Hall, Mark

Participants at the annual conference of the Trades Union Congress (TUC [1]), held during September 2006, debated and adopted a new policy statement on Europe, which was prepared by the TUC’s general council. The TUC believes that, in light of the successful trade union campaign against the proposed EU directive on the provision of services in the internal market [2], and in preparation for the 2007 congress of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC [3]), it is time to ‘relaunch the campaign for a social Europe’. [1] http://www.tuc.org.uk/ [2] http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/imco/services_directive/default_en.htm [3] http://www.etuc.org/

Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.

On 21 June 2006, the Work and Families Bill (*UK0511102F* [1]) completed its passage through parliament and reached the UK statute book. The new Work and Families Act 2006 [2] will enable ministers to introduce a range of new ‘family-friendly’ employment rights. These will come into effect in a number of stages. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-unveils-new-family-friendlyemployment-legislation [2] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/20060018.htm

On 20 April 2006, the UK’s Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT [1]) issued its first judgement in a case arising under the Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations 2004 [2] (*UK0502103N* [3]). The EAT dismissed appeals from both parties against the decision of the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC [4]) in the case of Moray Council and Mr J Stewart [5] (*UK0602101N* [6]); in doing so, the EAT interpreted the meaning of Regulation 8 of the ICE Regulations in a way that has important implications for both employers and trade unions seeking to rely on ‘pre-existing agreements’ (PEAs) to meet the terms of the legislation. [1] http://www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/ [2] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043426.htm [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/employee-consultation-legislation-finalised [4] http://www.cac.gov.uk/ [5] http://www.cac.gov.uk/I&C/IC3 14 Dec Moray Council Reg 10(1) Decision (Final Version-Amended).htm [6] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/cac-issues-first-ruling-in-information-and-consultation-case

On 30 March 2006, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI [1]) published a strategy paper, entitled Success at work: Protecting vulnerable workers, supporting good employers (547Kb pdf) [2]. This paper sets out the current government’s employment relations policy for the current parliament and includes key themes such as introducing new measures to protect vulnerable workers, ‘cracking down on rogue employers’, and ‘lightening the load for legitimate business’. [1] http://www.dti.gov.uk/ [2] http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file27469.pdf?pubpdfdload=06/1024

On 27 February, the Women and Work Commission, set up by the UK Prime Minister in 2004, published a report, Shaping a fairer future (1Mb pdf) [1], which sets out 40 recommendations to tackle job segregation and the gender pay gap (*UK0402104F* [2]). The independent commission was chaired by Baroness Margaret Prosser, a former senior official of the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), while members were drawn from a range of constituencies including companies, employer organisations, trade unions, public sector bodies and charities. [1] http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/publications/wwc_shaping_fairer_future06.pdf [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/gender-pay-gap-examined-0

On 9 March 2006, the Department of Trade and Industry published the final version of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (560Kb MS Word doc) [1], which will prohibit age discrimination in employment and vocational training. The regulations are intended to give effect to the age discrimination provisions of the EU Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (2000/78/EC [2]) (*EU0102295F* [3]), and will come into force from 1 October 2006, subject to parliamentary approval. Earlier versions of the regulations have been the subject of extensive public consultation (*UK0508101N* [4]). [1] http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/draft_regs.doc [2] http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0078:EN:HTML [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/new-framework-equal-treatment-directive-examined [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/draft-age-discrimination-legislation-published

On 22 February 2006, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) ordered Macmillan Publishers to disclose to the trade union, Amicus, data on the establishments, sites and/or plants that constitute the company’s undertaking for the purposes of the 2004 Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations [1] (*UK0502103N* [2]). The CAC also ordered that Macmillan should divulge the number of employees at each location. This ruling [3] follows a complaint by Amicus alleging that Macmillan Publishers had failed to respond adequately to a request by the union under Regulation 6(1) for information about the structure of the company and the numbers of employees employed at different sites. [1] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20043426.htm [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/employee-consultation-legislation-finalised [3] http://www.cac.gov.uk/I&C/23 Feb 06 Macmillan decision - final_1.htm

The coming year is likely to see important developments at EU level affecting industrial relations - in particular on European Works Councils (EWCs), labour law reform, transnational collective bargaining and information and consultation - a number of them stemming from the European Commission’s broader restructuring agenda. This feature highlights a range of forthcoming initiatives and the likely reaction from the EU-level social partners.

On 27 January 2006, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) published new research [1] showing that that voluntary progress in undertaking equal pay reviews (EPRs) has 'stagnated' among large organisations, and that there has been a 'significant decline' in reported EPR activity among smaller organisations. [1] http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/WP_42_equal_pay_reviews_survey.pdf