The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees (Amendment) Regulations 2010, which implement changes required by the recast European Works Councils Directive, came into force on 5 June 2011.
The European Works Councils Directive requires the management of multinational organisations to inform and consult their European workforce on transnational issues. It is implemented in the United Kingdom by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999. The recast Directive aims to enhance the working of European Works Councils (EWCs), by improving the effectiveness of information and consultation of employees. Among other things, the amending Regulations:
- introduce new obligations on central management on the way that information and consultation should take place in EWCs;
- tighten the definition of a transnational issue that can be considered by an EWC;
- require EWCs to be adapted after a significant structural company change to ensure that all employees are represented;
- create a new right for members of EWCs and special negotiating bodies to receive necessary training;
- create an obligation for the central management to provide an EWC with the means required to fulfil its duties;
- provide for a link to be created between consultations at national level and related consultations with an EWC; and; and
- increase the maximum penalty for a breach of the Regulations from GBP75,000 to GBP100,000.
The amended Regulations will apply to all EWCs, or information and consultation procedures, set up on or after 5 June 2011, and to those established after 15 December 1999 under agreements which were not revised between 5 June 2009 and 5 June 2011. Many of the Regulations apply only where the central management of the undertaking or group is situated in the United Kingdom, but some obligations apply to the UK management, regardless of where the central management is situated.