Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

Time off for trade union duties and activities

168Time off for carrying out trade union duties

(1)An employer shall permit an employee of his who is an official of an independent trade union recognised by the employer to take time off during his working hours for the purpose of carrying out any duties of his, as such an official, concerned with—

(a)negotiations with the employer related to or connected with matters falling within section 178(2) (collective bargaining) in relation to which the trade union is recognised by the employer, or

(b)the performance on behalf of employees of the employer of functions related to or connected with matters falling within that provision which the employer has agreed may be so performed by the trade union.

(2)He shall also permit such an employee to take time off during his working hours for the purpose of undergoing training in aspects of industrial relations—

(a)relevant to the carrying out of such duties as are mentioned in subsection (1), and

(b)approved by the Trades Union Congress or by the independent trade union of which he is an official.

(3)The amount of time off which an employee is to be permitted to take under this section and the purposes for which, the occasions on which and any conditions subject to which time off may be so taken are those that are reasonable in all the circumstances having regard to any relevant provisions of a Code of Practice issued by ACAS.

(4)An employee may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal that his employer has failed to permit him to take time off as required by this section.

169Payment for time off under section 168

(1)An employer who permits an employee to take time off under section 168 shall pay him for the time taken off pursuant to the permission.

(2)Where the employee’s remuneration for the work he would ordinarily have been doing during that time does not vary with the amount of work done, he shall be paid as if he had worked at that work for the whole of that time.

(3)Where the employee’s remuneration for the work he would ordinarily have been doing during that time varies with the amount of work done, he shall be paid an amount calculated by reference to the average hourly earnings for that work.

The average hourly earnings shall be those of the employee concerned or, if no fair estimate can be made of those earnings, the average hourly earnings for work of that description of persons in comparable employment with the same employer or, if there are no such persons, a figure of average hourly earnings which is reasonable in the circumstances.

(4)A right to be paid an amount under this section does not affect any right of an employee in relation to remuneration under his contract of employment, but—

(a)any contractual remuneration paid to an employee in respect of a period of time off to which this section applies shall go towards discharging any liability of the employer under this section in respect of that period, and

(b)any payment under this section in respect of a period shall go towards discharging any liability of the employer to pay contractual remuneration in respect of that period.

(5)An employee may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal that his employer has failed to pay him in accordance with this section.

170Time off for trade union activities

(1)An employer shall permit an employee of his who is a member of an independent trade union recognised by the employer in respect of that description of employee to take time off during his working hours for the purpose of taking part in—

(a)any activities of the union, and

(b)any activities in relation to which the employee is acting as a representative of the union.

(2)The right conferred by subsection (1) does not extend to activities which themselves consist of industrial action, whether or not in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute.

(3)The amount of time off which an employee is to be permitted to take under this section and the purposes for which, the occasions on which and any conditions subject to which time off may be so taken are those that are reasonable in all the circumstances having regard to any relevant provisions of a Code of Practice issued by ACAS.

(4)An employee may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal that his employer has failed to permit him to take time off as required by this section.

171Time limit for proceedings

An industrial tribunal shall not consider a complaint under section 168, 169 or 170 unless it is presented to the tribunal—

(a)within three months of the date when the failure occurred, or

(b)where the tribunal is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented within that period, within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable.

172Remedies

(1)Where the tribunal finds a complaint under section 168 or 170 is well-founded, it shall make a declaration to that effect and may make an award of compensation to be paid by the employer to the employee.

(2)The amount of the compensation shall be such as the tribunal considers just and equitable in all the circumstances having regard to the employer’s default in failing to permit time off to be taken by the employee and to any loss sustained by the employee which is attributable to the matters complained of.

(3)Where on a complaint under section 169 the tribunal finds that the employer has failed to pay the employee in accordance with that section, it shall order him to pay the amount which it finds to be due.

173Intepretation and other supplementary provisions

(1)For the purposes of sections 168 and 170 the working hours of an employee shall be taken to be any time when in accordance with his contract of employment he is required to be at work.

(2)The remedy of an employee for infringement of the rights conferred on him by section 168, 169 or 170 is by way of complaint to an industrial tribunal in accordance with this Part, and not otherwise.