European Foundation

for the Improvement of

Living and Working Conditions

EUROPEAN
EMPLOYMENT
& INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
GLOSSARY:

Sweet & Maxwell

Office for Official Publications

of the European Communities

INDUSTRIAL
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EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT
AND
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS GLOSSARY:
UNITED KINGDOM

EUROPEAN FOUNDATION
FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING AND
WORKING CONDITIONS

EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT
AND
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
GLOSSARY:
UNITED KINGDOM
BY

MICHAEL TERRY
AND

LINDA DICKENS

SWEET AND MAXWELL

OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS OF
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
1991

Published in 1991 by
Sweet and Maxwell Limited of
South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14
and
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
2 rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg
Typeset by Printset and Design Ltd., Dublin
Printed in Great Britain by
BPCC Hazell Books Ltd.,
Aylesbury, Bucks.
Member of BPCC Ltd.
British Cataloguing in Publication Data
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available from the British Library

Sweet and Maxwell, South Quay Plaza, London E14

ISBN 0421-44850-4
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities,
2 rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg
ISBN 92-826-2600-8
Catalogue Number SY-70-91-001-EN-C
Publication No. EF/91/08/EN of the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions,
Loughlinstown House, Shankill, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying
recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval
system of any nature, without the written permission
of the copyright holder.
European Foundation for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions 1991

General Editor of the European Employment and Industrial

Relations Glossary Series

TIZIANO TREU
Professor of Labour Law
Catholic University of Milan
Revising Editor for the English language volumes
MICHAEL TERRY
Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations
University of Warwick
Project Manager
HUBERT KRIEGER
Research Manager
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions, Dublin

The present volume was prepared for the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin
by

MICHAEL TERRY
Senior Lecturer in
Industrial Relations
University of Warwick

LINDA DICKENS
Reader in Industrial
Relations
University of Warwick

with contributions from

JOHN BENNETT
Assistant Industrial Relations
Librarian
University of Warwick

EWART KEEP
Research Fellow
Industrial Relations Research Unit
University of Warwick

ROY LEWIS
Professor
Department of Law
University of Southampton

STRUCTURE OF THE WORK

There are companion volumes of the Glossary (both national and
international editions) already published for:
Country
Italy

National Team Leader

Tiziano Treu,
Fondazione Regionale
Pietro Seveso,
Milan

Spain

Antonio Valverde,
University of Seville

Further volumes to appear will be:

France
Antoine Lyon-Caen
Germany
Manfred Weiss
Belgium
Roger Blanpain
Greece
Yota Kravaritou-Manitakis
Portugal
Mario Pinto
Ireland
Denmark
Holland
Luxembourg

vu

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
USER'S GUIDE

xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

xiii

FOREWORD

xv

SERIES PREFACE

xvii

PREFACE TO THE U.K. GLOSSARY

xxi

INTRODUCTION

GLOSSARY

25

TABLES

231

BIBLIOGRAPHY

249

INDEX

253

IX

USER'S G U I D E
This Guide is designed to help readers use the Glossary by providing
an explanation of the contents and some of the conventions adopted.
This volume of the Glossary contains the following sections:
1. List of Abbreviations
This list comprises all the principal abbreviations used in the text,
including those that form an entry in the Glossary. The latter
abbreviations are cross-referenced in the text to the relevant definitions.
2. Foreword
Written by the Director and Deputy Director of the European
Foundation, the Foreword sets out the Foundation's aims in publishing
this series of Glossaries.
3. Preface
A Preface to the series has been prepared by Professor Tiziano Treu
in his capacity as Co-ordinating Editor. It serves as a background
introduction to the Glossaries, explaining the origination of the material
and the method of compilation and translation.
In addition, a Preface to this volume has been included by Michael
Terry, pointing out the particular features and approach of the United
Kingdom text.
4. Introduction
The introduction provides a commentary and analysis of national
characteristics, and highlights particular features giving an historical
perspective to the background information.
5. Glossary
All the main entries are numbered and appear in BOLD upper case.
Cross-references are indicated in the text by, e.g. "see", "see also",
etc. and also appear in bold upper and lower case. There are also
references to addresses of organisations and departments to be found
at the end of the Glossary text.
The running heads refer to the first and last main entry to appear
on each double page.
xi

6. List of Addresses
The addresses of selected organisations and departments are listed at
the end of the Glossary text, for easy reference.
7. Tables
A selection of tables is included showing employment trends and other
statistical factors.
8. Bibliography
A selective Bibliography of suggested further reading and source material
has been compiled by the editorial team for each volume.
9. Index
All Index entries refer to the numbers of the definitions in the Glossary
text.

xu

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Amalgamated Engineering Union
Approved Profit Sharing
Custom and Practice
Central Arbitration Committee
Confederation of British Industry
Certification Officer
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations
Community Programme
Commission for Racial Equality
Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members
Department of Employment
Employment Act 1980
Employment Act 1982
Employment Act 1988
Employment Act 1989
Employment Act 1990
Employment Appeal Tribunal
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunication and
Plumbing Union
Employee Involvement
El
Equal Opportunities Commission
EOC
Equal Opportunity Policy
EOP
Employment Protection Act 1975
EPA 1975
EPCA 1978 Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978
Equal Pay Act 1970
EqPA 1970
Employee
Share Ownership Plan
ESOP
Employment
Training
ET
Fair Employment Commission (Northern Ireland only)
FEC
Full-Time Official
FTO
A union previously called the General, Municipal,
GMB
Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union, now called
GMB
Genuine Occupational Qualification
GOQ
Human Resource Management
HRM
Health and Safety Commission
HSC
Health and Safety Executive
HSE
HSWA 1974 Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974
International Labour Organisation
ILO
Institute of Directors
IOD
Institute of Personnel Management
IPM
Industrial Relations
IR
Industrial Tribunal
IT
Joint Industrial Council
JIC
Job Training Scheme
JTS
ACAS
AEU
APS
C&P
CAC
CBI
CO
COSHH
CP
CRE
CROTUM
DE
EA 1980
EA 1982
EA 1988
EA 1989
EA 1990
EAT
EETPU

xui

LGA 1988
LIFO
LRA
MBA
MDW
MSC

Local Government Act 1988

Last In, First Out
Labour Relations Agency (Northern Ireland only)
Master of Business Administration
Measured Daywork
Manpower Services Commission (now the Training
Agency)
MSF
Manufacturing, Science, Finance
NALGO
National and Local Government Officers' Association
NEDC
National Economic Development Council
NEDO
National Economic Development Office
NJC
National Joint Council
NJIC
National Joint Industrial Council
NUM
National Union of Mineworkers
NUPE
National Union of Public Employees
NUR
National Union of Railwaymen
PAYE
Pay As You Earn
PBR
Payment by Results
PLC
Public Limited Company
PRP
Profit-Related Pay
PSBR
Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
QC
Quality Circle
QUANGO
Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation
RPA 1965
Redundancy Payments Act 1965
RPI
Retail Price Index
RRA 1976
Race Relations Act 1976
SAYE
Save-As-You-Earn
SDA 1975
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
SDA 1986
Sex Discrimination Act 1986
SERPS
State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme
SIC
Standard Industrial Classification
S SP
Statutory Sick Pay
TA
Training Agency
TC
Training Commission (now the Training Agency)
TGWU
Transport and General Workers' Union
TUA 1984
Trade Union Act 1984
TUC
Trades Union Congress
TULRA 1974 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974
UMA
Union Membership Agreement
YOP
Youth Opportunities Programme
YT(S)
Youth Training (Scheme)

xiv

FOREWORD
The Foundation believes that social dialogue at international level should
provide, for all those taking part in it, a better understanding of the
different contexts for example, legal frameworks and traditions
in which dialogue about employment and industrial relations takes place.
An essential prerequisite for such improved understanding is an
awareness of the precise meaning of the terms used to describe the
features of industrial relations systems in each Member State of the
Community. This series of glossaries sets out to provide clear
explanations of terms and the context in which they are used.
The Foundation hopes that the series will be of value to a wide
spectrum of users. Novices in the field of employment and industrial
relations will welcome a guide to the working of the system in their
own country, whilst experts will seek the distinguishing characteristics
of systems operating in Member States other than their own. By
providing both a national glossary for each Member State and also an
"international" edition, the Foundation believes it is providing an
important aid to international understanding in the complex field of
employment and industrial relations.

Clive Purkiss
Director

Eric Verborgh
Deputy Director

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working

Conditions, Dublin.

xv

PREFACE TO THE SERIES

The idea to write a series of glossaries dealing with the industrial
relations, labour markets and employment laws of the 12 EC Member
States emerged gradually, out of the experience of expert academics
and practitioners aware of the need to systematize and codify experiences
in this important area. The development of a social dialogue, and the
ever-increasing need for debate and discussion between the Member
States, employers and unions, spurred by the prospect of full European
economic integration in 1992 have given a fresh impetus to the need
for clarity and mutual understanding in this vital subject. But these
glossaries are not intended only as resources for such formal settings.
Throughout Europe there are thousands of potential users of the
glossaries: national and international administrators, academics and
researchers, trade unionists and managers, and specialised journalists,
among others. All these groups will increasingly need to communicate
across borders in different languages, about a whole range of industrial
relations-related topics. For them too, the need for greater understanding
and clarity has become more urgent. The glossaries should become the
standard tools for persons involved in meetings, formal and informal,
of a whole range of interested economic and social actors.
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions immediately recognised the importance and
usefulness of the proposal to compile a series of glossaries, and provided
the funding for the first three; those dealing with Italy, Spain, and the
United Kingdom. Later, it was to agree to provide additional funding
for the remaining nine states, with Belgium, the Federal Republic of
Germany, and France being the next three. It was agreed that the
Foundation should provide resources for the translation of all the
glossaries into English, for publication as a uniform series. It is now
proposed to make the glossaries also available in electronic database
form, which will greatly enhance the speed and flexibility with which
they may be used. The glossaries for all countries are also available in
their original languages, published domestically. In some cases these
"domestic" glossaries are larger and longer than the English translations,
since they have been designed as domestic as well as international sources
of reference, and may contain material of little immediate relevance to
the foreign reader.
Professor Tiziano Treu was appointed international co-ordinator, and
he, in turn, worked to set up teams of experts in the first three countries,
consisting of experts in all the disciplines involved injndustrial relations,
each team under its own co-ordinator. These teams were under
instruction to provide comparable glossaries, covering the same range
of topics. The intention was to produce volumes that would provide
both definitions of several hundred terms of particular importance, and
an insight into their relevance to the country concerned. The combined
experience of all those involved in the project (academics, practitioners
xvii

and others) was that simple translations of terms were insufficient, since
they fail fully to communicate the substantive importance of the
institutions and processes described. The products are designed to be
of direct use both to the practitioner and to the academic student of
the subject, so the glossaries have to be both technically correct and
informed by relevant policy debate. The glossaries are intended to serve
the practical needs of a diverse readership, of varying levels of knowledge
and need, and to serve as an immediate reference or translation source
or a starting-point for in-depth research. The audience will be a broad
and diverse one; our researches have confirmed that the glossaries will
be of interest to national, European, and other international readers,
given the worldwide interest currently expressed in European industrial
relations.
Inevitably, we have had to be selective in our choice of terms. It was
not the intention to produce an encyclopedia, but rather an annotated
guide to key issues and concepts. In order to achieve this we sought
both a degree of commonality in the terms to be covered (in order to
ensure above all that the key concepts were dealt with in all the volumes)
and a degree of differentiation, reflecting the national idiosyncracies
that remain important aspects of the European scene. Our descriptions
have had to be less than encyclopedic; the entries do not provide all
the detail with regard to specific pieces of legislation, for example.
Readers who need further precision will be able to make use of the
reference works cited in the concluding bibliographies.
The glossaries all share the same format. An introductory essay covers
the key features of the national system: the political-economic
environment, the key actors, the role of law, and the current state of
labour relations. This is meant to help the average user of the glossary
(it is not particularly designed for a specialist audience) and it has been
written in such a way as to be understandable to an international
audience, and therefore to be as clear and "candid" as possible. The
main body of entries follows and the volumes conclude with sets of tables
showing trends in labour markets, collective bargaining coverage,
unionisation, and industrial conflict with a brief guide to further reading.
Those texts which have been translated into English also contain an
additional index.
In the original language, certain conventions have been adopted in
the translation Wherever possible we have used English translations
whose meaning is clear and which involve no specialised "jargon". But
there are two other cases. First, where no English term in common usage
exists and we have created our own translation. Here we have put the
English term into double inverted commas, to indicate that it is not
common English usage, but is simply an accurate translation. Second,
in a few cases we have been unable to find a translation of less than
a sentence for particular terms. Here we have left the term in the original
language, and readers in English will need to read the entry to discover
its meaning.
The process of writing and translating these glossaries has convinced
xvm

the participants of the usefulness of the exercise. The European

Foundation has, in its usual way, sought the views of the social partners
in the countries concerned, and their response has also been enthusiastic.
The exercise has also revealed that beneath the superficial similarities
of some terms there may lie significant differences of meaning and
interpretation, but that, deeper still, lie important patterns of similarity
and convergence and, above all, a keen interest in the consequences
of an increasingly integrated and united Europe. We are confident that
we have produced an instrument that will help forge a clearer
understanding and, in its turn, a greater co-operation, in this vital area
of social activity.
Acknowledgements
Many people have cooperated closely in the preparation of this series.
This co-operation has been under the general direction of Hubert
Krieger, the Foundation's manager for the project, and Tiziano Treu,
the "rapporteur" who has acted as general editor.
The series is based on the dedicated efforts of the national teams,
who have had the task of reducing formidable amounts of material to
manageable proportions.
The task of editing the international (English-language) version has
been particularly onerous. It is only fitting to acknowledge the
exceptional contributions of Rita Inston, the reviser (of Cave Translations
Ltd.) and of Michael Terry (Warwick University) who, in addition to
having the main responsibility for the United Kingdom volume, has
given invaluable advice on explanations in English of concepts peculiar
to individual Member States.
With regard to general aspects of publications, the Foundation is
grateful for the co-operation of the publishers and for advice from the
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, for the
services of the Commission and those of Solon Consultants (UK).
Throughout the project there has been close co-operation between
the research, information and translation services of the Foundation.
Professor Tiziano Treu

