).
The regulations don’t offer any specific right to time off, they simply say that the employer must have provided copies of the text of the agreement (before it is signed) and sufficient guidance. The regulations do offer protection from detriment for workforce reps (see page 58). Similar provisions apply under the Working Time Regulations 1998.