Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006
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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. |