xix

PREFACE TO THE U.K. GLOSSARY

This Glossary has been designed to serve as a work of reference for
any person with an interest in understanding the origins and present
state of British industrial relations, employment law, and labour markets.
It is directed both at English speakers and at a readership for whom
English is not the primary language, but who wish or need to familiarise
themselves with English usage in the area of industrial relations,
personnel management, labour law and the operation of the labour
market. The Glossary is intended to serve the needs of the widest
possible audience. Written by academic experts and making full use
of the wide range of research data available, it will clearly be an essential
work of reference for an academic readership; students, teachers and
researchers alike. But it has also been deliberately constructed and
written with a much larger readership in mind. In particular it is aimed
at the practitioners of labour relations in all countries (managers,
employers, trade unionists, civil servants and administrators) interested
in finding out about the nature and operation of British institutions.
It is thus not written in purely academic language as far as possible;
it seeks rigour without resorting to jargon (although it should be noted
that attempts at precise definition are frequently inappropriate; usage
in Britain is notoriously sloppy and imprecise). The intention has been
to give an impression of the nature of the institution or process under
discussion, its importance and location, rather than to seek a false
precision. Hence the use of examples, statistics and frequent crossreferences; the last in particular pointing to the widespread use of
interchangeable terms. It is hoped that the user will be able to get a
"feel" for the operation of the British system, especially from the longer
entries, rather than merely find a series of disconnected definitions.
Nor is the Glossary intended to be comprehensive or encyclopedic.
Other works are available in English for that purpose, and some of these
are referred to in the Guide to Further Reading at the end. But the
particular approach of blending description, analysis and assessment
makes this Glossary a unique volume of reference. A careful selection
of what the compilers see as the most important and most frequently
used terms has been made, but no doubt had the list been compiled
by others it would have been different. In making the selection we have
been guided on the one hand by what the British team feel are the central
concepts and institutions of British industrial relations and, on the other,
by those features of the system that might be thought to have a particular
interest to an overseas readership. At the same time the national teams
have worked in collaboration with one another to ensure a degree of
consistency and harmonisation in the entries selected between all the
volumes in the Series.
Inevitably in a subject area as politically and socially controversial
as industrial relations, the notion of objectivity is a difficult one. The
compilers have sought throughout to present arguments and opinions
xxi

based on up-to-date research evidence, but it would be foolish to pretend

that all would agree with our assessment of the balance of data and
argument. The concluding bibliography will contain references by which
the interested reader may follow through debates in more detail.
In all the topics covered we have tried to strike a balance between
elements of change and continuity. We have tried not to pay excessive
attention to what may be only passing "fashions" in industrial relations
and personnel management, while not seeking to deny that there may
be in train fundamental changes in the worlds of work (new technology
and work organisation), the labour market (the collapse of manufacturing
and the rise of the tertiary sector), industrial relations and personnel
management approaches (the increasing importance of non-unionism)
and employment law (the growing framework of legal regulation) that,
although relatively recent in origin, are perceived by many commentators
as lasting features of the future. Indeed, so much is changing so rapidly
that several of the draft entries for this glossary were out of date by
the time thefinalversion was produced, and the changes continue apace.
(This Glossary, along with its Italian and Spanish companion volumes,
took April 1990 as its "cut-off' point.) We have tried to show these
changes while also laying stress on the profound importance of stability
and historical continuity in industrial relations institutions.
It should be stressed that this Glossary is intended to cover the entire
United Kingdom; not just England and Wales, but Scotland and
Northern Ireland as well. While the vast bulk of entries are equally
applicable to all, there are some specific differences, especially in the
implementation and application of legislation. Although, in the overall
spirit of the Glossary, not all the technical differences are covered, the
major differences between the systems are noted at appropriate points
both in the Introduction and in the specific references.
We believe that this Glossary, along with its companion volumes from
other countries within the European Community, provides a key
resource for those interested in developing an understanding of the
institutions and processes of industrial relations in countries of the
Community. It should facilitate understanding, point to areas both of
commonality and of difference and, in line with the objectives of the
overall project, assist in the development of dialogue and understanding
between Member States.
Michael Terry
August 1990
Acknowledgments
The work for this glossary has been co-ordinated by Michael Terry,
Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations, School of Industrial and
Business Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United
Kingdom. The entries were written by Michael Terry and Linda
xxii

Dickens, Reader in Industrial Relations, School of Industrial and

Business Studies, University of Warwick, with the assistance of the
following colleagues:
John Bennett Assistant Industrial Relations Librarian, University of
Warwick.
Ewart Keep Research Fellow, Industrial Relations Research Unit,
University of Warwick.
Roy Lewis
Professor, Department of Law, University of
Southampton, and Associate Fellow, Industrial
Relations Research Unit, University of Warwick.
The successive drafts were typed and re-typed by Simone Dudley and
Norma Griffiths. The authors are grateful to the Gower Publishing
Company Limited for permission to reproduce two tables from N.
Millward and M. Stevens, British Workplace Industrial Relations
1980-1984: The DE/ESRC/ACAS Surveys and to the Institute for
Employment Research, University of Warwick, for permission to use
several tables.
The Confederation of British Industry and Trades Union Congress
both contributed several valuable corrections and amendments to an
earlier draft of this Glossary.

XXlll

INTRODUCTION
1.

The Economie Context of Industrial Relations

1.1 For much of the period since the end of the Second World War
the government approach to the management of the economy,
practised by both Conservative and Labour governments, has been
predominantly Keynesian and has included a bipartisan
commitment to full employment and to the expansion of the welfare
state. Such an approach had two fundamental implications for
industrial relations. First, it contributed directly to the dramatic
growth in the public sector of the economy, in terms both of its
share of the gross national product and of overall employment.
This has been of particular significance for industrial relations,
since the public sector has been used by successive governments
as a "model" of good industrial relations practice. This included
for many years a widespread commitment to trade union
recognition and to thoroughgoing negotiation and consultation.
One clear consequence has been the very high levels of union
membership in the public sector. Second, Keynesianism, in its
view of rapid increase in money wages as being the main cause
of inflation, focused special attention on the processes of wage
determination. It was within this framework that incomes policies
emerged during the 1960s and 1970s as the key economic remedy
for inflation; a remedy that was predicated on reaching agreement
with the social partners on wage moderation and, in so doing,
enhancing their social, industrial and political standing. The
combination of this approach and rising inflation meant that the
1960s and 1970s witnessed, in Britain as elsewhere, a growth in
tripartism, especially in the development of agencies concerned
with economic regulation. They were also decades that saw intense
government interest in seeking to regulate processes of wage
determination at sectoral and company levels. It was thus a period
of expansion in employment, in union membership, and, given
the broad policy commitment to collective bargaining and the
longstanding strength of the British labour movement, a period
when the coverage and importance of collective bargaining as the
major means of determining pay and other conditions of
employment were both extended.
1.2 Towards the end of the 1970s deepening economic crisis, and in
particular high levels of inflation, despite lengthy attempts at
incomes control, led governments, Labour and Conservative, to
replace incomes policies with efforts to reduce inflation through
restraint and control of the money supply and of the level of public
expenditure. One consequence was the gradual abandonment of
the longstanding state commitment to full employment and
unemployment started to rise sharply. The new economic
1

orthodoxy, monetarism, found its clearest and sharpest expression

in the policies of Conservative governments since 1979. Unlike
Keynesianism, monetarism did not explain inflation in terms of
increases in money wages but in terms of the money supply. This
led to a sharply diminished government interest in influencing
processes of wage determination through national-level accords
with trade unions on reducing wage claims and hence in collective
bargaining generally. In consequence the Conservative
governments since 1979 have placed much less emphasis than their
predecessors on involving the union movement in discussions on
economic planning. It has to be said that neither the incomes
policies of the 1960s and 1970s nor the more recent policies have
succeeded in reducing inflation levels to those of Britain's main
international competitors. Inflation, widely viewed as the central
economic problem of the late 1970s and 1980s, fell during the late
1970s, rose again in the early 1980s and then fell back, and is now
again rising. Throughout these decades the British inflation rate
has tended to be higher than in most other industrialised
economies.
1.3 British industry, insulated against international competitive
pressures in the 1950s and early 1960s by protected markets in
the colonies, the Commonwealth and at home, had invested little
in technological development compared to its major competitors,
and productivity grew only sluggishly. It was ill-prepared for the
international recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The
collapse of British manufacturing in the early 1980s was startling,
with manufacturing output falling by 15 per cent, during 1980,
and not returning to close to its 1979 level until the late 1980s.
During the 1980s labour productivity, which during the 1970s was
much worse than that of Britain's major competitors, started to
improve rapidly. While some claim that this can be traced directly
to a weakened trade union movement, a more assertive
management and a widespread reform of collective bargaining
practices (see below), other analysts claim that they are largely the
effects of de-stocking and of the closure of less efficient parts of
industry during the recession.
1.4 The effects of recession can be seen most sharply in the
unemployment figures. After three decades in which
unemployment remained below one million (often below 300,000),
the late 1970s and most particularly the 1980s saw a sharp rise
in unemployment to levels unknown since the 1930s. During the
1970s the average level of unemployment remained under one
million (around 4 per cent, of the labour force), while between
1982 and 1986 it averaged three million (around 12 per cent.). The
character of unemployment also changed during the decade, with
a significant increase in the proportion of long-term unemployed,
as well as significant levels of unemployment among school-leavers.
Unemployment has also shown marked regional variations, with

the highest levels recorded in Northern Ireland, the North, Wales,

Scotland and the Midlands. By contrast the South, and in particular
Greater London and the South-East corner, has fared distinctly
better. In 1988 the unemployment rate in the South-East was
approximately half that in the North and Scotland. Department
of Employment figures put the total workforce in employment in
the United Kingdom at 27, 188, 000 in March 1990. (This figure
includes employees, the self-employed, members of the armed
forces and people on government work-related training
programmes.) Of these about 600, 000 work in Norther Ireland;
the remainder in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
1.5 During the decades since the Second World War the numbers
of employees has remained roughly constant at around 24 million.
But the structure of employment of those in work has changed
significantly during the same period. The primary sector workforce
(those working in agriculture, extractive industries and the major
public utilities) fell from over 10 per cent, of the workforce in 1954
to around 4 per cent, in 1987. The policy of privatisation (the
selling-off of public corporations to private buyers) has contributed
to a fall in public sector employment from 29.2 per cent, of the
total in 1980 to 26.6 per cent, in 1986. In manufacturing the
workforce fell from nearly 35 per cent, of the total in 1954 to 21
per cent, in 1987, with a particularly noticeable drop between 1980
and 1987. Conversely, the private service sector has grown steadily
from nine per cent, of the workforce in 1954 to over 20 per cent,
in 1987; here again the last eight years have witnessed a significant
increase in the rate of growth. Thus, although the total numbers
in employment have remained roughly constant for over three
decades, the proportions in different sectors have changed.
Likewise the proportion of the workforce employed in broadly
non-manual employment has steadily increased. In 1981 the
number of employees classed as non-manual exceeded those classed
as manual for the first time. Groups whose numbers grew
significantly included engineers and scientists, technicians and a
range of other professional groups; those in decline included craft
workers in most industries other than construction and all manual
operative groups, skilled and others, and first-line managers.
During the same period the proportion of self-employed persons
has risen from 8.3 per cent, in 1971 to 9.6 per cent, in 1981 and
12.6 per cent, in 1986, with corresponding reductions in the
employee proportion of the total labour force.
1.6 Perhaps the most striking recent changes have been the related
increases in part-time and female employment. The proportion
of part-timers (here defined for consistency as those working 30
or fewer hours per week although this is not the present legal
definition) has risen from 15.3 per cent, of the total workforce
in 1971 to 21 per cent, in 1981 and over 23 per cent, in 1986. The
figures for total female employment for the same years are 38 per

1.7

1.8

1.9

1.10

cent., 42.5 per cent, and 45.1 per cent.. Most projections indicate
that these trends will continue, although at a less dramatic pace.
The workforce in Britain is segregated by sex both horizontally
and vertically. Women form a majority of the workforce in such
sectors as health, education, hotel and catering, retail distribution
and footwear and clothing, but only a minority in industries such
as mining, chemicals and engineering. Women are also
concentrated at the bottom of job hierarchies, occupying only
around 19 per cent, of managerial-level posts.
Despite high levels of unemployment, shortages of certain skills
have persisted throughout the 1980s. Government policy appeared
to contribute to these shortages through its abolition of many
Industrial Training Boards, but on the other hand it has initiated
and expanded several major training initiatives for school-leavers
and, more recently, for the long-term unemployed. In 1986, for
example, around 230,000 young people were involved in some form
of government training scheme. Despite these initiatives skill
shortages persist; a CBI survey showed that in January 1988 20
per cent, of firms questioned thought that skill shortages would
have a significant constraining effect on output.
While much of this change in the labour market can be attributed
to the impact of the recession that affected all industrialised
countries in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in Britain the general
effects of recession were compounded by high interest rates and
the removal of many restrictions on the movement of goods and
capital. Britain's sluggish manufacturing industry was exposed
suddenly and dramatically to international competition, and many
companies were forced either to close or dramatically to restructure
their organisation to remain in business; in many cases this also
meant the loss of jobs. Alongside these economic changes must
be placed the political change of privatisation. In 1979 the publiclyowned sector of industry accounted for 11 per cent, of Gross
Domestic Product. By mid-1987 more than a third of that had
been transferred to the private sector, involving the transfer of
about 650,000 employees from public to private sector
employment. Privatisation has involved the selling-off of many of
Britain's key infrastructural industries to private owners; including
gas, telecommunications, airways and airports, and seaports, to
be followed by electricity supply and water.
Real earnings have increased steadily for most employees since
the war but the improvements slowed during the late 1970s and
early 1980s, periods of high inflation. The earnings of most
employees increased in real terms during the 1980s, at a rate for
the entire economy of anything from one to 4.5 per cent, per
annum. But this general increase concealed a number of variations.
First it would appear that, in general, private sector workers fared
better than those in the public sector. Secondly, the differentials
between white-collar and blue-collar workers, which had been

reduced throughout the 1970s, started to widen again. Indeed,

statistics indicate that during the 1980s the general post-war pattern
of reduction in income differences has been reversed. Thirdly, the
improvement that took place during the 1970s in the position of
women's earnings in relation to those of men was halted; in 1986
manual women earned 71 per cent, of male earnings (the same
as 1978). For non-manual women the figures were 62 per cent,
and 61 per cent. In April 1990 weekly earnings before the deduction
of tax and other stoppages for full-time workers were as follows:

