Labour Research January 2010

Union news

Time off for union activities

The revised Acas code of practice on time off for trade union duties and activities comes into effect on the first of this month.

Significant revisions include guidance on ensuring that union reps do not suffer any detriment to their pay as a result of time taken for union duties, and a statement that employers should provide cover or workload reductions for reps when time off is required. In addition reps are entitled to expect to be able to communicate with members “without intrusion in the form of monitoring by their employer”.