Trade Union Bill

Any public sector employer could be told to limit facility time afforded to trade union representatives under the Trade Union Bill published last month.

As well as the widely-reported restrictions on strikes, the Bill gives the government the power to make regulations on facility time in the public sector to ensure that:

• union officials cannot exceed a set percentage of their paid time on union duties; and

• employers do not exceed a set percentage of their total pay bill on paying union officials for facility time.

The Bill also gives the certification officer a host of new powers including the ability to impose fines on unions of up to £20,000 for breaches of the rules.

www.wbs.ac.uk/news/research-restricting-union-representative-facility-time-counterproductive

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2015-2016/0058/16058.pdf