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Consultation over policies

Summary of postings

Consultation over policies Debbie Lewis 2 Feb 06
Re: Consultation over policiesDave Gilfillan2 Feb 06
Re: Consultation over policiesAngus T26 Jul 07

Details of postings

Consultation over policies Debbie Lewis 02/02/2006 14:25
I am hoping for some guidance please. I have recently moved jobs to an organisation which is non-unionised. In my previous Company part of the workforce was unionised and we negotiated with them on changes to existing policies and procedures and terms and conditions of employment. Any agreement reached was automatically applied to the rest of the workforce.

At my new Company, as far as I know we don't have any elected employee reps to negotiate with, aside from those consulted with during redundancies.

My question is, to change existing policies or introduce a new policy, what do we have to do in terms of negotiating/consulting with employees and/or thier reps?

Some of the policies are contractual and some are not. Can we change those that are not without any consultation?

I would appreciate any guidance on this
Thanks
Debbie
 
+ Re: Consultation over policies Dave Gilfillan 02/02/2006 16:54
Hi Debbie,

You do not mention how many empoyees your new company has and therefore whether or not it is required to comply with the Information and Cosultation Directive now.

Assuming that you don't have to then youneed to consult with all employees individually to bring about any changes which you intend to make to policies and procedures. This is not as onerous as it sounds - for example you could send out a draft version of the new policy and invite responses from anyone affected.

It may also be beneficial to ask the employees to elect a representative body if you are going to make lots of changes - themore transparent the change process the more chance you have of selling the changes without wholesale opposition.

Any contractual change needs to be brought about after giving the required amount of notice, unless the employee consents to the change. Sometimes it is just easier to introduce new procedures after giving 12 weeks notice (the maximum required by law).

You need to bear in mind that any contractual change could result in either a constructive dismissal or unfair dismissal claim if handled badly.

I would also suggest that any non-contractual change should follow the same consultation process - it does not make sense to have different methods for different policies.

If you want to discuss this further drop me a line at dgilfillan@ckes.co.uk.

I hope this helps - and good luck!

Dave Gilfillan
++ Re: Consultation over policies Angus T 26/07/2007 19:55

Hi there


I have a question re the timescales on conusltation re vary contract of employment.


I cant see any spcecific guidance realting to how long the consultation process should take.  Are the timescales re redundancy consultation to be used or is it not bound by legislation, all that I have read states it should be a reasonable amount of time?


If someone could advise I would be grateful.


Thanks in advance


 

 
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