The Employment Act 1988 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1988

Citation and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Employment Act 1988 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1988.

(2) In this Order, “the Act” means the Employment Act 1988.

Commencement provisions

2.  The sections of the Act specified in the first column of the Schedule to this Order shall come into force on 26th July 1988 (hereinafter referred to as “the first commencement date”).

3.  The following sections of the Act shall come into force on 26th July 1989, that is to say—

(a) section 12 (Extension to non-voting positions of duty to hold elections) to the extent that it is not brought into force on the first commencement date;

(b) section 33(1) (Minor and consequential amendments) to the extent that it relates to paragraphs 5(5)(a) and 5(6) of Schedule 3 to the Act (which respectively amend sections 8(1) and 9(1) of the 1984 Act(1)); and

(c) section 33(2) (Repeals) to the extent that it relates to the repeals in sections 1(1) to (3) and 8(1) of the 1984 Act specified in Schedule 4 to the Act.

Transitional provisions

4.—(1) Nothing in section 1 of the Act, or in section 17 of or paragraph 5(7) or (8) of Schedule 3 to the Act so far as those provisions are relevant to the said section 1, shall apply to the authorisation or endorsement of any industrial action induced with the support of a ballot in respect of which the first day for the casting of votes falls before the first commencement date.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this Article an inducement of industrial action is with the support of a ballot if, but only if, the ballot is a ballot in respect of which the requirements of sections 10 and 11 of the 1984 Act (without the amendments to those sections made by the said section 17 of and paragraphs 5(7) and (8) of Schedule 3 to the Act) are satisfied.

5.  Section 2 of the Act shall not apply to any relevant matter if a person has made an application to the union before the first commencement date for that matter to be submitted for determination or arbitration.

6.  Section 7 of the Act shall not apply in relation to any certificate given by an employee to his employer before the first commencement date.

7.  Nothing in section 10 of the Act or in paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 to the Act shall apply to an act done before the first commencement date.

8.  Nothing in section 11 of the Act, in paragraph 2(1) or (2) of Schedule 3 to the Act or in the repeals to the 1978 Act(2), the Employment Act 1980(3)and the 1982 Act(4)specified in Schedule 4 to the Act shall apply—

(a) so far as those provisions relate to action short of dismissal, where the action complained of, or where that action is part of a series of actions the last action, occurs before the first commencement date; or

(b) so far as those provisions relate to dismissal, where the effective date of termination as defined in subsection (4) of section 55 of the 1978 Act, or where a later date is to be treated as the effective date of termination by virtue of subsection (5) or (6) and subsection (7) of that section that later date, falls before the first commencement date.

9.  Where an election is held on or after the first commencement date but the latest time at which a person may become a candidate in that election falls before that date the requirements of section 13 of the Act shall be taken to be satisfied if—

(a) all the candidates are given one of the following entitlements (being the same entitlement for each candidate), that is to say—

(i) to distribute an election address to those persons entitled to vote in the election;

(ii) to have distributed to those persons an election address submitted to the union by the candidate;

(iii) if it is the practice of the union to include election addresses in a publication sent to or made available to members of the trade union, to have an election address included in such a publication;or

(b) no candidate is given any of the entitlements mentioned above or any other entitlement to bring to the attention of members of the union, or have brought to their attention, any written election address.

10.  Neither the repeal of section 3 of the 1984 Act made by section 14(2) of the Act, the provisions of paragraph 5(2)(b) of Schedule 3 to the Act nor the repeal in section 9(1) of the 1984 Act made by section 33 of and Schedule 4 to the Act shall have effect in relation to any election if the first day on which votes may be cast in the ballot for the election falls before the commencement date.

11.  Section 16 of the Act shall not apply to any ballot for the purposes of the 1913 Act(5)taken before the first commencement date.

12.—(1) Nothing in section 17 of the Act or in paragraph 5(7) or (8) of Schedule 3 to the Act shall apply in relation to an act done by a trade union with the support of a ballot in respect of which the first day for the casting of votes falls before the first commencement date.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this Article an act is done with the support of a ballot if, but only if, the ballot is a ballot in respect of which the requirements of sections 10 and 11 of the 1984 Act (without the amendments to those sections made by section 17 of the Act and paragraphs 5(7) and (8) of Schedule 3 to the Act) are satisfied.

13.  The amendments made to section 5 of the Employment Act 1980 by paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 3 to the Act shall not apply in relation to an application for an award of compensation made before the first commencement date.

Signed by order of the Secretary of State.

John Cope

Minister of State,

Department of Employment

27th June 1988