Trade union duties

[ch 3: page 22]

An employer must give trade union representatives in recognised workplaces paid time off to carry out their union duties (TULRCA, section 168). According to the Acas Code of Practice, the amount of time off which an employee is to be permitted to take should be “reasonable”. The right to payment for that time is set out in section 169 (see page 24).

Examples of duties that should qualify for paid time off include:

• negotiations with the employer (see below);

• functions which the employer has agreed may be performed by the trade union;

• receiving information and being consulted on redundancies or business transfers or pensionchanges (see chapter 6); and

• training in industrial relations (see chapter 8).

Time spent in negotiations/collective bargaining is often referred to as “section 178 matters” because that section of TULRCA sets out what it can involve:

• terms and conditions of employment (or the physical conditions of work);

• recruitment, suspension and dismissal;

• allocation of work;

• discipline;

• trade union membership (including non-membership);

• facilities for trade union reps and officers; and

• procedural matters — such as for recognition or consultation.