These Regulations further implement the obligations to require employers to inform and consult their employees in Council Directive 75/129/EEC (O.J. No. 1975 L48, 22.2.75, p. 29) as amended by Council Directive 92/56/EEC (O.J. No. 1992 L245, 26.8.92, p. 3) on collective redundancies and Council Directive 77/187/EEC (O.J. No. 1977 L61, 5.3.77) on the safeguarding of employee’s rights in the event of transfers of undertakings.

The Regulations amend the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 relating to information and consultation on redundancies and the provisions of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 relating to information and consultation. In relation to redundancies, they provide that representatives of employees who may be affected by the dismissals or by measures taken in connection with the dismissals must be consulted. For both redundancies and transfers they provide that employers must consult representatives of recognised trade unions but, if no trade union is recognised, then employers must consult either existing employee representatives or specially elected employee representatives. If elections are held for employee representatives they must be held in accordance with these Regulations. If employees fail to elect representatives after being invited to do so, the employer must give the employees concerned the information he would have had to give to their representatives. The maximum compensation which can be awarded in the event of an employer’s failure to consult has been increased in some cases so that in all cases involving redundancies it is 90 days' pay and in cases involving transfers it is 13 weeks' pay.

The Regulations amend the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 relating to the right to time off so as to give employee representatives time off for training. The provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996 relating to the right of employee representatives not to be dismissed or suffer detriment are extended to employees who participate in an election of employee representatives.

A regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument would have on business is available from Employment Relations Directorate 2, Room 143, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.