On 3 August 2005, Mr Stewart lodged a petition in which over 500 employees asked the council to initiate negotiations to reach an agreement under the ICE regulations. The council took the view that there were pre-existing agreements in place covering all employees and therefore it decided to hold a ballot (regulation 8(2)) to test the level of endorsement of the employees’ request.

Mr Stewart complained to the CAC (regulation 10(1)) that the council was not entitled to hold a ballot because the agreements in question (which included a trade union collective agreement) did not comply with the definition of a pre-existing agreement in the regulations. The CAC upheld the complaint.

The council submitted an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) but the EAT upheld the CAC decision. The council’s agreement did not engage with the detailed requirements in the regulations “in any way” (although on one of the criteria, employee approval, that could be inferred where a majority of employees in an undertaking were union members).

These decisions left the Council under an obligation to initiate negotiations to reach agreement on ICE arrangements.

Moray Council 17 October 2005 IC/03/(2005)

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140701192834/http://www.cac.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2585

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140701192834/http://www.cac.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2592