Survey Highlights Employee Consultation Laws Impact

New research commissioned from Warwick Business School by the West Midlands Employment Relations Forum shows that almost two-thirds of member companies surveyed are actively responding to the introduction of legislation on employee information and consultation earlier this year. Thirty-seven percent had already made modifications to existing arrangements and another 27% planned to review current practice or introduce new information and consultation arrangements.
Organisations recognising trade unions were more likely than non-union organisations:

• to have set up an information and consultation body involving employee representatives;
  
• to inform and consult employees directly; and
  
• to have made changes in response to the new legislation or to intend doing so.

Mark Hall from WBS's Industrial Relations Research Unit commented that "The survey suggests that the new legislation is far from being the damp squib that some commentators have predicted. It appears to be prompting a wide range of companies to review their existing employee information and consultation practices and put new arrangements in place."

Notes to editors:
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations came into force in April 2005 and currently apply to organisations with 150+ employees.
The West Midlands Employment Relations Forum was launched in 2004 to foster good employment practice across the region. The Forum is supported by the West Midlands CBI, the Midlands TUC and EEF West Midlands, together with Acas Midlands and Warwick Business School's Industrial Relations Research Unit.
The Forum brings together representatives from employers' organisations and trade unions, strategic HR and personnel managers from companies and organisations, workplace employee representatives and industrial relations professionals, including Acas officials, employment lawyers and academics. Its aims are to:

• provide authoritative briefings and promote informed debate on key employment relations issues and developments;
  
• enable exchanges of information and benchmarking of best practice;
  
• encourage research and analysis of employment relations trends and developments; and
  
• raise the profile of employment relations within the region.