Clause 43 - Union learning representatives
Employment Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 219, in page 45, line 29, at end insert—
'(aa) the employer has given his approval in writing to the appointment (such approval not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed)'.
The amendment addresses the question of employer approval for the appointment of a learning rep. I know that Labour Members' initial reaction will be ''This has nothing to do with the employer. He should not have any power to influence the appointment of the union learning rep.'' That argument sits uncomfortably with what we have all said about learning reps being able to flourish and prosper only in a collaborative environment. It seems not unreasonable to say that an employer cannot have a veto over the appointment of a shop steward, but also reasonable to say that an employer must have some involvement in the appointment of a learning rep, if it is to be anything more than a bauble to be offered as an inducement to a trade union official—more paid time off for the shop steward. That is not what any of us seeks.
Knowing what the instinctive reaction of Labour Members would be, I have inserted into the amendment the words
''such approval not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed'',
a phrase familiar to lawyers. The concept of reasonableness is one that we debated a few minutes ago in relation to another matter and one with which the law is used to dealing. In most cases it would be impossible for an employer to withhold his approval of a proposed learning representative where all the other criteria were met, one of those criteria being appropriate qualifications or competence. We shall come to that issue and I do not intend to address it now.
The amendment would simply include a provision that the employer has a voice in this process that could be exercised where the proposed appointment is unreasonable, having regard to all the facts, where the reasonableness or otherwise would ultimately be determined by a tribunal. I suspect that most employers in most cases would be reluctant to risk exercising the power that I propose to give them here
to withhold approval in any but the most extreme cases, but it is essential that we recognise the collaborative nature of the process that union learning reps will be engaged on by involving the employer in the appointment process.