Men
Manual
Non-manual
Women
Manual
Non-manual

Public sector
( per week)

Private Sector
( per week)

226.0
325.9

240.0
366.9

150.0
231.0

147.4
204.6

(Source: New Earnings Survey, 1990)

1.11 The impact of all these changes on the industrial relations system
is subtle and profound. Perhaps the most marked has been in
response to the economic difficulties confronting the manufacturing
sector. For not only is this where much of the closure and
redundancy has taken place, it is also an area where managers and
employers have, in many cases, felt the need to introduce radical
change in technology and/or working practices in order to maintain
competitiveness, and often to do so rapidly and forcefully. This
has had an impact, as we shall see below, on managerial
preparedness to introduce change through the processes of
collective bargaining and, in consequence, on managerial policies
towards the recognition of trade unions, especially in the new high
technology industries.
1.12 In the public sector, government policies of privatisation and of
determination to reduce the scale of public expenditure in pursuit
of its financial and economic goals have also contributed both to
job loss and to a change in managerial approach towards trade
unions. Nevertheless, as we shall see below, both private
manufacturing and the public sector remain areas of (relatively)
high union recognition and collective bargaining coverage. In that
sense at least the system of industrial relations has remained
unchanged.
1.13 It is the growth of the private service sector which raises the most
pressing questions for the future development of industrial
relations. Relatively little research has been done into this area
of employment.

2.

The Legal Framework of Industrial Relations

2.1 Although there are differences between the legal systems in

England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the broad
principles of labour law are very similar in all cases. In Scotland
precise terminology may differ on occasions from the English
equivalent. Northern Ireland has substantially the same framework
of legislation although it also has its own specific legislation dealing
with aspects of discrimination. The process of introducing statute
law into Northern Ireland is handled in a particular way, through
the enactment of special Northern Ireland Acts and Orders. Where
there are significant differences between the two systems they are
noted in the appropriate entries.
Over the past twenty years, Britain has moved away from its
long-standing position as a country where there was little legal
intervention in industrial relations. In the past decade in particular
a considerable amount of employment legislation has been enacted
and the label "voluntarist" can no longer be appropriately applied
to the British system.
2.2 The "voluntarist" system, or system of legal abstention, which
had characterised British industrial relations consisted of a
preference for autonomous regulation of the terms and conditions
of employment by the social partners, rather than regulation
through state intervention in the form of legal rights and duties
or legally imposed minimum terms and conditions. For example,
other than in those few sectors covered by Wages Councils there
has never been a legal national minimum wage; nor comprehensive
regulation of hours of work and holidays. It also meant that the
state did not seek to regulate the internal affairs of the parties to
collective bargaining, nor to dictate methods of dispute resolution,
providing instead voluntary conciliation and arbitration services
and allowing considerable freedom to take industrial action. The
state chose to "stand back'; what legislation there was tended to
be enacted to fill gaps in the protection afforded by collective
bargaining, or to supplement and indirectly support the collective
bargaining system. It was a situation particularly designed to keep
the courts and judiciary from intervening in industrial relations.
One particular feature was, and remains, the non-enforceability
of collective agreements.
2.3 From the 1960s, however, state intervention to affect the processes
and outcomes of collective bargaining became more common, both
through incomes policies (usually voluntary but some on a statutory
basis) and through labour legislation, and there was a growth in
legal rights affecting the individual employment relationship.
2.4 Employers' prerogative in respect of the individual employment
relationship is now affected by rights conferred on workers in
respect of matters such as job termination (e.g. notice periods,
redundancy and unfair dismissal), anti-discrimination legislation

and other employment protection rights such as those relating to

time off from work. In the area of pay, legislation regarding equal
pay for women has imposed other requirements on employers,
many of them stimulated by the need to comply with European
Directives. These rights are enforceable through a quasi-court
system, the Industrial Tribunals.
2.5 These individual employment rights were built up mainly during
the 1970s and have been somewhat narrowed in coverage (where
possible given the European requirements) in more recent years
since it is argued by the government that they impose unacceptable
burdens on employers. Long-standing provisions, too, such as
those designed to aid the lower paid have also been weakened,
for example through changes to Wages Councils and the removal
of the Fair Wages Resolution. The policy of "deregulation", as
this reduction of worker rights is sometimes termed, is not a move
from state (legal) regulation to joint regulation but rather from
legal regulation to unilateral employer regulation since those who
are excluded from the legal rights are often those who also fall
outside the sphere of union organisation and collective bargaining,
for example part-time and casual workers.
2.6 Changes in the legal framework and, importantly, the shift in public
policy which these reflect, have made it more difficult for unions
to organise and establish collective bargaining. Collective
bargaining is no longer given primacy by public policy as the best
method of conducting industrial relations and many of the
legislative measures supportive of collective regulation have been
repealed. In this regard one might mention, for example, the
enhanced protection for non-unionists, the abolition of the closed
shop; the repeal of provisions for generalising terms and conditions
established by collective bargaining; the outlawing of various union
recruitment practices. There is no duty on employers in Britain
to recognise a trade union and few legal rights exist for unions
in the workplace, although some consultation rights have been
conferred in response to EEC Directives, and in respect of specific
areas such as Health and Safety and on redundancies.
2.7 The framework of law within which collective bargaining takes
place has also been changed, particularly in regard to the legal
freedom to take industrial action which in Britain is conferred by
statutory immunity from the common law. The scope for industrial
action has been considerably reduced by the Employment Acts
1980, 1982, the Trade Union Act 1984 and the Employment Act
1990 which, by narrowing the immunity, effectively outlaw
secondary action, and restrict workers' action to disputes with their
own employer that centrally concern their own terms and
conditions, and the lawfulness of such action will also depend on
there having been majority support for it obtained through a
prescribed ballot. Industrial action tactics such as picketing are
also constrained by the legislation. The penalties for taking

unlawful action have been increased and unions laid open to

liability. These developments are aimed at curbing union power,
which is seen as a prerequisite for "free market" economic policy
to work.
2.8 This area of law has brought the ordinary courts into industrial
relations to a greater extent than for many years. Employers faced
with industrial action may seek legal remedies from the civil courts.
There are no specialized labour courts in Britain with a general
jurisdiction over employment-related matters (although as noted
above there are some special bodies such as Industrial Tribunals
with limited jurisdiction). Industrial action and most other labour
law cases, apart from individual legal rights claims noted above,
come before the High Court in England and Wales and the Court
of Session (Outer House) in Scotland. Appeal from this Court is
to the Court of Appeal (in Scotland the Inner House of the Court
of Session) and thence to the House of Lords judicial committee.
It is much easier under the present legal framework for employers
to obtain civil remedies against trade unions engaged in industrial
action and employers appear to be showing a growing willingness
to seek injunctions ordering the union to cease from the unlawful
action, although fewer go on to seek damages for loss. The criminal
courts also play some minor role in industrial action through their
jurisdiction in matters concerning public order.
2.9 The legal regulation of the internal affairs of trade unions has been
a particularly contentious development in the 1980s. The Trade
Union Act 1984 and Employment Act 1988 prescribe methods for
election of certain union officials as well as requiring that
membership ballots be held on particular issues and conferring
various rights on union members exercisable against the union.
Legal actions by members against their unions have been more
frequent in recent years and a new body, the Commissioner for
the Rights of Trade Union Members, has been created under the
EA 1988 to facilitate such actions. The increased legal burdens
on trade unions may be contrasted with the policy of deregulation
in relation to the legal burdens on employers.
2.10 The increased legal restriction of trade unions and the consequent
involvement of the ordinary courts have been accompanied by a
declining role for administrative agencies and arbitration bodies
such as ACAS and the CAC. Under the Social Contract legislation
of the 1970s, which attempted to confer rights on trade unions
without involving the ordinary courts, these bodies were given
special statutory duties in respect of trade union recognition, which
have since been repealed. Other bodies, such as NEDO, which,
like ACAS, are tripartite in composition and which were seen very
much as adjuncts to the collective bargaining-based voluntary
system, have also been diminished in importance during the 1980s.
The tripartite MSC was abolished as was its successor, the Training
Commission.
8

2.11 There has been some legal regulation of the labour market through
statutes concerning training provision although much of this is
now governed by what has been termed "leaflet law" where
departmental legislation is promulgated by means of leaflets
describing schemes (for example the Youth Training Scheme)
which do not require statutory instruments or the substance of
parliamentary scrutiny. The abolition of the Training Commission
will also remove scrutiny by the social partners. Other legal
regulations which affect the labour market, such as immigration
controls and work permit regulations, and social security
regulations, for example concerning unemployment benefit, are
not usually seen as coming within the ambit of industrial relations
or labour law in Britain although they may affect the availability
of people for work and the terms upon which work will be
accepted.
3.

The Actors of Industrial Relations.

3.1 The role of the state in British industrial relations has been quite
distinctive for over a century. As noted in the last section, British
governments have, until recently, abstained from much direct
intervention into industrial relations through the role of law.
Nevertheless, the state has had a profoundly important part to play
in stimulating the development of trade unionism and collective
bargaining. Since the closing years of the last century British
governments have been generally committed to the development
of collective bargaining as their preferred means of industrial
governance and, although they have not used the law, they have
used their significant role as employer and, especially since the
Second World War, as providing agencies for the resolution of
disputes (the current one being ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation
and Arbitration Service) to promote collective bargaining in the
private sector. Both World Wars have been crucial periods, during
which governments created conditions in which trade unionism
has been able to develop, and employer hostility has been blunted.
The Second World War, in particular, may be seen as a time in
which several key features of "modern" industrial relations came
into being.
3.2 The pinnacle of government/union collaboration was that of the
Labour government's "Social Contract" of 1974-79; the height
of tripartism in this country. But it was soon to be replacjed by
a government whose attitudes to unions and collective bargaining
were very different from most of its predecessors. Committed above
all to the efficient operation of free markets, the Conservative
governments of the 1980s perceived both unions and collective
bargaining (particularly the centralised structures of the public
sector) as obstacles to efficiency, and introduced a number of
legislative and other measures to reduce their impact.

3.3

The decades since the Second World War have seen major changes
in the structure and size of employing organisations. The merger
wave of the 1960s and 1970s was one widespread response of British
firms to their increasingly poor competitive performance. One
consequence was the rapid growth of giant multi-establishment
firms in Britain. The contribution of these large firms to the British
economy and to employment levels was substantial. In 1979 around
45 per cent, of all employees in manufacturing worked in
companies employing 5000 or more employees; in 1958 the figure
had been under 35 per cent. Average establishment size also grew.
In 1979 over 40 per cent, of all employees worked in establishments
employing more than 1000 employees; in the early 1950s the figure
had been around 30 per cent. These large establishments were
fertile ground for the development of collective bargaining, with
large concentrations of employees and employers keen to take
advantage of the savings involved in managing the workforce on
a collective basis.
3.4 Between 1979 and 1984 these trends reversed. The number of large
compames in manufacturing (defined as those employing 2000 or
more in the United Kingdom) fell from 406 to 282, and the
proportion of all employees who worked in such large companies
fell from 55.6 per cent, of the workforce to 44.7 per cent. Thus
a smaller proportion of the workforce is working for large
companies. Similarly, the average size of workplace is falling.
Between the same two dates the proportion of employees working
in manufacturing establishments of 500 or more employees fell
from 54.1 per cent, to 44.9 per cent. In other words, although
British manufacturing is still dominated by large companies and
large plants, it is less so than a decade ago (indeed, the product
value of these large compames has greatly increased as it is the
low value/low productivity companies and establishments that have
disappeared). Indeed, through the extensive use of sub-contracting
these large firms' influence over employment and economic
performance is probably greater now than in the past, although
much of this is indirect.
3.5 Of particular industrial relations interest in recent years has been
the development of foreign-owned firms. Several of these,
especially Japanese-owned companies in technologically
sophisticated areas of manufacturing industry such as electronics,
have been associated with ideas of personnel and industrial relations
management very different from those conventionally used in the
primary and secondary sectors of industry. In particular they are
less wedded than some of their British counterparts to the
importance of trade union recognition and collective bargaining,
preferring instead to rely on a sophisticated range of techniques
of so-called "Human Resource Management". Several leading
British compames have shown an interest in following this overseas
lead.
10

