Duties or activities?
[ch 3: page 29]For union reps, paid time off rights may depend on whether the union work they are doing is regarded as a duty or an activity (see page 28). Again, through the TUA 16 the government has been playing up that distinction (see page 15) but there is nothing to prevent negotiators agreeing payment for some trade union activities (as at DHL Supply Chain, see page 11).
In the case of Depledge v Pye Telecommunications [1980] IRLR 390, [1981] ICR 82, the EAT decided that the time off request was in relation to union activities and not duties and that therefore there was no obligation on the employer to pay.
Kenneth Depledge was a union rep. He was invited to attend a union conference to discuss threats to job security being made by his employer. He applied for paid time off. The employers agreed he could attend but refused to pay him. Their argument was that there was a procedure for discussing job security and that that was the appropriate forum. The EAT agreed. It held that Depledge could only claim a right to unpaid time off.
Depledge v Pye Telecommunications [1980] IRLR 390, [1981] ICR 82