Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006

Pre-existing agreements.

9.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where an agreement (to be known and in this Act referred to as a “ pre-existing agreement ”) exists within—

(a) an undertaking referred to in section 4 (1)(a), on or before a date to be prescribed (being a date before 23 March 2007),

(b) an undertaking referred to in section 4 (1)(b), on or before 23 March 2007, or

(c) an undertaking referred to in section 4 (1)(c), on or before 23 March 2008,

and that pre-existing agreement satisfies the requirements of this section, the employer is not obliged to comply with a request under section 7 .

(2) A pre-existing agreement shall be—

(a) in writing and dated,

(b) signed by the employer,

(c) approved by the employees,

(d) applicable to all employees to whom the agreement relates, and

(e) available for inspection by those persons and at the location agreed by the parties.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(c), a pre-existing agreement shall be regarded as having been approved by the employees—

(a) where a majority of those employees employed in the undertaking who cast a preference do so in favour of the terms of the agreement, or

(b) where the result of employing any other procedure agreed to by the parties for determining whether the agreement has been so approved discloses that it has been so approved.

(4) The employer shall ensure that the procedure referred to in subsection (3)(a) is confidential and capable of independent verification and of being used by all employees.

(5) A pre-existing agreement shall be presumed to be valid unless proved to the contrary, and shall remain in force—

(a) for the period, if any, specified in the agreement or the agreement as renewed,

(b) in the case of an open ended agreement, until it is brought to an end in accordance with its terms, or

(c) until it is brought to an end by agreement of the parties.

(6) Where a pre-existing agreement is not in force for 6 months, section 7 shall apply.

(7) A pre-existing agreement shall include reference to the following matters—

(a) the duration of the agreement and the procedure, if any, for its review,

(b) the subjects for information and consultation,

(c) the method by which information is to be provided, including as to whether it is to be provided directly to employees or through one or more employees’ representatives, and

(d) the method by which consultation is to be conducted, including as to whether it is to be conducted directly with employees or through one or more employees’ representatives.