3.6 In contrast to private sector manufacturing the private service sector

has always been characterised by smaller firms and by a much lower
rate of union recognition and collective bargaining. Indeed, it has
been much neglected by industrial relations scholars, who have
traditionally associated "industrial relations" with collective
bargaining and the presence of unions. The need to undertake
detailed studies of this sector is highlighted by the comment of
one leading union official who has observed that if a large
engineering works was a "characteristic" British employing
environment of the 1960s, an appropriate comparator for the 1990s
will be a medium-size hotel owned by a large and diverse company.
3.7 The growth of giant firms led to a decline in the significance of
employers' associations for, while many companies remained in
membership, they preferred to handle their collective bargaining
activities independently, rather than through industry-wide
employers' associations. There are now around 320 employers'
associations in Britain varying widely in size, resources and
influence. They operate over a broad range of trade and commercial
issues, and may be involved in such matters as research, marketing
developments and new production technologies on behalf of their
members. Their industrial relations significance is difficult to
establish with precision for, although many workers in the private
manufacturing sector of industry are technically covered by
collective agreements negotiated between trade unions and
employers' confederations (multi-employer bargaining), the precise
importance of these collective agreements is often limited and/or
unclear. In the general area of collective bargaining employers'
associations often have an important role in the operation of
disputes procedures. In recent years there has been an expansion
in the advisory and consultancy services provided by employers'
associations; these include the provision of legal services and of
information on local pay levels to member compames. Finally,
employers' associations have an important role as pressure groups,
representing their members' interests to government, unions or
the general public.
3.8 More than 200 employers' associations (and over 4000 individual
companies) affiliate to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI),
the largest British employers' confederation. Like the TUC, this
body plays no role in collective bargaining, but does act to represent
employers' interests to government (both through direct lobbying
and through its membership of a range of tripartite bodies).
3.9 For much of the 1960s and 1970s employers accepted collective
bargaining as the dominant means of regulating terms and
conditions of employment. Things have changed in the 1980s, but
not as dramatically as some commentators predicted. Direct
assaults on weakened union organisation have been rare and, in
general, the structures of collective bargaining have been
maintained in the public and manufacturing sectors (there has never
11

been much in the tertiary sector). But British employers have

started to move away from a total dependence on collective
bargaining and to experiment with other techniques of personnel
or "human resource" management. But such evidence as exists
suggests that this has been done generally in a piecemeal, nonstrategic fashion. In consequence the long-term implications of
the changes in managerial approach remain unclear.
3.10 While union membership in traditional male manufacturing
industries and occupations remained stable between 1948 and 1979,
it grew among women and white-collar workers, most notably in
the rapidly expanding public service sector during the 1970s.
Membership peaked in 1979, when over 13 million employees were
in trade unions. This worked out at around 54 per cent, of the
labour force (including registered unemployed but excluding
employers, the self-employed and the armed forces; the most
frequently used measure of union density) and over 57 per cent,
of those actually in work. Since then membership has declined
to a little over 10 million by the end of 1988, a loss of well over
20 per cent, since 1979, although the most recent figures suggest
that the decline may now be virtually over. This same period has
seen union density fall to around 40 per cent, of the labour force
(including unemployed), i.e. around 50 per cent, of the employed
workforce. The United Kingdom was, and remains, a relatively
highly unionized country. Northern Ireland has a rather higher
density of union membership than the rest of the United Kingdom:
49 per cent, compared with 39 per cent, in early 1989.
3.11 Rough calculations suggest that in 1986 around 30 per cent, of
employed women and 60 per cent, of employed men were in trade
unions. The proportion of female membership has been growing
steadily; by 1986 over 35 per cent, of the membership of unions
affiliated to the TUC were women. Similarly, the proportion of
white-collar workers in unions has been growing steadily for around
two decades, and is now around 50 per cent, of the total unionized
workforce. Part-timers are relatively badly organised, with probably
around 25 per cent, in trade unions in 1986 (mostly in public sector
employment). The unemployed very rarely remain in membership
of unions (union membership is normally not available to
unemployed persons who have never been in a union), and only
around 5 per cent, of the unemployed are in a union.
3.12 Union densities are highest in the public sector (around 80 per
cent, of employees) and the private manufacturing sector (just
under 60 per cent, in establishments employing more than 25
workers). The private service sector is generally badly organised,
probably around 20 per cent., although this conceals wide
variations. Small firms are also under-organised, around 27 per
cent, of employees in firms of 25 or less being in unions in 1984.
Finally, there are marked regional variations: in 1984 58 per cent,
of employees in Great Britain were in unions, but only 43 per cent.
12

in th South-East (excluding London) and 47 per cent, in London.

In no other region of the country did the figure fall below 55 per
cent, and in Wales and the North it rose above 70 per cent.
3.13 The number and character of unions in the United Kingdom is
also changing. For many years it has been conventional to
categorize British unions under a range of (sometimes overlapping)
titles, including blue-collar/white-collar; craft/general;
occupational/ industrial; public-sector/private-sector. These
categories are becoming increasingly unhelpful as union mergers,
the privatization of parts of the public sector and technological
change affecting traditional skills take effect. Union mergers had
reduced the number of unions to 335 by the end of 1986, 35 fewer
than in the previous year and many less than the 519 unions of
1973. There has been an increased concentration of membership:
the eight largest unions, all with more than 350,000 members, now
account for over 53 per cent, of all union membership, while the
174 unions with fewer than 1,000 members account only for 0.4
per cent, of total membership. Unions with headquarters in Britain
have in membership about 79 per cent, of the unionized Northern
Ireland workforce. The remaining 21 per cent, are either in
Northern Ireland-based or Ireland-based trade unions.
3.14 Trade unions are defined in section 28 of the Trade Union and
Labour Relations Act (TULRA) 1974 as organisations of workers
which have the regulation of relations between workers and
employers or employers' associations as one of their principal
purposes. Unions fulfilling these criteria may apply to be listed
by the Certification Officer. Once listed they may apply for
certificates of independence from the same body. TULRA requires
that unions must be independent from employer control or
interference. Unions certified as independent are able to obtain
certain rights and benefits not otherwise available.
3.15 The vast majority of British trade unionists are members of unions
affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, by far the largest union
confederation in Britain and in effect the only peak organisation
for workers. (Most trade unions, the majority of them very small,
are not TUC affiliates.) The unions affiliated to the TUC are in
principle capable of developing policies that should be followed
by all. Thus, in theory the TUC is the central policy-making body
of the British union movement. In practice, however, the TUC
has few powers to control or coerce its affiliated unions if they
choose to dissent. Apart from this the TUC also exists as an
autonomous body, with its own specific policies and, importantly,
responsibility for controlling inter-union relationships. The TUC
is not involved in collective bargaining with employers, although
it acts as the voice of the unions in dealings with government. It
operates closely with the Labour Party although the TUC, unlike
many of its affiliates, is not itself structurally linked to the Labour
Party. It has on occasion sought to act as a mediator or conciliator
13

in industrial disputes, although it rarely has any such formal role.

The TUC also has a specialist committee (the Independent Review
Committee) to deal with individuals' complaints against affiliated
unions (that they have been unreasonably expelled or denied
membership). The TUC also seeks to regulate relationships
between unions, notably through the "Bridlington Agreements".
In 1988 failure to abide by these rules led to the first expulsion
for many years of a major trade union, the Electrical, Electronic,
Telecommunication and Plumbing Union (EETPU).
3.16 Although all unions in Britain have a sovereign national policymaking body many, especially those in the private manufacturing
sector, operate in practice on a decentralized basis, with a
considerable degree of local policy-making autonomy. Nowhere
is this clearer than in much of the private sector of manufacturing,
where collective bargaining is often handled by committees of local
union representatives (shop stewards), frequently involving two
or more trade unions, and with little or no reference to national
union policies. This decentralization has been seen both as a
problem, for example by those interested in co-ordinating income
controls through trade union agreement, and as an advantage by
those employers who favour local flexibility in their collective
bargaining. In the public sector, where collective bargaining has
traditionally been more centralised, there is less local trade union
autonomy, although this situation has recently been changing quite
fast in response to widespread public sector management
decentralization during the 1980s.
3.17 Since the end of the Second World War the state has been an
increasingly large employer of labour as the public sector has
expanded rapidly. By the late 1970s the public sector employed
over seven million workers; around 30 per cent, of the employed
labour force. By 1987 the numbers had fallen to under six million
(around 25 per cent.). The greatest losses have been in the public
corporations (gas, coal, electricity, post office, telecommunications,
etc.), where a combination of job losses and privatisation have
reduced public sector employment. To some extent these have been
offset by increases in areas of public service, such as education
and social services.
3.18 Industrial relations in the public sector were, for four decades or
more after the Second World War (and to some extent even before
then), based around the principles of a high density of trade union
membership; strong, usually centralized, structures of negotiation
and consultation; the avoidance of conflict through the extensive
use of arbitration; and the principle of seeking to pay fair wages
based on comparisons with relevant private sector comparators.
It was often argued that, by acting this way, the state was affirming
its general support for collective bargaining as the best means of
regulating industrial relations, and acting as a "model" for other
employers to emulate. It is argued by some that industrial relations
14

in the public sector have changed dramatically since 1979. Certainly

the government has made clear its preference for a more
decentralized approach to collective bargaining and its distaste for
the use of arbitration, which it sees as incompatible with managerial
reponsibility for decision-taking. In addition, it has argued in
favour of wage rates based on local labour market conditions rather
than reflecting arguments about private sector comparability.
Public sector unions feel strongly that the government has, in its
role as public sector employer, deliberately moved away from
collective bargaining in an effort to reduce the trade union role.
Although many public sector corporations are moving in these
directions, they are doing so only gradually, and have so far retained
many of the elements of the earlier model, including high levels
of union membership and a system of collective bargaining that
remains of major importance. Nevertheless, it is often suggested
that, by contrast to the earlier period in which the state sector acted
as a model for the private sector, the roles are now reversed, with
the state now seeking to emulate the practices of "market-driven"
compames. It is no longer possible to infer from the activities of
the public sector the same degree of implicit or explicit state
support for collective bargaining and trade union organisation that
had been apparent in earlier decades.
4. Collective Bargaining
4.1 Collective bargaining has for decades been the dominant means
of regulating the employment relationship in Britain, and this
remains the case today. The most recent figures available (from
1984) show that, of employees working in establishments
employing 25 or more people, 71 per cent, were covered by some
form of collective agreement, a total of 10.7 million employees.
(Figures for smallerfirmswould be much lower.) The proportions
covered are highest in the public sector (virtually 100 per cent,
coverage), lower in the private manufacturing sector, and lowest
in private services. Outside the public sector the proportion of
manual workers covered is higher than non-manual employees.
4.2 In the late 1960s the Donovan Commission (a Royal Commission
established to look into industrial relations) argued that the formal
structures of collective bargaining in private manufacturing
industry (industry-wide, multi-employer bargaining between
employers' associations and trade union confederations bargaining
at the level of the industrial sector) had in many cases been
overtaken in importance by collective bargaining at the factory
level between local managers and union shop stewards. This
bargaining was characterised as essentially informal and fragmented
and was argued by the members of the Commission to be associated
with unofficial strikes and inflationary wage rises. Although the
picture they painted may now be seen to have exaggerated the
15

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

extent of this low-level bargaining, their policy recommendation

that the problems might be eased through the formalization of
single-employer bargaining was influential throughout the 1970s.
Since the 1960s private manufacturing industry has witnessed both
a formalization of such bargaining and a shift in importance from
industry-wide multi-employer bargaining to single-employer
bargaining, at either plant or company level. Although many
workers in this sector are technically covered by both, some form
of single-employer bargaining was the most important level of pay
bargaining for manual workers in 58 per cent, of compames in
private manufacturing in 1984, compared with 40 per cent, for
which multi-employer bargaining was the most important level.
(For white-collar workers the corresponding figures were 78 per
cent, and 19 per cent., indicating that collective bargaining
arrangements are more decentralised for them than for manual
employees.) There is some evidence that within the last decade
single-employer bargaining has also become more decentralised
in multi-plant undertakings.
In the public sector collective bargaining has usually been highly
centralised at the level of the individual corporation or service.
Since the mid-1970s this centralised system has become
supplemented by local bargaining as various forms of local incentive
payment systems spread. In that decade the public sector, and
especially the services such as local government, health and
education, witnessed a rapid increase in the numbers of shop
stewards associated with this rise in local bargaining. But such
bargaining usually took place within constraints agreed at a national
level. The 1980s have witnessed a weakening of centralised
bargaining as a consequence of government policies of privatisation
and decentralisation of public sector organisations.
Although many employees in the private sector are covered by more
than one level of collective bargaining, there is little evidence of
any real articulation between the levels. Since the 1970s it has been
conventional to see much industry-wide bargaining as constituting
a "safety net" below which employees may not fall, but having
a direct impact on terms and conditions of employment in only
a small minority of cases. In the public sector the relationships
between local and national bargaining are normally much clearer.
It is usual in Britain to distinguish between collective bargaining
over substantive and over procedural issues. Substantive bargaining
and substantive agreements refer to the regulation of the terms
and conditions of employment, while procedural issues cover the
machinery designed to handle relations between companies and
unions (grievance and disciplinary procedures, for example). There
was a considerable growth on the procedural side during the 1970s
in particular, with many companies and unions developing systems
for the joint handling of redundancy issues, discipline and dismissal
cases and so on. It is more difficult to identify developments in
16

Substantive collective bargaining, however. Formal substantive

bargaining has usually been restricted in scope to aspects of the
terms and conditions of employment; wages, working hours,
holidays and, since the 1970s, pension arrangements. Unions have
made few attempts to extend collective bargaining to other aspects
of management decision-taking, such as investment, factory
location, diversification and other "strategic" decisions. When in
1979 the Trades Union Congress drew up a checklist of items that
should be covered in agreements on new technology, they
concentrated on pay, job security and other such matters, rather
then seeking to become involved in the planning decisions
themselves. The restricted scope of collective bargaining in Britain
has led some to label employees' terms and conditions as "an island
of joint regulation in a sea of unilateral management decisiontaking" to indicate that the scope of shared decisions in Britain
is limited largely to pay and other direct conditions of employment.
Although ideas of extended industrial democracy, built around
trade unions and their right to elect representatives to sit on boards
of directors of large companies, enjoyed a brief vogue in the late
1970s, a combination of union uncertainty and managerial hostility
meant that they led to nothing. During the 1980s increasing
managerial attention was given to new forms of employee
participation, but always within a context where the ultimate right
to take decisions rests solely with management.
4.7 The failure of voluntary collective bargaining to deal effectively
with such matters as Health and Safety, and discrimination against
women and ethnic minorities, contributed to the development of
laws in the 1960s and 70s designed to remedy these deficiencies.
4.8 It is often argued that concentration on the formal dimensions of
collective bargaining in Britain leads to a misunderstanding of the
total picture by ignoring the evidence of widespread informal
collective bargaining, often at the shop floor level. Although
evidence is incomplete, it is certain that such bargaining has,
especially in private manufacturing, long been a powerful factor
affecting managerial discretion over matters such as the
deployment, organisation and discipline of the labour force. Such
bargaining, it is argued, is distinguished from other, more formal,
schemes of worker participation by the fact that it deals not with
the taking of decisions by managers, but rather with how such
decisions are subsequently implemented.
4.9 The 1980s witnessed a managerial and government disenchanjment
with the effectiveness of collective bargaining. It was claimed to
impair efficiency and enterprise by restricting the unilateral
managerial right to control and direct work. Many claims have
been made for the appearance of a tougher, more unilateral
approach, but the survey evidence appears, at least superficially,
to contradict this. The structures and procedures of collective
17

bargaining appear to have been maintained. At the same time there

is some evidence that the range of issues on which managements
are prepared to bargain collectively has fallen.
5.

