Clause 30 - Contracts of employment
Employment Bill
10:30 am
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
The clause ensures that all employees have a contractual right to use the statutory dispute resolution procedures. It does so by inserting an implied term to that effect in all contracts of employment so that when employers do not operate more elaborate procedures, the minimum statutory procedures in schedule 2 will be deemed to apply to employees as a default.
The amendment would cover situations in which employers already operate procedures. Those employers will be largely unaffected by the clause, and their procedures will usually incorporate the basic three steps of the statutory procedures. If so, they will not need to amend their existing arrangements. Others may fail at the margin to comply fully; in such cases only small adjustments would be required.