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Communications
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Brief 3 - Topical news for activists
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May 2001
Legal Overtime The ECJ in Wolfgang Lange v Georg Schunemann have ruled that employers must inform employees in writing of any obligation to work overtime. Lange was unfairly dismissed for refusing to work overtime because his contract was silent on this point. Holiday Entitlement The Working Time Regulations limits the entitlement to four weeks holiday to staff with 13 weeks continuous service. This often excludes staff who do not work continuously. A challenge to this regulation has been referred to the ECJ on the basis that the directive does not include this precondition. The ECJ Advocate General's opinion (which is usually followed by the ECJ) indicates that this precondition is not allowed by the Directive. If the ECJ follows this opinion (probably this summer) the regulations will have to be changed. Collective Consultation A useful reminder in GMB v Man Truck & Bus UK that the redundancy consultation requirements apply to any dismissal not related to the individual concerned. In this case it covered dismissals and re-engagement on new contracts following harmonisation. Equal Opportunities Working Parents Useful sources of information relating to legislation and current practice regarding issues surrounding working parents: Acas Dept
of Education & Employment Employers
for Work-Life Balance Equal
Opportunities Commission Site
advocating a work-life balance National
Family and Parenting Institute Trades
Union Congress Government
online information service Assistance for Working Parents The Government has announced new measures to assist working parents with disabled children. Their parental leave entitlement will be increased from 13 to 18 weeks, giving them greater flexibility to care for their children. The moves are supported by business, disability and parent groups. Disability Rights Changes currently being made to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) will give extended rights to cancer sufferers and employees of small businesses who were previously exempt from its provisions. People with cancer will now be protected against discrimination from the time of diagnosis. Those who have recovered from it or are in remission will also be covered. Race Relations Following from the MacPherson Report, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 came into force on 2 April 2001. The Act aims to force public authorities to eliminate institutional racism and promote equality of opportunity and good relations. Authorities and, interestingly, any sub-contractors will have to clearly define racial equality policies and assess their impact on recruitment retention and promotion of ethnic minority staff. Annual results will have to be published. Industrial Relations Data Protection The Data Protection Act is now one year old. Organisations failing to comply with it risk criminal prosecution. In a survey carried out by Industrial Relations only half of the organisations questioned admitted having a written data protection policy. The act regulates when and how personal data about individuals may be obtained, held, used and disclosed and includes the need to obtain employees' consent to hold, for example, their sickness absence records, and sensitive personal data such as mental or physical health problems. Other issues that should be covered in any data protection agreement include ensuring that documents like expired disciplinary warnings are erased from employees' records. Only a third of employers surveyed had such policies in place. The Data Protection Registrar will shortly be issuing a series of Code of Practice which will set out what employers need to do to comply with the Act. Fixed Term Contracts The EU Fixed Term Contracts Directive should come into force in the UK by June 2001. The DTI has issued a publication on the directive with a closing date for responses of 31 May 2001. The Directive aims to ensure that fixed-term workers are treated no less favourably than permanent employees, and to prevent abuse arising from use of several fixed term contracts. The Directive will require employees to consult with workers' representatives on their use. Work-Life Balance - Sick Leave Employers need to adopt work-life balance practices if they want to cut staff turnover and absenteeism and increase productivity. Department for Education research, Work Life Balance Survey 2000 claims that costs to business of employees suffering from stress and taking extended sick leave are increasing, whereas those firms who had implemented work-life policies found an increase in productivity, lowered staff turnover and absenteeism and an improvement in industrial relations overall. Freedom of Information The Freedom of Information Bill, published recently is notably light on how authorities are going to provide the Information. The Bill estimates an annual cost of providing the information at between £2.5 and £4.8m, but nowhere indicates where this money is to come from to compensate authorities. UNISON has already lobbied for extra money to be provided and wants to find out how good authorities record storing/archiving is. Branches should begin to raise the implications of the FoI Bill with authorities and employers, getting them to assess likely needs in terms of access/ staffing/storing. In addition, Branches should try and ensure that where services are privatised/contracted out, etc. the private company/outside organisation is aware of the implications of FoI legislation. UNISON has been lobbying strongly for such providers of public services to be clearly included in the scope of the legislation. However, there would be nothing wrong with some commitments from private sector employers or clauses added into contracts confirming the private sector's known enthusiasm for accessibility and freedom of information! Scots Workers set challenge Research by Scottish daily paper Business AM shows that Scottish workers are more likely to pursue grievances and are more difficult to manage. The survey showed that 40% of those responding believed Scottish workers were more likely to follow up complaints and that they were harder to deal with. We're obviously doing something right! The incidence of workers suing for unfair dismissal was the only question on which there was parity with English staff. Contacts list:
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