Time off for Trade Union Duties & Activities Agreement
THIS AGREEMENT IS BETWEEN North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) AND UNISON (It does not include teaching or other unions as this is covered by a separate agreement). The operation of this agreement requires each side to exercise flexibility and goodwill.
All the time off provisions were brought together in sections 168 & 170 of the Trade Unions and Labour Relations (Consolidations) Act 1992.
Section 199 of the Employment Act 2002 added a new right for Union Learning Representatives to take paid time off during working hours to undertake their duties and to undertake relevant training.
This agreement is in accordance with Sections 61 and 63 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the ACAS Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities.
The time off for trade union policy & procedure reflects this agreement and covers the process for applications and authorisation of time off for trade union duties and activities and what to do if the request is not granted.
Key points:
· This agreement applies to all employees who are members, officials, elected representatives or learning representatives of UNISON. (Learning Representatives must be sufficiently qualified to carry out their duties at the time when UNISON gives notice to the employer that they are now a learning representative or within six months of that date).
· It does not apply to other trade union members, officials or representatives that are not recognised by NYCC except for accompanying a worker at a disciplinary or resolving issues at work hearing.
· This agreement excludes arrangements for safety representatives and safety committees (regulations, 1977) which are dealt with separately (see Health & Safety intranet site for further information). The exception is the Inter Union Liaison Committee who considers general issues affecting NYCC.
· Time off for an official or a certified person to accompany a worker of another employer is a matter for voluntary agreement between the parties concerned.
· UNISON will confirm in writing the names of their accredited officials with their areas of responsibility, their workplaces, and any changes to the list.
Confirmation will be sent to Service Directors and Heads of HR.
· This agreement will be reviewed bi-annually as part of the collective agreement process. The agreement may also be reviewed at the request of either side.
Time off for Trade Union Duties
UNISON officials and representatives will be given reasonable time off with pay to carry out certain trade union duties.
Union duties include:
(This is not an exhaustive list)
· Negotiating terms and conditions of employment.
· Helping with or accompanying employees through disciplinary or grievance (resolving issues at work) procedures.
· Discussing issues that affect union members, such as re-organisation and redundancy.
· Being trained for union work.
· Involvement on job evaluation and moderation panels.
Regular Trade Union meetings
The following is a list of regular meetings normally attended by UNISON officials. This list will be reviewed if there are any changes to the frequency of the meetings or the number of officials in attendance.
Attendance by UNISON officials at national or local union conference other than those referred to below will be given time off without pay except where agreed otherwise. Requests should give as much notice as possible (preferably 2 weeks).
Function / Frequency / Representation / Paid / Not paidLocal Joint Consultation including administration, pre-meetings, and meetings with stewards and union members / Quarterly meeting with Executive member for corporate issues;
Annual meeting with full executive; Extra meetings if required / Recognised union officials / With pay
Adult Services DJCC / Every 6 weeks / X2 UNISON FTO / With pay
Children and Young People’s Services,DJCC / Quarterly / UNISON FTO / With pay
Inter Union Liaison Committee and Officers’ Working Party (IULC/OWP) / Twice a year;
Working Group meets twice a year / UNISON FTO + 2 members; 2 reps from NUT and NASUWT / With pay
National Local Government Group Conference / Annually + additional 2 day meetings / Up to 7 delegates / With pay
National Local Government Service Group Executive / Quarterly + additional full day meetings / Elected officers (unlikely to be more than 1 from NYCC) / With pay
Regional Local Government Committee / At least quarterly full days / Appointed by UNISON / With pay
Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Council / At least quarterly / Elected by UNISON / With pay
UNISON Negotiations Committee / Monthly / Senior officials of all directorates / With pay
Other delegate conferences / Ad hoc / Subject to approval / With pay
National Joint Council / Ad hoc / Elected by UNISON / With pay
National Delegate conference / Annual / Up to 7 delegates / With pay
National Executive Council / As required / Elected officers / Without pay
Regional Committee/Council / Quarterly / 7 delegates / Without pay
Affiliated Political Fund / Quarterly / Elected officers / Without pay
Regional & National Forum / Annual / Elected officers / With pay
TUC Committees / As required / UNISON reps / Without pay
Job evaluation and moderation panels / As required / UNISON reps / With pay
Time off for Trade Union Activities
An employee who is a member of UNISON, will be permitted reasonable time off during working hours to take part in trade union activities. Members are also permitted reasonable time off during working hours for the purposes of accessing the services of a Union Learning Representative.
Trade union activities include:
· Attending workplace meetings to discuss and vote on the outcome of negotiations with the employer.
· Voting in union elections
· Having access to services provided by a Union Learning Representative.
There is no statutory requirement that union members/officials/representatives be paid for time off taken on trade union activities.
Training
Reasonable time off with pay will be granted for UNSION officials and UNISON representatives to attend approved training courses convened by UNISON or the TUC.
