Duty of employer to supply information to union
Employment Relations Bill
10:00 am
Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 14, in
clause 3, page 2, line 31, leave out '5' and insert '10'.
This is a simple amendment, which relates to an earlier point in the Bill. As so often happens, we are debating legislation in a logical but not strictly chronological order. The clause deals with the employer's duty to supply information to the union, and I am looking forward to discussing some important amendments to it in a moment. Amendment No. 14, however, is fairly short. Page 2, line 31, of the Bill states:
''Within 5 working days starting with the day after that on which the CAC gives the employer notice of acceptance of the application, the employer must supply the following information''.
Five days is not long enough. Consider the information that has to be produced; a list of the categories of worker in the proposed bargaining unit, a list of the workplaces and the number of workers that the employer reasonably believes to be in each category at each workplace. It will be easy for a company that operates on one site—perhaps a small manufacturing unit employing 30, 40 or 50 people—to supply that information.
However, there are many disparate industries in this country. Sectors such as haulage, which have depots around the country at which some employees are self-employed and the use of sub-contractors is prevalent, will find it much harder to pull the information together. In addition, some companies keep very good records, but others are less conscientious. I am in favour of anything that drives up business efficiency standards, but we must also have an eye on what is reasonable. Five working days is not long enough. In the circumstances that I have described, 10 working days would be more reasonable. That is why I have tabled the amendment.