Hansard

Disregard Of Certain Failures

Volume 328: debated on Wednesday 31 March 1999

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7. After section 232A there shall be inserted—

"Small Accidental Failures To He Disregarded

232B.—(1) If—

  • (a) in relation to a ballot there is a failure (or there are failures) to comply with a provision mentioned in subsection (2) or with more than one of those provisions, and
  • (b) the failure is accidental and on a scale which is unlikely to affect the result of the ballot or, as the case may be, the failures are accidental and taken together are on a scale which is unlikely to affect the result of the ballot,

    • the failure (or failures) shall be disregarded.

    (2) The provisions are section 227(1), section 230(2) and section 230(2A)."

    Period Of Ballot's Effectiveness

    8. In section 234 (period after which ballot ceases to be effective) for subsection (1) there shall be substituted—

    "(1) Subject to the following provisions, a ballot ceases to be effective for the purposes of section 233(3)(b) in relation to industrial action by members of a trade union at the end of the period, beginning with the date of the ballot—

  • (a) of four weeks, or
  • (b) of such longer duration not exceeding eight weeks as is agreed between the union and the members' employer."

    • Notice Of Industrial Action

    9.—(1) Section 234A (notice to employers of industrial action) shall be amended as follows.

    (2) In subsection (3)(a) (notice relating to industrial action must describe employees intended to take part in industrial action) for "describes (so that he can readily ascertain them) the employees of the employer who" substitute "contains such information in the union's possession as would help the employer to make plans and bring information to the attention of those of his employees whom".

    (3) After subsection (5) insert—

    "(5A) These rules apply for the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (3)—

  • (a) if the union possesses information as to the number, category or work-place of the employees concerned, a notice must contain that information (at least);
  • (b) if a notice does not name any employees, that fact shall not be a ground for holding that it does not comply with paragraph (a) of subsection (3)."

    • (4) In subsection (7)—

  • (a) insert at the beginning the words "Subject to subsections (7A) and (7B),", and
  • (b) in paragraph (a) the words "otherwise than to enable the union to comply with a court order or an undertaking given to a court" shall cease to have effect.

    • (5) After subsection (7) insert—

    "(7A) Subsection (7) shall not apply where industrial action ceases to be authorised or endorsed in order to enable the union to comply with a court order or an undertaking given to a court.

    (7B) Subsection (7) shall not apply where—

  • (a) a union agrees with an employer, before industrial action ceases to be authorised or endorsed, that it will cease to be authorised or endorsed with effect from a date specified in the agreement ("the suspension date") and that it may again be authorised or endorsed with effect from a date not earlier than a date specified in the agreement ("the resumption date"),
  • (b) the action ceases to be authorised or endorsed with effect from the suspension date, and
  • (c) the action is again authorised or endorsed with effect from a date which is not earlier than the resumption date or such later date as may be agreed between the union and the employer."

    • (6) In subsection (9) for "subsection (7)" substitute "subsections (7) to (7B)".'.—[ Mr. Byers.]

    Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.