Officials/representatives who request paid time off to attend relevant training should:
· Give at least two weeks notice to management of nominations for training courses.
· Provide a copy of the syllabus or prospectus indicating the contents of the training course if requested.
Unpaid time off may be agreed to attend courses solely focussed on union business.
Employees who are members of UNISON are also entitled to reasonable paid time off to undertake the functions of a learning representative. To qualify for paid time off the member must be sufficiently trained to carry out the duties as a learning representative:
· Either at the time when UNISON gives notice to the members manager in writing that they are a learning representative
· Or within six months of that date.
In the latter case, UNISON is required to give the member manager notice in writing that the member will be undergoing training as a learning representative and once this is completed, UNISON will confirm this in writing.
During the six month period of training, the member is permitted time off to perform their duties as a learning representative.
Time off to accompany workers at Disciplinary or Grievance Hearings
Time off with pay for industrial/ employee relation duties and activities is in accordance with Section 169 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
Trade union officials are statutorily entitled to take a reasonable amount of paid time off to accompany a worker at a disciplinary or resolving issues at work hearing so long as they have been certified by their union as being capable of acting as a workers companion. The right to time off in these situations applies regardless of whether the certified person belongs to a recognised union or not, although the worker who is being accompanied must be employed by the same employer.
Payment
Where officials/representatives will be paid for carrying out trade union duties, they will be paid as if they had been doing their normal work. If earnings vary with the work done, an amount will calculated by reference to hourly earnings. In principle they should not be worse off.
There is no statutory requirement to pay for time off where the duty is carried out at a time when the official would not otherwise have been at work, unless a union representative works atypical hours, such as night shift, but needs to undertake representative duties, including training, during normal hours.
N It should be noted that time off without pay can affect pensionable service.
Further advice can be obtained from the Pensions Liaison Officer (ext. 3118).
Physical facilities
In accordance with ACAS guidance and where reasonably possible, within the Council’s financial resources, the following facilities will be provided to UNISON:
· Access to the private use of a telephone and fax machines with reasonable privacy if available. Outgoing calls not connected with county council industrial relations will be paid for by UNISON and a log of these will be kept by union officials.
· Either shared or exclusive use of a notice board at each workplace.
· Use of internal mailing and e-mail systems.
· Access to private interview rooms and meetings rooms.
· Access to typing/word processing/photocopying/duplicating services.
· Office accommodation for UNISON senior officials, full-time officers and secretariat is the subject of a separate agreement.
Trade union funded posts
1. NYCC corporately funds four UNISON FTE posts in recognition of their senior role in the UNISON branch and involvement in corporate issues.
2. These posts are appointed on a secondment basis for a minimum of two years, unless otherwise agreed. This may be reviewed if difficulties arise in covering the appointee’s post on a temporary basis. In any case, a review of the arrangement will be held at 12 and 18 months and thereafter annually.
3. Exceptionally the secondment may be reviewed earlier in the event of particular difficulties. The secondee and their manager, together with representatives from the UNISON Branch and Corporate HR, will consider the situation. Where there is a strong business case and following full consultation, the secondment may be terminated prior to the end of the term.
There is a right of appeal under the grievance (Resolving Issues at Work) procedure.
4. The appointee may decide to remain in the UNISON post on a substantive basis (and their previous post will be filled permanently) or return to their previous post at the end of the 2 year secondment.
5. If a seconded UNISON appointee fails to be elected or selected for a further term then they will return to their previous post. If the secondment arrangement has already been terminated and the employee has no substantive post to return to, then the employee would be given Priority 1 rating for redeployment. A minimum of three months notice will be given and, with full co-operation and flexibility on both sides, every effort made to avoid compulsory redundancy.
6. If a seconded representative resigns from the UNISON post, then they may return to their previous substantive post. Notice of their intention to resign should be equal to the period required under the terms of their substantive contract and preferably more, to allow time to arrange a return to the previous post or to facilitate redeployment in the normal way. Advice and support can be sought as necessary.
7. If the representative’s substantive post is at a higher grade, they may retain the higher grade while they are seconded to the UNISON post. If they return to their previous post or are re-deployed to an alternative post, they will take on the normal terms and conditions of that post with immediate effect. If the redeployment is Priority 1 then salary protection in accordance with the redeployment policy will apply.
8. Whilst these posts are formally based centrally at the UNISON Offices on the County Hall site, extensive travel is required. Mileage will be paid at the standard NYCC rate and paid to and from the original work-base.
Travelling time to and from work will not normally be paid. However, if their journey time is over 30 minutes, flexible working arrangements may be agreed with their manager.
9. Flexible working away from the office may be appropriate, including ‘ad hoc’ working from home. This must be agreed with the Branch Secretary including the work that will be carried out whilst away from the office. UNISON will be contactable at all times.
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Managingstaffintheworkplace/Timeofffortradeunionduties/agreement/30.10.09