Fairness at Work (Hansard, 17 December 1998)

§ Mr. Mandelson

The White Paper on Fairness at Work was published in May and the consultation period ended in July. Since then, the Government have been developing the policies in the White Paper to form legislative proposals.

We remain fully committed to the principles in the White Paper, but have also listened closely to the concerns expressed in the consultation to develop sensible, balanced legislation that will represent a settlement for the whole Parliament and endure beyond.

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As the Competitiveness White Paper highlighted, a key feature of our top performing companies is a culture which promotes fairness and trust and creates the right conditions for business success. This Bill will promote in all UK companies the standards of the best modern employment relationships.

I intend to bring forward a Bill in the New Year. The Government are committed to action or have taken action on all 29 of the proposals in the White Paper.

I am depositing in the Library of the House copies of letters which I have written to the TUC and CBI which contain a detailed summary of our intentions for the Bill.

The following are the key points: Trade union recognition will essentially follow the procedure within the White Paper. However, we intend to build in measures to ensure that the recognition procedure functions effectively and credibly. A revitalised Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) will have discretion in cases involving automatic recognition and the Secretary of State will also be able to issue guidance to the CAC. We also intend that employees campaigning for recognition should have protection from dismissal or action short of dismissal. We intend to offer a real incentive to employers to put in place proper voluntary systems to avoid unfair dismissals. We will therefore be raising the limit for compensation for unfair dismissal from £12,000 to £50,000 and index linking that sum in the future. The Bill will safeguard the fundamental right of employers and employees to reach individual contracts which differ from the terms of any collective agreement. However, we will protect employees from being forced into signing individual contracts where a collective agreement exists. We will also provide protection for those engaged in lawfully organised official industrial action. It will be automatically unfair to dismiss employees for the first eight weeks of the action. Thereafter dismissal will be fair provided that the employer has taken all reasonable procedural steps to resolve the dispute. As outlined in the White Paper we will be bringing forward a package of Family Friendly measures to ensure that as many people who want to work should have the chance to do so.