Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 (repealed 16.10.1992)

30 General provisions as to interpretation. E+W+S

(1) In this Act, except so far as the context otherwise requires,—

• “act” and “action” each includes omission and references to doing an act or taking action shall be construed accordingly;

• [F1 “Certification Officer” means the officer appointed under section 7 of the M1 Employment Protection Act 1975;]

• “collective agreement” means any agreement or arrangement made by or on behalf of one or more trade unions and one or more employers or employers’ associations and relating to one or more of the matters mentioned in section 29(1) above;

• “contract of employment” means a contract of service or of apprenticeship, whether it is express or implied and (if it is express) whether it is oral or in writing;

• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2

• “employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment, otherwise than in police service;

• [F3 “employer” (subject to subsection (2) below)—

  (a) where the reference is to an employer in relation to an employee, means the person by whom the employee is (or, in a case where the employment has ceased, was) employed, and

  (b) in any other case, means a person regarded in that person’s capacity as one for whom one or more workers work, or have worked or normally work or seek to work;]

• “employers’ association” includes a combination of employers and employers’ associations;

• “independent trade union” means a trade union which—

  (a) is not under the domination or control of an employer or a group of employers or of one or more employers’ associations; and

  (b) is not liable to interference by an employer or any such group or association (arising out of the provision of financial or material support or by any other means whatsoever) tending towards such control [F4 and (in relation to a trade union) “independence” and “independent” shall be construed accordingly;]

• “individual proprietor” means an individual who is the owner of an undertaking;

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• “1971 Act” means the M2 Industrial Relations Act 1971;

• [F5 “officer”, in relation to a trade union or an employers’ association includes any member of the governing body of that union or association and any trustee of any fund applicable for the purposes of that union or association;]

• “official”, in relation to a trade union, means any person who is an officer of the union or of a branch or section of the union or who (not being such an officer) is a person elected or appointed in accordance with the rules of the union to be a representative of its members or of some of them, including any person so elected or appointed who is an employee of the same employer as the members, or one or more of the members, whom he is to represent;

• “police service” means service—

  (a) in England and Wales as a member of a police force or as a special constable;

  (b) as a constable within the meaning of the M3 Police (Scotland) Act 1967;

  (c) as a member of any constabulary maintained by virtue of any enactment; or

  (d) in any other capacity by virtue of which a person has the powers or privileges of a constable;

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• “special register body” means an organisation whose name was immediately before the commencement of sections 2 and 3 above entered in the special register maintained under section 84 of the 1971 Act and which for the time being is a company registered under the [F7 Companies Act 1985] or is incorporated by charter or letters patent;

• “tort”, as respects Scotland, means [F8 delict], and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

• “union membership agreement” means an agreement or arrangement which—

  (a) is made by or on behalf of, or otherwise exists between, one or more independent trade unions and one or more employers or employers’ associations; and

  (b) relates to employees of an identifiable class; and

  (c) has the effect [F9 in practice of requiring the employees for the time being of the class to which it relates (whether or not there is a condition to that effect in their contract of employment) to] be or become a member of the union or one of the unions which is or are parties to the agreement or arrangement or of another [F10 specified], independent trade union [F11 and references in this definition to a trade union include references to a branch or section of a trade union; and a trade union is specified for the purposes of, or in relation to, a union membership agreement if it is specified in the agreement or is accepted by the parties to the agreement as being the equivalent of a union so specified];

• “worker” (subject to the following provisions of this section) means an individual regarded in whichever (if any) of the following capacities is applicable to him, that is to say, as a person who works or normally works or seeks to work—

(a) under a contract of employment; or

(b) any other contract (whether express or implied, and, if express, whether oral or in writing) whereby he undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract who is not a professional client of his; or

(c) in employment under or for the purposes of a government department (otherwise than as a member of the naval, military or air forces of the Crown . . . F12 ) in so far as any such employment does not fall within paragraph (a) or (b) above,

otherwise than in police service.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the definitions in subsection (1) of this section, in this Act—

(a) “worker” includes an individual regarded in his capacity as one who works or normally works or seeks to work as a person providing general medical services, pharmaceutical services, general dental services or general ophthalmic services in accordance with arrangements made by an Area Health Authority [F13 District Health Authority] or Family Practitioner Committee under [F14 sections 29, 35, 38 or 41 of the M4 National Health Service Act 1977] or by a Health Board under [F15 sections 19, 25, 26 and 27 of the M5 National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978]; and

(b) “employer” includes any Area Health Authority [F13 District Health Authority], Family Practitioner Committee or Health Board in accordance with whose arrangements a person provides or has provided or normally provides or seeks to provide any such service as aforesaid.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, in this Act “successor”, in relation to the employer of an employee, means a person who, in consequence of a change occurring (whether by virtue of a sale or other disposition or by operation of law) in the ownership of the undertaking or of part of the undertaking for the purposes of which the employee was employed, has become the owner of that undertaking or of that part of it, as the case may be.

(4) Subsection (3) above shall have effect (subject to the necessary modifications) in relation to a case where—

(a) the person by whom an undertaking or part of an undertaking is owned immediately before a change is one of the persons by whom (whether as partners, trustees or otherwise) it is owned immediately after the change, or

(b) the persons by whom an undertaking or part of an undertaking is owned immediately before a change (whether as partners, trustees or otherwise) include the persons by whom, or include one or more of the persons by whom, it is owned immediately after the change,

as that subsection has effect where the previous owner and the new owner are wholly different persons: and any reference in this Act to a successor of an employer shall be construed accordingly.

(5) For the purposes of this Act any two employers are to be treated as associated if one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control, or if both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control; and in this Act “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.

[F16 (5A) For the purposes of this Act employees are to be treated, in relation to a union membership agreement, as belonging to the same class if they have been identified as such by the parties to the agreement, and employees may be so identified by reference to any characteristics or circumstances whatsoever.]

(6) For the purposes of this Act it is immaterial whether the law which (apart from this Act) governs any persons’ employment is the law of the United Kingdom, or of a part of the United Kingdom, or not.

(7) Except so far as the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any other enactment, including this Act.

Textual Amendments

F1 Definition inserted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 16 Pt. III para. 7(1)

F2 Definitions repealed by Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 (c. 44), Sch. 17

F3 Definition inserted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 16 Pt. III para. 7(2)

F4 Words inserted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 16 Pt. III para. 7(3)

F5 Definition inserted by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 16 Pt. III para. 7(5)

F6 Definition repealed by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 18

F7 Words substituted by Companies Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1985 (c. 9, SIF 27), s. 30, Sch. 2

F8 Word substituted (S.) by Employment Act 1982 (c. 46, SIF 43:5), s. 19(2)

F9 Words substituted by Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Act 1976 (c. 7), ss. 3(3)(a), 4(3)

F10 Word substituted by Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Act 1976 (c. 7), ss. 3(3)(b), 4(3)

F11 Words inserted by Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Act 1976 (c. 7), ss. 3(3), 4(3)

F12 Words repealed (with saving) by Armed Forces Act 1981 (c. 55, SIF 7:1), s. 28(2), Sch. 5

F13 Words inserted by Health Services Act 1980 (c. 53, SIF 113:2), ss. 1, 2, Sch. 1 para. 25

F14 Words substituted by National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49), s. 129, Sch. 15 para. 62

F15 Words substituted by National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 29), s. 109, Sch. 16 para. 39

F16 S. 30(5A) inserted by Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment) Act 1976 (c. 7), s. 3(4)

Marginal Citations

M1 1975 c. 71.

M2 1971 c. 72.

M3 1967 c. 77.

M4 1977 c. 49.

M5 1978 c. 29.