Other Forms of Regulation of the Relationship Between

Employers, Unions and Employees Within the Enterprise

5.1 In Britain there are no formal requirements for workers'

participation and involvement although there are some legal duties
dealing with consultation and a little-used right for unions to obtain
from employers information needed for collective bargaining. Since
several commentators (including some influential trade union
leaders) see the widespread use of collective bargaining as the best
and most effective form of participation, there has been little union
pressure over the years to change this general absence of legal rights
and obligations. As noted above, there was a view during the late
1970s that it was necessary to extend the influence of collective
bargaining through formal structures of worker representation on
boards of directors, but this came to nothing. This does not,
however, mean that no process other than collective bargaining
affects relations between employees, unions and managers.
5.2 Perhaps the best-known of these is called consultation. Although
collective bargaining is most frequently portrayed as a process of
negotiation, that is, a process of joint regulation characterised by
compromise, there is another aspect of management/union relations
that has a long history, consultation, in which managers seek union
views and comments while reserving the right to take final decisions
themselves. Consultation was perceived in the 1960s as a weaker
form of collective bargaining than negotiation, and hence one
rejected by powerful trade unions in favour of the latter.
Nevertheless it was and remains widespread, especially in the
public sector, although there are signs of a renaissance in the private
sector since the 1980s, a move interpreted by some as a symptom
of recent union weakness. The scope of consultation is often wider
than that of negotiation, extending on occasions to broader areas
of employer policy.
5.3 As noted above, British employers have since 1975 been under
a legal obligation to disclose information for the purposes of
collective bargaining to representatives of an independent
recognised trade union. Seen by the government of the day as a
useful step towards greater industrial democracy, this law has had
very little practical impact since it provides employers with a range
of objections they can mount to disclosure, and these have
constrained unions' ability to obtain information. Employer
hostility to the disclosure ofinformation to trade unions must also
be set against unions' traditional indifference to attempting to
extend their sphere of activities outside the bargaining of the terms
18

and conditions of employment. Recent evidence suggests that

during the 1980s some employers have voluntarily increased the
range of information they make available to employees and,
sometimes, to union representatives, but usually in a context of
consultation rather than negotiation (see above).
5.4 In more recent years there appears to have been considerable
managerial interest in new forms of employee involvement and
communication including the use of such techniques as team
briefings and "quality circles" which operate outside the
framework of collective bargaining. Despite the widespread interest
it is too early to judge whether these have yet had an impact on
employee relations and/or whether they are likely to be long-lasting
features in this country. Evidence on quality circles, for example,
suggests that very many fall into disuse after a year or two, often
because they excite a degree of hostility among middle and junior
managers and/or because companies fail to invest the necessary
time and resources in preparing employees for these new
approaches. A number of companies, often foreign-based
multinationals, have also introduced consultative bodies at the level
of the individual factory, involving managers and employee (not
necessarily union) representatives, at which general issues and
problems facing the company may be discussed. These bodies
appear under a variety of names of which perhaps the most
common are "company councils" or "factory councils".
5.5 Techniques of employee participation and involvement such as
these are considered by some managers and academic
commentators to be elements in a new approach to the management
of people sometimes generically termed "Human Resource
Management" (HRM). According to its advocates HRM is a more
strategic, longer-term approach than previous techniques, involving
a close integration with other elements of strategic managerial
thinking and action. It is claimed to consist of an active approach
to the management of people, seeking their commitment to and
understanding of the objectives of the organisation for which they
work. It is seen as involving a continuous process of informing
and consulting the workforce about management problems and
objectives. As such it is contrasted with what is seen as a
traditionally more passive approach to industrial relations,
essentially one of leaving things alone until there is a problem.
Critics of HRM argue that it undermines trade unionism and
collective bargaining by providing alternative channels for the
dissemination ofinformation and the raising of problems. There
is evidence of the widespread adoption of parts of this approach
in Britain, but little sign that managers have really developed a
full strategic approach to the issues. The training, finance and other
resource commitments that HRM implies have not apparently been
made in many companies.
19

6. Industrial Conflict
6.1 On most statistical international comparisons of industrial conflict,
Britain usually appears around the middle of the ranking of
industrial capitalist economies. But there are certain features of
the pattern that are important.
6.2 In the 1960s great attention was paid to the increase in unofficial
unconstitutional strikes (those that are called without the approval
of the official union executive and before the exhaustion of agreed
disputes procedures). Often associated with the emergence of shop
stewards (factory-based union representatives) and an increased
volume of workplace bargaining, such disputes were particularly
common in the engineering industry. Such was the political and
industrial concern that the Labour government appointed a Royal
Commission in 1965 (the Donovan Commission) to investigate what
was happening to industrial relations. The Commission
recommended a number of reforms to try to reduce strikes, but
the statistical evidence suggests that they had little impact during
the 1970s.
6.3 What did happen during the 1970s was that workers in the public
sector, hitherto associated with very low levels of conflict, started
to take national industrial action on a scale unprecedented since
the end of the Second World War. By the end of the 1970s virtually
all major public sector groups had been involved in some form
of industrial action (some for the first time in their history). Two
strikes in particular, the miners' strike of 1974 and the local
government workers' of 1978/9, were widely held to have
contributed to the electoral defeat of the governments of the time.
These conflicts overshadowed what was going on in the private
sector, both statistically and in terms of the attention paid to them.
Most commentators associate the re-emergence of public sector
disputes with the effects of incomes policies, increasingly used by
governments between 1965 and 1979, which appeared to restrict
the pay of public sector workers more severely than their private
sector counterparts. The statistics peaked in 1979, when over four
million workers took part in strikes that lost nearly 12 million
working days.
6.4 Since 1979 the strike statistics have fallen quite sharply, although
the miners' strike of 1984/5 temporarily raised thefiguressharply
and the summer of 1989 witnessed a considerable rise in strike
activity. As in the 1970s public sector workers and their unions
have been the groups most heavily involved.
6.5 Although pay and related issues have always accounted for the
largest proportion of strikes when analysed by cause, the proportion
of pay-related strikes has fallen in the 1980s, as strikes over
redundancies and reductions in working hours have increased as
a proportion of the total. It should also be noted that there is some
evidence during the same period of an increase in the use of non20

6.6

6.7

6.8

6.9

strike forms of industrial action, such as working to rule and

banning overtime.
In Britain industrial dispute settlement is overwhelmingly a matter
for the parties themselves, who voluntarily agree procedures for
the resolution of disputes. Commonly these provide a machinery
that enables issues that are disputed between the parties to be
referred up to higher levels within both the trade union(s) and
the employing organisation, occasionally involving an employers'
association. There is usually no distinction drawn between so-called
disputes of rights and disputes of interest in such voluntary
machinery. Given the dynamic nature of collective bargaining in
Britain and the absence of formal legal collective agreements
distinction between disputes over new terms and interpretation
of existing terms cannot readily be drawn.
If a disagreement remains unsettled after it has gone through
procedure the parties are free to take independent action (for
example the union may call a strike) unless they have voluntarily
agreed otherwise. Some procedures, the minority, will provide for
third party intervention as a final stage, usually conciliation and/
or arbitration using the services of ACAS. Where such provision
exists it is usual for it to require both parties to agree before
intervention is invoked.
The use of third party intervention in dispute settlement, which
has never been high in Britain, has traditionally been more common
in the public sector than the private sector and there were some
long-established arbitration bodies for parts of the public sector
such as the Civil Service and the railways. There has been a move
away from this method of dispute resolution in the public sector
more recently however because of changed government policy. At
the same time there has been a renewed interest in some parts of
the private sector in procedures which provide for arbitration as
a final stage, as a way of seeking to avoid industrial action.
Agreement to refer disputes to an arbitrator, sometimes for socalled pendulum arbitration, is a feature of the much-publicized
and misnamed "strike free deals", associated with single union
recognition by companies setting up plants on greenfield sites.
Even where this is not explicitly provided for in procedure, parties
in dispute may agree to use the third party services of ACAS, but
the total use of these services, both under procedure and ad hoc,
is not high. Where disputes arise over issues where legal rights
have been granted there are alternative methods provided by the
legislation conferring those rights which may be used. Thus, for
example, where a dispute arises concerning the union's access to
company information a complaint may be made to the Central
Arbitration Committee since, as noted above, the union has a right
to information under certain circumstances. More commonly
though the alternative provided is a legal or judicial one.
21

6.10 The most frequently used legal channel is the Industrial Tribunal
system, which has jurisdiction over a range of individual
employment rights. Because unionized workers tend to have access
to voluntary procedures of the kind discussed above, the IT system
tends to be used mainly by those not in unions or where the union
is not recognised, or only weakly organised. The ordinary courts
have not been given any dispute settlement role as such in Britain
nor entrusted with first instance jurisdiction concerning statutory
rights but they have not been kept out of industrial disputes. They
have wide original, appellate and supervisory jurisdictions in labour
law. Their original jurisdiction, as noted above, concerns such areas
as the lawfulness of industrial action. They also hear contractual
disputes, most internal union admimstration disputes, personal
injury litigation and public order cases. Their main appellate role
concerns the industrial tribunal system, via the Employment
Appeal Tribunal, and their supervisory role is by way of judicial
review of certain decisions taken by public bodies. This latter has
been exercised in respect of ACAS and CAC.
6.11 In addition to the courts' role in internal union administration
disputes, the Certification Officer also has a jurisdiction to hear
complaints concerning such matters as ballots for union elections
which have been subject to recent legal regulation. The TUC has
its own voluntary procedures for handling disputes between trade
unions (the Disputes Committee), and an Independent Review
Committee to hear complaints concerning alleged arbitrary
exclusions and expulsions from unions (also now subject to legal
redress via the industrial tribunals).
7. The Industrial Relations System: Overview and Prospects
7.1 Opinion in Britain as to the significance and long-term importance
of the changes that have taken place in the 1980s is sharply divided.
On the one hand there are those who argue that unemployment,
structural shifts in the economy, government action, and the
changes in the legal framework are leading to profound and
irreversible changes in Britain's system of industrial relations in
which the coverage of unions and collective bargaining will be
reduced, and forms of non-union management will grow in
importance. Such analysts point in particular to the growth of small
firms and of the private service sector, in both of which unions
have traditionally experienced great difficulty in establishing a
foothold. On the other side it is argued with equal vehemence that
many of the changes currently being witnessed are likely to be
no more than temporary phases; that unionism and collective
bargaining have demonstrated great stability (greater than during
the recession of the 1920s and 1930s) and that this testifies to the
continuing relevance of these institutions in modern Britain.
22

7.2 On two issues at least a majority of commentators are agreed. First,

that the law will continue to play an important role; few suggest
a likely reversion to the traditions of voluntarism. Second, that
in labour law as in other aspects of industrial relations, the British
scene will become increasingly affected by what goes on in the
rest of Europe, especially through the legal and administrative
machinery of the EEC.
7.3 During the 1980s both management and unions have, in their
different ways, come under pressure to amend their traditional
approaches to industrial relations. Employers, under heavy
economic pressure in much of the private sector, and under the
pressures'associated with privatisation in the public sector, have
often felt constrained to abandon or short-circuit the processes of
collective bargaining as too slow or inefficient in a period of crisis
and rapid change. But their behaviour under such conditions may
not necessarily be a pointer to their strategic preference in less
turbulent times. The widespread disinclination of many companies
to attack or abandon trade unions and the institutions of collective
bargaining at a time when they probably had the strength to do
so may be seen as evidence of their continuing usefulness in
managers' eyes.
7.4 Trade unions, under the pressure of membership and revenue loss,
have also been looking for new ways of recruiting and retaining
workers. Many have been pushed into amalgamations as numbers
fell below the level necessary for institutional survival, but this
may well be a source of strength as resources are concentrated and
inter-unionrivalryreduced. Unions have also turned to re-examine
the services and benefits they provide to their members, and many
have greatly expanded their range of legal, medical and financial
services and assistance. More controversially, unions have had to
decide whether to accommodate to or resist patterns of employer
and government behaviour they find objectionable; whether to fight
the introduction of change in the organisation of production and
new laws they perceive as anti-union, or whether to find ways of
living with them. Most unions have, in one way or another,
conceded that they do not in the 1980s have the power to resist;
the process of coming to terms with the new environment has led
some commentators to coin the term "new realism" for the change
of mood and approach.

