Employment Law SOS: The rights and wrongs of works councils

Works councils, which are consultative bodies made up of management and employee representatives, are usually set up under an information and consultation agreement. In this case, as your company has more than 50 employees, if 10% of the employees request that a works council is established, then as the employer you are obliged to negotiate with employees to put in place such an arrangement. Employers and employees are generally free to agree whatever terms of reference they want for a works council. Ideally, this should be done to best suit the specific circumstances of the business. Arguably the most important issue to address when negotiating the terms of engagement is the type of information that will be disclosed to employees and the issues that will be the subject of consultation. Other matters commonly addressed in negotiations are: the method of information and consultation; the number/composition of employee representatives (reps are often elected by reference to departments or shift patterns); the frequency of meetings; and the mechanism for resolving any disputes. In addition, it should also be agreed how specific legal obligations to consult employees (for example, in TUPE or collective redundancy situations) will interact with the works council. Works council representatives have similar legal rights to union representatives (such as paid time off to carry out duties and protection against dismissal for doing so), however union representatives usually have a much wider role across the company. This reflects the fact that trade unions have more powers than those of works councils, which are established under an information and consultation agreement.