Welcoming the new Information and Consultation of Employees
Regulations, also known as the ICE Regulations, TUC General
Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"These new changes from Europe mean that employees now have a
right to be told what's going on and a right to be heard. It should
put a stop to the bolts from the blue where in the past staff heard
their jobs were to be axed via text messages or by listening to the
local radio."
The Regulations give employers the flexibility to agree
consultation arrangements with their employees tailored to their
particular circumstances. The DTI says they will facilitate
voluntary agreements and allow pre-existing arrangements supported
by the workforce and management to continue.
In general, the Regulations give employers and employees a free
hand to agree on the subjects, timing and method of consultation;
set up arrangements that apply to several companies as a group; and
agree different consultation arrangements in different parts of a
company, for example, at different locations or covering different
parts of the workforce.
After the Regulations come into force, employers need not do
anything unless employees trigger a request for negotiations. When
there is such a request, the negotiation of an information and
consultation agreement will take place against the benchmark of
"standard information and consultation provisions", which the
Central Arbitration Committee may ultimately enforce in the event
of a failure to agree.
Brendan Barber concluded:
"Well-run, successful companies have been informing and
consulting with their employees for years. Sensible employers know
only too well the competitive edge that comes from helping staff
feel more valued and involved in the running of their firm or
organisation. Only bad managers who insist on keeping their staff
in the dark have anything to fear."
The ICE Regulations apply to firms with 150 or more employees as
from yesterday. They will apply to firms with 100 or more employees
in 2007 and those with 50 or more in 2008.