23

1. ABILITY TO PAY: A criterion used by unions in formulating

pay claims and by employers in making pay offers, reflecting
perceptions of the financial capacity of the employer. In the public
sector the criterion of ability to pay, based on company
profitability, is replacing comparability as the basis of pay
settlement.
2. ABSENTEEISM: The non-attendance of a worker who is
expected to be at work. Persistent absenteeism may be a ground
for discipline or dismissal. See attendance bonus.
Absenteeism Rate: The proportion of working time lost as
a result of employee absenteeism.
3. ACAS: See Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
4. ACCIDENTS AT WORK: See health and safety.
5. ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASE: A wage or salary award
that provides the same money or percentage increase to all
employees affected.
6. ACT OF PARLIAMENT: An Act of Parliament (or statute)
is the expression of the will of Parliament, normally stating or
altering the law in some respect. See legal enactment.
7. ACTION: To take legal action means to institute legal
proceedings against another party. The term can also be used
as a shorthand for industrial action.
8. ACTIVITY RATE: The proportion of the total population in
a given age group which is in the working population. Also known
as participation rate.
9. ADDED VALUE: A measure of productivity that seeks to
estimate the extent to which the market value of materials or
components is enhanced by going through a manufacturing
process. Sometimes used as a basis for calculating a component
of pay, particularly profit-related pay: see financial participation.
10. ADVISORY CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION
SERVICE (ACAS): ACAS was established as a statutory body
on January 1, 1976 under the EPA 1975 with the general duty
of promoting the improvement of industrial relations and in
particular to encourage the extension of collective bargaining
25

ADVISORY CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION SERVICE (ACAS)

and to develop, and where necessary reform, collective bargaining

machinery. Previously it had operated, from September 1974,
on a non-statutory basis as the Conciliation and Arbitration
Service.
ACAS took over longstanding functions of advisory services,
conciliation and arbitration provision from the Department of
Employment and was also given certain statutory functions such
as the recognition procedure of the EPA 1975, since repealed.
ACAS may inquire into any industrial relations matter; provide
advice on industrial relations and the development of effective
personnel practices; issue codes of practice; help resolve disputes
through third-party intervention and offer conciliation in cases
where claims may be made to industrial tribunals.
The nature of ACAS's workload has changed over the years,
in part resulting from the changed public policy towards the
promotion of collective bargaining and the repeal of the statutory
recognition procedure. The political and legislative context within
which ACAS operates now is very different from that existing
when it was established, when many considered it would play
a major role in the reform and development of industrial relations.
The decline in the level of industrial action in recent years has
led to increased emphasis on its advisory role rather than its
voluntary dispute settlement functions.
Reflecting its origins in the Social Contract era, ACAS is
governed by a tripartite Council which may consist of as many
as fifteen members but until 1989 always numbered nine, in
addition to the chairperson, who is the only full-time member.
The members are appointed for not more thanfive-yearperiods
by the Secretary of State and may be reappointed. Three members
are appointed after consultation with the TUC (usually union
general secretaries, or more recently senior TUC officials) and
three after consultation with the CBI (senior business people and
CBI officials). Until recently, the other three members, seen as
"independents", have been academics. In 1989 two appointments
were made after consultation with unions not affiliated to the TUC
and with the British Chambers of Commerce, and there were only
two independent members. Although the first two people
appointed to chair the ACAS Council were distinguished
industrial relations practitioners, the current Chairman has been
appointed from within the Civil Service.
ACAS has a staff of some 630 people, most of whom are based
in its seven regional offices in England and in its offices in
Scotland and Wales. The Service is financed from public funds
(costing some 13 million a year) and provides all its services freeof-charge to those wishing to use them.
Although the Secretary of State appoints the Council, and
26

AMALGAMATION

ACAS staffare civil servants, ACAS's constitution provides that

"the Service shall not be subject to directions of any kind from
any Minister of the Crown as to the manner in which it is to
exercise any of its functions under any enactment". This
independence from government is what distinguishes it from its
predecessors in the provision of "official" third party
intervention.
See List of Addresses.
11. AFFILIATION: In industrial relations this usually refers to
trade unions' attachments to organisations whose objectives they
wish to support. Thus, for example, many trade unions are
affiliated to the TUC and to the Labour Party. An employee's
membership of a trade union may also be referred to as his or
her trade union affiliation. See union affiliation.
12. AGRICULTURAL WAGES BOARD: A form of Wages
Council regulating the wages of agricultural workers. Agriculture
accounts for around one tenth of low paid adult male workers.
Enforcement is the responsibility of the Agricultural Wages
Inspectorate.
13. ALLOWANCES: Regular payments made to employees other
than their basic pay or salary in recognition of particular aspects
of their work. The many kinds of allowances include London
Weighting (payment made to employees living in London, in
recognition of the higher costs of living); travel allowances;
relocation allowances; and allowances for working in particularly
dirty or dangerous conditions. Such allowances are frequently
excluded from calculations of overtime rates and do not
automatically attract the increases paid on basic wages and
salaries.
14. AMALGAMATION: The merging of two or more trade unions.
This process has been a continuous feature of British trade unions,
although in many cases amalgamations have not followed any
industrial, political or occupational logic. For many years
amalgamations were undertaken to enhance unions' strength and
resources; in more recent years loss of membership and financial
problems have prompted unions to merge in order to survive.
The TUC has always encouraged its affiliated unions to consider
amalgamation in appropriate cases. Between 1960 and 1980 the
number of unions affiliated to the TUC fell from 183 to 108, with
amalgamations accounting for much of this reduction. Also known
as merger.
The process of amalgamation is regulated by the Trade Union
27

AMALGAMATION

(Amalgamations, etc.) Act 1964, which stipulates that

amalgamations may take place subject to majority approval being
given in an individual membership ballot in each of the trade
unions affected. The law distinguishes between amalgamation
(in which two or more unions form what is in effect a new union
with a new rule book), and a transfer of engagement (in which
one union in effect "absorbs" another). In the latter case only
one union, the transferor union, has to ballot its members.
15. ANNUAL HOURS CONTRACT: See annualised hours.
16. ANNUALISED HOURS: A means of achieving flexibility in
working time and adapting working hours to operational
requirements. The contract allows the employer to vary the
number of hours worked in a defined period (day, week, month,
quarter) within a context of an agreed standard number of
working hours for the year. Also known as annualised hours
contract.
17. APPEALS PROCEDURE: A machinery through which either
party to a dispute may refer a grievance to a higher level or an
external third party. A provision for appeal is often built into
discipline and grievance procedures.
As well as referring to disputes between employees and
employers, appeals procedures also exist within trade unions as
part of rules dealing with issues of internal discipline.
18. APPRAISAL: Assessment of employees' performance and
capabilities, normally by superiors but also by peers, subordinates
or self. Appraisal is normally undertaken for development
(identifying training needs, career potential, etc.) or for reward
(for pay increases, promotion, etc.). Methods of appraisal include
appraisal interview, assessment of performance against objectives,
and assessment centres, using tests and group exercises.
There is a move in Britain towards individualized pay based
on performance. In areas of the public sector, under government
encouragement, there is a move away from "automatic" pay
increments (for example based on service) towards "earned" pay
increments based on performance and appraisal schemes are being
developed in this context. In parts of the private sector, for
example finance, merit based pay is becoming more common and
this too is linked with the development of systems of appraisal.
19. APPRENTICE: A process of training, combining on the job and
vocational elements, that enables young people to qualify as skilled
craft workers. Under the apprenticeship agreement, an apprentice
28

ARBITRATION

works for an employer during this training for an agreed period

and at agreed rates, and will often also attend a further education
college both during working hours (with pay) and in the evenings.
The usual period of apprenticeship is between three and five
years. Craft apprenticeships are normally administered jointly
by employers and trade unions. Most apprenticeships are in maledominated work in engineering, construction and the print
industry, although in all of these, and especially print, recent
technological innovation has dramatically reduced the demand
for traditional skills. The only predominantly female job that
offers apprenticeships is hairdressing.
In recent years both the number of apprenticeships offered by
employers and the number of people taking up the offers have
fallen significantly. In several industries traditional
apprenticeships have been partly replaced by the briefer job
training schemes funded by the Training Agency (previously the
Manpower Services Commission and then the Training
Commission) although these have been criticised by unions and
some employers as inadequate substitutes.
20. APPRENTICESHIP: See apprentice.
21. ARBITRATION : A form of third party intervention in dispute
settlement whereby one or more impartial persons determine an
issue on which the parties are unable to agree. Unlike conciliation
or mediation, where the disputing parties retain control over the
outcome of the dispute, in arbitration the third party is given
the power of determination.
Arbitration is used both for disputes of rights and for disputes
of interest, a distinction of limited utility in the British context.
An arbitration award has no legal force and is "binding in honour
only", the parties normally agreeing beforehand to accept the
arbitrator's award.
Board of Arbitration: A less common form than the single
arbitrator. A board comprises an independent chairperson, often
appointed by ACAS or LRA, and an equal number of members
appointed by or on behalf of the employer and the trade union
in dispute to represent their general interests. The chairperson
is usually given the power to determine a matter upon which the
board fails to agree.
Compulsory Arbitration: The term is generally used where
one or both parties to a dispute have no choice in the decision
to refer the matter to arbitration, normally because arbitration
in the particular circumstances is required by statute. Compulsory
29

ARBITRATION

arbitration was imposed during the two World Wars and in the
period immediately following the Second World War when strikes
and lockouts were prohibited.
From 1940 to 1980 in various forms it was possible for a union
or employers' organisation to invoke compulsory arbitration in
a different sense to oblige employers in otherwise well-organised
industries to observe collectively agreed terms and conditions of
employment. Unilateral compulsory arbitration of terms and
conditions of employment was also the sanction against employers
who failed to comply with a recognition recommendation under
the procedure of EPA 1975 or who fail to disclose information
to a trade union for the purpose of collective bargaining as
required by the statute. Apart from the last, all these provisions
have been repealed in Great Britain. (In Northern Ireland trade
union recognition procedures still apply.) Where an arbitration
award is made its terms take legal effect as implied terms in the
individual contract of employment.
Final Offer Arbitration: see pendulum arbitration, below.
Pendulum Arbitration: A form of arbitration where the
arbitrator is required to make an award wholly in favour of either
the employer's final offer or the union's final claim. Thus the
arbitrator's terms of reference require a straight choice between
the parties' final positions and any other solution is automatically
ruled out. Pendulum arbitration is one of the characteristic
elements of some strike free agreements. Also known as final
offer arbitration.
Voluntary Arbitration: In Britain arbitration is generally
voluntary and normally used as a last resort, after negotiation
aided by conciliation has failed to resolve the issue. Reference
to arbitration may be ad hoc or as provided for under the dispute
procedure. The procedure may provide that reference to
arbitration must be jointly triggered (bilateral) or may be unilateral
(one party alone may decide that arbitration be used). The parties
generally agree the terms of reference for the arbitrator. It is
common, but not obligatory, for parties to use the arbitration
service provided free of charge by the Advisory Conciliation and
Arbitration Service, or, in Northern Ireland, the Labour
Relations Agency.
22. ASSESSMENT CENTRE: See recruitment and selection.
23. ASSOCIATED EMPLOYER: Two employers are treated as
being associated if one is a company of which the other (directly
30

AWARD

or indirectly) has control by way of shareholding, or if both are

companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has
control.
24. ATTENDANCE BONUS: A system operated by some
companies in which workers receive a fixed weekly or monthly
sum of money for good attendance or time-keeping; a sum
forfeited if performance falls below a given level. An attempt to
tackle problems of absenteeism.
25. ATTENDANCE MONEY: See attendance bonus.
26. ATYPICAL WORKERS: Those not conforming to the
"typical" or "normal" model of full-time, regular continuous
employment with a single employer over a long time span.
The "typical" pattern is based on the male workforce and many
atypical workers are women. This group is also variously known
as "marginal" workers or "peripheral" workers and includes
such categories as part-time workers; temporary, short-term and
casual workers; homeworkers; and those employed on job
sharing or other flexible work patterns. The self-employed, now
accounting for some 2.5 million workers in Britain, are also seen
as "atypical" workers. Trends indicate an increase in the numbers
of atypical workers. It has been estimated that workers in jobs
which were not permanent full time jobs constituted 34 per cent,
of the total employed in 1986. High levels of unemployment,
particularly among school-leavers, also undermine the typical
employment pattern, even that of male would-be full-time
workers. Atypical workers often fail to qualify for statutory
employment protection rights. See also core workforce.
27. AUTONOMOUS WORK GROUPS: Work groups operating
without direct supervision undertaking shared responsibility for
the performance of certain tasks which can be performed by
rotation according to work group preferences. Popularised by
favourable reports of experiments in some Swedish companies
in the 1970s and the work of the Tavistock Institute in Britain.
The team-based principle of work organisation (but not
necessarily autonomous work groups as just described) is
experiencing renewed interest in Britain because of its use by
successful Japanese companies where production workers are
organised on a team basis under a team leader.
28. AWARD: The decision of an arbitrator or arbitration body, or
the non-binding decision of a mediator. Also refers to industrial
tribunal decisions where an award of compensation is the
31

AWARD

common remedy. More loosely the term is also used to describe

the outcome of collective bargaining or finding of a pay review
body. The decisions of the Disputes Committee of the TUC
are also referred to as awards and are binding on affiliated trade
unions to the extent that they risk expulsion from the TUC if
they do not conform to the awards.

