Clause 25 - Detriment for use of union services or
Employment Relations Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 47, in
clause 25, page 23, leave out lines 30 to 37.
If the employer suffers the penalty for inducement, it seems bizarre that the worker should be able to receive the benefit of the illegal inducement for which the employer has been fined. The employee could happily do a deal with his employer and then hold the employer to ransom for three months before taking it to tribunal, at which the employer must prove that there was no inducement, and after which the company may be fined while the worker retains the benefit of the illegal deal.
That seems incomprehensible to me. It is unfair, illogical and totally contrary to any concept of harmonious industrial relations. Workers could effectively use the law to induce employers. In such a situation, the workers could win the tribunal award and get better contract provisions as well.