CONSULTING ON ASLEF v UK

Following the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in ASLEF v UK (see weekly LELR 5) giving unions the right to choose and expel members, the Government has published a consultation paper to amend the law.

The document sets out two (very narrow) options for revising section 174 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in relation to the exclusion and expulsion of members on grounds of political membership and activities.

Currently the law states that any individual who wants to join or remain a member of a trade union has the right to do so. The union may only exclude or expel them for one of a number of permitted reasons, as set out in section 174.

In this case, ASLEF said it had been prevented from expelling one of its members due to his membership of the BNP, a political party which advocated views inimical to its own.

The crucial question for the court was whether the UK government had got the balance right between the member’s rights and those of their trade union. It said it had not.

And it decided that although the current provisions gave unions some scope for expelling or excluding political extremists, they needed greater autonomy to decide whether the political party membership of individuals should debar them from belonging to the union.

The consultation closes on 8 August. To download the paper, go to:
www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39440.pdf

CONSULTING ON PATERNITY LEAVE

The Government has also recently published a consultation document seeking views on how the administration of additional paternity leave and pay will work in practice.

The proposals give fathers the opportunity to choose to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave to care for their child if certain conditions are met, including the mother returning to work. In particular, the Government will be seeking feedback on:

  • Whether the father and mother should be able to self-certify themselves as eligible for the scheme. 
  • How the scheme will work best in practice, and whether checklists and new official forms would provide employers with the confidence to administer the scheme effectively and employees to participate in it.

 

The consultation closes on 3 August. To download the document, go to:
www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/dti