32


29. BACK PAY: According to some commentators this means
payment made to an employee to compensate for previous
underpayment resulting from an error or misapplication of an
agreement. On this definition it is to be distinguished from
retrospective pay. Others, however, treat the terms as
synonymous.
30. BALLOT: A method of decision-taking in trade unions involving
an indication of preference by union members on a voting paper.
Its essentially secret nature distinguishes it from decision-taking
through a public show of hands at a union meeting. Although
several unions have for many years elected at least some of their
officials and taken other decisions by ballot, many have
traditionally preferred other, more public methods. But balloting
is rapidly becoming widespread as a result of recent legislative
changes, most notably the Trade Union Act, 1984 which requires
all trade unions to elect senior officials by a secret ballot of all
members, removes trade union immunities for official industrial
action not sanctioned by ballot, and requires unions to hold
membership ballots on the establishment and maintenance of
political funds (most provisions of the Act do not apply to
Northern Ireland). Virtually all trade unions have now amended
their rule books to accommodate these legal changes. The
Employment Act 1988 has extended this process by requiring
mandatory postal ballots for union elections and political funds.
It also has tightened and clarified the definitions of those national
officials who must submit themselves to periodic re-election
(again, this legislation again does not really affect Northern
Ireland). A Code of Practice on industrial action ballots came
into force on April 11, 1990.
Since 1980 state funds have been available to reimburse unions
for the costs of certain kinds of ballots. The official position of
the TUC (strongly opposed to the legislative changes) was to
refuse to accept the money, but this policy has been abandoned.
Some commentators allege that the TUA 1984 is in breach of
the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association (No.87, 1948),
which requires that workers' organisations have the right to adopt
rules and elect representatives "in full freedom".
The Employment Acts 1980 and 1982 also required ballots
for the maintenance of Union Membership Agreements, and
balloting has been required by law for many years as a precursor
to trade union amalgamation. See closed shop.
31. BANDING: Methods of grouping jobs of approximately equal
value into single categories attracting the same rate of pay, in
33

BANDING

order to rationalise pay structures. Usually undertaken through

techniques of job evaluation.
32. BARGAINING AGENT: See bargaining structure.
33. BARGAINING FORM: See bargaining structure.
34. BARGAINING LEVEL: See bargaining structure.
35. BARGAINING SCOPE: See bargaining structure.
36. BARGAINING STRUCTURE: The more stable or permanent
features that distinguish the bargaining process in any particular
system. Usually bargaining structure is considered to have five
major features: bargaining agent, bargaining form, bargaining
level, bargaining scope, and bargaining unit.
Bargaining Agent: The union or unions recognised by an
employer for collective bargaining in respect of a particular
bargaining unit (see below).
Bargaining Form: Refers to whether agreements are formal
or informal, written or unwritten. Informal, unwritten agreements
are often referred to as custom and practice. Although there has
been a move towards greater formality and written agreements
in the area of terms and conditions in the last two decades,
agreements over the pace and organisation of work are still often
unwritten and informal.
Bargaining Level: Refers to the points within a system at which
bargaining between unions and employers or their representatives
takes place. Within a single company, such bargaining may take
place at one or more of the following levels: at shop floor level,
covering groups of workers in that plant; at plant or factory level,
covering all workers or certain categories of workers; and in multiplant companies, at divisional or corporate level, again covering
all workers or certain categories of workers. All these are
collectively defined as forms of single-employer bargaining (see
below). Above that, in the private sector, bargaining often also
takes place at the level of the industry or industrial sector, socalled multi-employer bargaining (see below), between
Employers' Associations and confederations of trade unions.
This latter form is often conducted through bodies variously
named National Joint Industrial Councils, Joint Industrial
Councils, or National Joint Committees. While many workers
in the private sector have their wages and conditions affected
34

BARGAINING STRUCTURE

by two or more levels of bargaining, single-employer bargaining,

most especially at the plant, division, or corporate level, has
emerged in the last two decades as the most significant, with
multi-employer bargaining correspondingly declining in
importance. There is rarely any co-ordination between singleand multi-employer bargaining. In the public sector, most
bargaining takes place at a national level for each of the major
public enterprises, so this is a form of single-employer bargaining.
In recent years most public enterprises have introduced some
local bargaining, but in these cases it is usually still administered
from the centre.
Bargaining Scope: Refers to the range of issues over which
bargaining takes place. Traditionally in Britain, bargaining scope
has been restricted to issues of terms and conditions of
employment and, in some cases, to the organisation and intensity
of work. Broader strategic issues, sometimes the subject of a form
of bargaining in other European countries, have rarely been
covered by bargaining in Britain, although they sometimes are
covered by forms of consultation. See single union agreement.
Bargaining Unit: Refers to the group or category of workers
covered by a particular agreement. Thus, for example, within
one bargaining level, such as the company, there may be a number
of units, such as craft workers, white-collar workers, etc, who
may be the subject of different agreements. The bargaining unit
may be as large as an entire company workforce, for example
in discussions over pension arrangements, or as small as a group
of skilled craft workers.
Sole Bargaining Rights: See sole bargaining agent, below.
Company Bargaining: Collective bargaining between a single
employer and one or more trade unions in respect of all workers
or groups of workers in that company. In single-plant companies
plant bargaining and company bargaining are synonymous; in
multi-plant companies the term applies when it covers bargaining
that applies at least to certain grades of workers in all or several
of its plants. Company (and plant) bargaining was advocated by
the Donovan Commission (1968) as a preferable level of
bargaining to that which took place on the shop floor between
low-level managers and small groups of workers and shop
stewards. Since the late 1960s there has been an increase in
company and plant level bargaining at the expense of low-level
shop floor bargaining.
35

BARGAINING STRUCTURE

Multi-Employer Bargaining: See collective agreement:

industry-wide agreement. Bargaining, usually at national or
industrial level, between groups of employers united in an
employers' association and trade unions.
Multi-Plant Bargaining: Bargaining which covers workers in
more than one plant or factory in a company which has more
than one plant in the United Kingdom. Several such compames
practise a mixture of multi- and single-plant bargaining, for
example bargaining on a multi-plant basis for blue-collar workers
and on a single-plant basis for white-collar staff.
Plant Bargaining: Bargaining that occurs within an individual
plant or factory. This ranges from informal shopfloorbargaining
covering only small groups of workers through to formal plant
agreements covering all or most workers in a plant. The Donovan
Commission advocated the formalisation of plant bargaining and
since the late 1960s plant bargaining has indeed become more
formal and codified. It is a very widespread level of bargaining
in manufacturing industry.
Shop Floor Bargaining: Bargaining which takes place on the
shopfloor,between individual workers or small groups and their
representatives (shop stewards), and low-level management. In
the 1960s bargaining at this level, often associated with the
operation of piecework schemes, was identified by the Donovan
Commission as lying at the heart of the so-called informal system
of British industrial relations. Such bargaining, characterised
as fragmented, autonomous and informal, was seen as causing
problems for employers, unions and governments alike, since it
operated outside their ability to monitor and influence what was
happening. In many cases shopfloorbargaining was undertaken
by people who, according to the formal structures of their
organisations, had no specified authority to enter into agreements.
Throughout the 1970s much attention was paid to strategies to
reduce the volume of shop floor bargaining. These included
changes in payment systems, often from piecework to measured
daywork, and the development of procedure agreements (see
collective agreement) specifying appropriate organisational levels
for the handling of disputes and grievances.
Single Employer Bargaining: Collective bargaining between
a single employer and one or more trade unions. This may include
both plant bargaining and company bargaining. It has been
growing in importance for twenty years or more, and is now the
most important form of bargaining for 48 per cent, of employees
covered by collective bargaining.
36

BLACKLEG

Sole Bargaining Agent: A union recognised as the only

bargaining representative in respect of a particular group of
workers has sole bargainingrightsand is the sole bargaining agent
(see above). The terms, however, are not commonly used in
Britain although they had some currency during the period of
the Industrial Relations Act 1971, which introduced a statutory
procedure whereby unions could apply for recognition and the
Commission on Industrial Relations could make recommendations
as to the identity of the sole bargaining agent for a bargaining
unit. The statutory procedure and the Commission on Industrial
Relations are now both defunct.
Where a union gains recognition from an employer it is
protected from "poaching" by other unions through the
Bridlington Agreement of the TUC. Where the union is a sole
bargaining agent recognised in respect of all the workers in the
establishment whose termsand conditions are to be determined
through collective bargaining the agreement may be called a
"single union deal".
37. BARGAINING UNIT: See bargaining structure.
38. BASIC PAY: See pay.
39. BASIC RATE: See pay.
40. BENEFITS: Financial or non-financial assistance made available
to workers through the state (for example through National
Insurance arrangements); through trade unions (for example
under union schemes of invalidity compensation) or by
management. See fringe benefits.
4L BILATERAL REFERENCE: The referral of a dispute to an
independent third party by the agreement of both parties to the
dispute. See unilateral reference, third party intervention.
42. BLACKING: A form of industrial action in which workers
refuse to handle goods which have been manufactured or
otherwise handled by an employer with whom their union or
another union is in dispute. A form of boycott, although the
two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Such action is
likely to be unlawful under EA 1980, EA 1982.
43. BLACKLEG: Traditional union term for strikebreaker, someone
who works during a strike. EA 1988 prevents unions from taking
disciplinary action against members who refuse to support
industrial action even if that action has been approved in a
membership ballot.
37

BLACKLIST

44. BLACKLIST: A register, sometimes kept by employers or

organisations funded by employers, of workers whose trade union
or political activities might deter employers from wishing to
employ them. These lists are frequently kept secret and circulated
informally, and their existence is often denied, although evidence
of their continuing use exists.
45. BLANKET AGREEMENT: Term sometimes but infrequently
used to mean an industry-wide agreement, or one covering a large
group of workers. See collective agreement: industry-wide
agreement.
46. BLOCK VOTE: A system of trade union decision-taking
whereby the vote of an entire electoral unit is cast in line with
the majority decision ofthat unit (i.e. discounting any contrary
votes). Thus, for example, at TUC or Labour Party conferences,
votes equivalent to the entire membership of an affiliated union
can be cast for one side or another. Within a trade union, the
votes of the total membership of a branch may be similarly cast
in line with branch policy, even if that policy was only narrowly
accepted. Following the Trade Union Act 1984, systems of
branch block voting are unlawful for the election of the most
senior union officials, and any decisions to take industrial action
by this method leave the union open to legal action.
47. BLUE-COLLAR UNION: See trade union.
48. BLUE-COLLAR WORKER: Manual worker; skilled craft,
semi-skilled or unskilled worker. To be distinguished from whitecollar worker. Blue-collar workers are usually paid on a weekly
basis, and often enjoy less advantageous conditions of service (e.g.
holidays) than white-collar, although these differences are being
reduced through managerial policies of harmonization.
49. BOARD OF ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
50. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The meeting of the directors
appointed by the shareholders of a company to take charge of
its management. Their duties are defined in the various
Companies Acts, in common law, and in the companies' own
articles of association. The vast majority of British companies
have a single Board, including both executive and non-executive
directors (see management board). The role of Boards varies
widely in the United Kingdom, as does the extent to which it
appears directly to influence a company's behaviour, rather than
acting simply as a ratification machinery. Research cited in the
38

BRANCH

Bullock Report suggested that boards had responsibility for senior

managerial appointments, for setting objectives and strategic
plans, for controlling financial affairs, for agreeing the broad
organisation, for considering take-overs and mergers, for
performance evaluation, and for setting guidelines on employment
and personnel policies.
51. BONA FIDE TRADE UNION: A term with vague usage but
generally taken to mean a union recognised by other unions and
the TUC as being independent of the employer. May be
contrasted with company union (see staff association). See
certificate of independence.
52. BONUS: Payments made above basic wages or salaries. There
is no uniformity of practice about such payments, although most
shiftworking attracts a shift bonus. Compames may pay a bonus
for working in particularly bad conditions, for good attendance,
at Christmas, etc. Under an incentive payment system the
amount paid above basic rate, related to output, may be called
the incentive bonus or piecework bonus, or production bonus.
See pay.
53. BOYCOTT: A form of industrial action in which workers refuse
to handle or buy the goods or services of an employer with whom
they are in dispute, and/or try to persuade others to do the same.
When directed at the employer with whom the workers are in
dispute the action is referred to as a primary boycott; when
directed at another employer, or undertaken as a form of support
by groups of workers not themselves in dispute it is called a
secondary boycott. The lawful scope of this latter form has, along
with other forms of secondary industrial action, been significantly
restricted by the terms of the Employment Act 1980. See also
blacking.
54. BRANCH: The basic organisational unit of British trade unions.
Branches may be based on individual workplaces or on broader
geographical areas (multi-workplace branches). In many parts
of manufacturing industry during the 1950s and 1960s the branch
was displaced in importance by the factory-based meetings called
by shop steward organisations. Although these meetings had no
constitutional status in the union, they were better attended than
branches because they tended to deal with matters of direct
concern to workers. Attendance at geographically based branches
therefore fell to its present low levels: estimates suggest that as
few asfiveper cent, of union members attend branch meetings,
although there are variations between unions and regions.
39

BRANCH

Nevertheless, they remain the principal local forum for decisiontaking in unions. In most unions the principal officer of the
branch is the branch secretary, who often has the important task
of administering the benefits paid by many unions to members
in the event of ill-health or injury.
55. BREACH OF CONTRACT: A breaking of a duty or obligation
which a contract imposes. A breach of contract confers a right
of action for damages on the injured party. It also entitles him
or her to treat the contract as discharged if the other party is in
fundamental breach, that is, repudiates the contract. Where an
employee is in fundamental breach of the contract of employment,
the employer may lawfully dismiss (see fair dismissal) without
giving notice (see notice periods). Where an employer is in
fundamental breach and the employee resigns, the employee may
claim constructive dismissal. This is a form of unfair dismissal
covered by statute. It is also possible to claim wrongful dismissal
for breach of contract. Because collective agreements in Britain
are not legally enforceable as such, breach of a collective
agreement is not normally a breach of contract, except in so far
as terms of the agreement have been incorporated into the
contract of employment of the relevant employees. See damages,
and collective agreement: legal enforceability of collective
agreement.
56. BREAK: A scheduled stoppage during normal working time.
Thus employees may have lunch and tea breaks, etc. or breaks
for any form of regular meeting.
57. BREAKAWAY UNION: On occasions union members,
dissatisfied with their trade union, have collectively left and
formed a new, breakaway union (sometimes also called a splinter
union). In the 1960s and 1970s there were few successful
examples, as most employers were reluctant to risk disruption
to established arrangements by recognising breakaways. During
and after the miners' strike of 1984-1985 a breakaway union, the
Union of Democratic Mineworkers, was formed and has been
recognised in some areas.
58. BREAKDOWN: (1) an equipment failure (machine breakdown);
(2) the collapse of talks or negotiations between, for example,
unions and employers.
59. BRIDLINGTON AGREEMENT: Rulesfinallyadopted by the
TUC in 1939 to regulate competition for members between its
affiliated unions (see affiliation). Since Britain has no
40

BURDEN OF PROOF

thoroughgoing system of industrial or occupational unionism,

there are many situations in which more than one union could
represent a particular grade of worker, and there has to be a means
of regulating this process. The Bridlington rules, supplemented
and amended since 1939, provide a means of resolving disputes
between unions over such matters as union membership, union
recognition, and job demarcations between unions. If initial
conciliation by the TUC fails the dispute is referred to the
Disputes Committee of the TUC which will make an award
which will make recommendations in respect of one or all the
parties. Unions that fail to comply with its awards risk expulsion
from the TUC.
In recent years the policy of some unions, most notably the
EETPU, of seeking single-union agreements, has led some other
unions to argue that the Bridlington rules are being broken. The
EETPU's recent expulsion from the TUC has meant that it, along
with other non-TUC trade unions, is now not covered by the
Bridlington Agreement.
60. BRIEFING GROUP: See team briefing.
61. BROAD BANDING: See generic job titles, banding.
62. BULLOCK REPORT: The report of a Committee of Inquiry
into Industrial Democracy in 1977. Set up by the Labour
government of the time, the Committee advocated a radical
extension of industrial democracy through a requirement that
unions be given the right in law to elect representatives to the
board of directors of private companies employing more than 2000
employees. The key features of the recommendations were that
union representatives should be equal in number to those of
shareholders, with a smaller group of agreed "independent
outsiders", and that, unlike in some continental European
countries, they should be elected by trade union members, rather
than by all employees.
The response of British employers was universally hostile, and
that of the unions ambivalent, since many were worried that the
proposals might undermine established collective bargaining
machinery. In the event, the return of a Conservative government
in 1979 removed the issue from the dominant political agenda.
The Labour Party remains committed to a form of industrial
democracy, and proposals for employee participation emanating
from European Community initiatives may reinvigorate debate
on this issue.
63. BURDEN OF PROOF: A fact is said to be proved when a court
or industrial tribunal is satisfied as to its truth, and the evidence
41

BURDEN OF PROOF

by which that result is produced is called the proof. The general

rule is that the burden of proof lies on the party who makes an
assertion or allegation. In civil cases (as distinct from criminal
cases) the court makes a decision on "balance of probabilities".
In cases involving complaints of unfair dismissal, redundancy
pay and unlawful discrimination, the burden of proof as between
employer and employee is subject to special statutory rules.
64. BUSINESS: A term with many shades of meaning in British
industry. "A business" may mean a firm or company, while "to
be in business" means to be employed (or to be an employer)
in any of the revenue-generating parts of the economy (as distinct,
for example, from being a teacher or doctor). In a generic sense
"business" can refer to national economic activity.
Economists use the term "business cycle" to refer to regular
periodic fluctuations in economic activity.

