In its first term in office, Labour produced the Fairness at Work White Paper in which the resultant Employment Relations Act 1999 (1999 Act) was described as the industrial relations settlement for that Parliament. The same White Paper promised a review of the 1999 Act after its implementation. So here we are, with another White Paper for this Parliament.
The 1999 Act introduced a host of key reforms to both individual and collective labour law. The most notable was the introduction of the right for unions to apply to force employers to recognise them for collective bargaining purposes on the issues of pay, hours and holidays for workers. The Act also granted the right for ‘companions’ – who could be trade union officials from outside – to attend disciplinary and grievance hearings. In addition, there were reforms on the law on industrial action, ostensibly to make it simpler for unions to comply with their obligations under Part V of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and so preserve their immunity from civil suit.
