Rights of representatives

All representatives have the right to paid time off and appropriate facilities to carry out their duties in respect of collective consultation. They are also protected against detriment and dismissal for carrying out their role.

Trade union representatives’ rights derive from TULRCA; other employee representatives have similar rights set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA).

Paid time off is governed by sections 168 and 169 TULRCA and sections 61-62 ERA. For both types of representative, time off is paid at the “appropriate hourly rate”. This is normally the weekly rate divided by the weekly contractual hours. There are special rules for calculating the hourly rate where weekly pay varies.

Protection from detriment, dismissal and selection for redundancy for carrying out trade union activities is contained in sections 146, 152 and 153 TULRCA. Similar protections for employee representatives are in sections 47, 103 and 105 ERA.

Dismissal wholly or partly for acting or standing as a rep is “automatically” unfair. There is no qualifying service requirement.