42

65. C AC: See Central Arbitration Committee.

66. CASE LAW: See common law, judiciary.
67. CASH LIMITS: Limits on the extra funding made available each
year by government to local government, the National Health
Service, and other parts of the public service sector. The system
of cash limits has been in operation since 1976, but has been much
tightened in the 1980s. Although the cash limits rarely contain
pay guidelines, they directly influence the content of collective
bargaining by imposing an upper limit on pay increases that may
be conceded without the need to find additional financial savings,
often in the form of job loss. In effect, therefore, cash limits
provide central government with direct influence over wages in
the public services without the imposition of an incomes policy.
68. CASUAL WORK: Work of an intermittent or irregular nature,
often seasonal in character, on which workers may work for a
few days or weeks but with no expectation of continuity.
Traditionally the major casual industry was the docks, which were
"de-casualized" in 1972, although it is now claimed, at least by
some trade unions, that the abolition by the government in 1989
of certain protections on dock working may reintroduce casual
working to this industry. The expanding hotel and catering
industries are contemporary users of casual labour. See atypical
workers.
69. CASUAL WORKERS: See casual work.
70. CATCH-UP INCREASE: A pay increase claimed by or granted
to a group of employees to enable them to restore a previous
relationship to the earnings of a comparator group.
71. CBI: See Confederation of British Industry.
72. CEILING: Any upper limit on pay levels. A system of payment
by results may have a ceiling above which earnings may not rise
irrespective of output levels. An incomes policy award may have
a ceiling in the sense that it applies only to annual incomes below
a certain level, incomes above that level being denied any increase.
Fines levied against trade unions for unlawful industrial action
are subject to statutory ceilings according to the size of the union.
See trade union liability.
43

CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE (CAC)

73. CENTRAL ARBITRATION COMMITTEE (CAC): Established by the EPA 1975 and brought into operation in February
1976, replacing the Industrial Arbitration Board, formerly the
Industrial Court in Britain. The CAC is a standing national
arbitration body maintained at state expense with a Chairperson,
Deputy Chairperson and members appointed by the Secretary
of State for Employment. The members are chosen for their
experience as representatives of employers or workers. The CAC
has declined in importance since 1979 with the repeal of most
of the statutory provisions which provided for unilateral reference
to it. It retains its role under EPA 1975 of providing unilateral
arbitration at the request of a trade union seeking the disclosure
of employer information for purposes of collective bargaining,
and also handles a very small number of voluntary references.
The CAC determines its own procedure. Decisions under its
statutory jurisdictions are published but voluntary awards are
published (normally without giving reasons for the decision) only
with the consent of the parties. For Northern Ireland the
Industrial Court has functions parallel to those of the CAC.
See List of Addresses.
74. CERTIFICATE OF INDEPENDENCE: The Certification
Officer has responsibility for issuing certificates of independence
to trade unions. TULRA 1974 defines an independent trade
union as one which is not under the domination or control of
an employer or of an employers' association and which is not
hable to interference by an employer (arising out of the provision
of financial or material support or by any other means) tending
towards such control. A trade union which is independent and
recognised by the employer for collective bargaining enjoys a
number of legal advantages. See recognised trade union.
75. CERTIFICATION OFFICER: The Certification Officer
exercises functions in respect of the internal government and
democracy of trade unions. These functions include maintaining
a list of trade unions, issuing certificates of independence,
ensuring that unions maintain proper financial accounts,
supervising ballots on union mergers (see amalgamation) and
political funds, administering financial subsidies to offset the cost
of union ballots, and hearing complaints that a ballot for the
election of the principal executive committee of a union is not
in conformity with the TUA 1984. The Certification Officer's
responsibilities do not extent to Northern Ireland; there many
of the same duties are carried out by the Registrar of Friendly
Societies in Northern Ireland.
See List of Addresses.
44

CLERICAL STAFF

76. CHAPEL: The print unions' equivalent of a branch, based on

an individual workplace. The members of a chapel elect a father
or mother of the chapel, who is the senior lay official of the
chapel.
77. CHARGEHAND: Usually a manual worker (skilled or semiskilled) whose work also involves a degree of supervisory
responsibility. Sometimes used interchangeably with foreman
or forewoman or supervisor, although usually a more junior post.
78. CHECK-OFF: The system of having union members'
subscriptions deducted directly from their pay by the employer,
who then pays the money direct to the union. Pioneered in the
public sector, such arrangements expanded rapidly during the
1970s and now cover a majority of trade union members. In
companies where unions are recognised, over 80 per cent,
aclminister a check-off arrangement. In the rather more anti-union
environment of the 1980s in Britain a small number of employers
have withdrawn check-off faculties. Some union activists fear that
the system weakens contacts between them and their members.
79. CHILD BENEFIT: See social security.
80. CIVIL SERVANT: An employee of central government or its
agencies. Uniquely in Britain, the regulations governing the terms
and conditions of central government civil servants are made
by the Minister for the Civil Service, and only since 1984 have
these been technically subject to any form of external review.
81. CLAIM: A trade union demand or request made to an employer.
Hence a pay claim: a request for more money; or a recognition
claim: a demand that an employer recognise a trade union in
respect of its employees.
82. CLAUSE: A subsection of a legal or other document, such as
a collective agreement. The individual parts of a statute are
known as "clauses" when the statute is passing through the
legislation as a Bill, and as "sections" once the Bill is passed by
Parliament and becomes an Act.
83. CLERICAL PERSONNEL: See clerical staff.
84. CLERICAL STAFF: Employees, personnel or staff whose work
is mostly concerned with routine paper work, and the storage
and retrieval of information. Secretarial staff.
45

CLERICAL WORKER

85. CLERICAL WORKER: See clerical staff.

86. CLOCKING: A method of recording the arrival and departure
times of workers in order to check on lateness and absenteeism.
Under this system workers are issued with a clock card, which
is inserted into a special time clock on arrival at work (clockingon) which records their arrival time. The practice is repeated when
they leave work (clocking-out or clocking-off).
"Clocking offences" (clocking on for an absent worker) have
featured prominently in disciplinary rules for manual workers.
Although still widespread, the practice of clocking is being
eliminated in some companies where it is perceived as a relic of
management based on a lack of trust, and as an outdated form
of discipline (see discipline procedure).
87. CLOSED SHOP: Also referred to as Union Membership
Agreements (UMAs) (see below). There are two types of closed
shop: pre-entry closed shops, in which employees have to be
members of an appropriate trade union before they can work
in a company; and post-entry closed shops, in which employees
must join an appropriate trade union within a specified period
after taking up employment. The former is largely associated with
skilled craft workers and has always been smaller in coverage than
the latter. The extent of the closed shop in Britain is associated
both with the strength of British shop floor trade unionism and,
during the 1970s at least, a growing view among some employers
that it constituted a useful basis of order and stability in their
industrial relations. But recent surveys show that the number
of workers covered by closed shop arrangements has fallen from
around 4.8 million in 1980 to around 3.6 million in 1984. Reasons
for this include a decline in the proportion of the workforce
employed in areas traditionally associated with closed shops
(manufacturing industry and parts of the public sector such as
coal mining) and changes in the legal framework. In the
Employment Act 1990 the government removed the last
remaining protection for the pre-entry closed shop by providing
job-seekers with a legal right not to be denied a job on the grounds
of non-membership of a union, with remedies similar to those
for unfair dismissal.
Union Membership Agreement (UMA): A term coined for
closed shops during the 1970s as they became increasingly the
subject of overt joint agreement between unions and employers.
The major reason for their growth was the development of
legislation on unfair dismissal which involved employers in the
consequences of closed shop arrangements. Under the
Employment Protection Act 1975, it was fair to dismiss a worker
46

CODE OF PRACTICE

who refused to join a recognised trade union, unless the worker

could be shown to have genuine religious objections to
membership. UMAs thus frequently specified categories of
workers who need not join. The Employment Acts 1980 and 1982
affected UMAs in two ways, first by extending religious objections
to wider grounds of conscience or strongly held personal views
and adding other exempted categories of worker and secondly
by requiring that the above fair dismissal provision would apply
only where a UMA has been approved in a ballot by 80 per cent,
of employees covered or 85 per cent, of those voting. Although
a few such ballots have been successfully conducted, some formal
UMAs have been abandoned. E A 1988 removes all legal support
for the closed shop by providing that the dismissal of a nonunionist will always be unfair. It should be emphasised that the
law says nothing about the lawfulness of the closed shop itself,
rather it affects the closed shop by changing the ability to enforce
it by dismissing those who refuse to join.
88. CLOSED UNION: See trade union.
89. CO: See Certification Officer.
90. CODE OF PRACTICE: The Advisory Conciliation and
Arbitration Service has power to issue Codes of Practice
concerning such practical guidance as it thinks fit for promoting
the improvement of industrial relations. In practice ACAS codes
tend to distill and seek to generalise existing good practice. ACAS
has issued codes on the following subjects: Disciplinary Practice
and Procedure; Disclosure of Information to Trade Unions for
Collective Bargaining; and Time Off for Union Duties and Activities.
A failure to observe the provisions of a code does not of itself
render a person liable to any legal proceedings but the Code is
admissible in evidence in proceedings before an Industrial
Tribunal or the CAC and relevant provisions must be taken into
account. The Code on Disciplinary Practice and Procedure was
influential in early tribunal and court decisions concerned with
the question of procedural justice in unfair dismissal cases.
The EOC and CRE have issued a Code of Practice relating
to good practice on equal opportunities. Codes issued by these
bodies have a status similar to the ACAS Codes.
The Secretary of State for Employment can also issue Codes
to promote the improvement of industrial relations. The provision
for this was introduced to facilitate the production of Codes on
Closed Shop Agreements and Arrangements and on Picketing,
two contentious areas where the tripartite Council of ACAS found
47

CODE OF PRACTICE

agreement difficult. These two Codes contain very specific

guidance and are more directive than the Codes issued by ACAS.
A further Code on industrial action ballots came into force in
1990. The Secretary of State's Codes (approved codes) may
expressly supersede all or part of an ACAS Code.
Approved Codes have a higher status, in that failure to observe
them may be taken as evidence that an employer has failed to
comply with the relevant Act of Parliament. Codes of Practice
often serve as baselines for establishing collective agreements,
and in many cases become incorporated directly into collective
agreements.
91. CO-DETERMINATION: In Britain used almost exclusively to
describe the West German form of industrial democracy.
92. COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT: An agreement reached through
collective bargaining between an employer and one or more trade
unions, or between employers' associations and trade union
confederations. It may be written and formal or unwritten and
informal. It is normal to divide collective agreements into
procedural agreements (see below), which regulate the
relationships between the parties and the treatment of individual
workers (e.g. disciplinary procedures), and substantive
agreements (see below), which cover the wages and conditions
of the workers affected, although in practice the distinction
between the two is not always clear-cut. Collective agreements
may be reached at any level at which collective bargaining takes
place (see bargaining structure).
Unlike the case in many other countries, British collective
agreements are not contracts enforceable at law; they are "binding
in honour only", depending for their ultimate enforcement on
the sanctions available to the parties. An attempt to introduce
the notion of legally binding collective agreements was made in
the Industrial Relations Act 1971, but was ignored by unions and
employers alike and ended when the 1971 Act was repealed.
However, certain collective agreements may become implied
terms, of individual contracts of employment. Again unlike
several other countries, most collective agreements in Britain are
not of fixed duration, they are open-ended, as opposed to fixedterm agreements (i.e. with a stated expiry date). Nevertheless,
many substantive agreements are re-negotiated every year.
Company Agreement: A collective agreement at company
corporate or divisional level, between a single employer and one
or more trade union.
48

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

Comprehensive Agreement: A collective agreement which

includes in one document all or most of the substantive and
procedural agreements in existence in a company or enterprise,
and which often also applies to all or most of the workers in that
plant or company.
District Agreement: A collective agreement between unions
and employers covering specified workers in a geographical
locality or district. Agreements at this level are rare and relatively
unimportant in Britain. Historically they were of particular
importance in the engineering industry but now they have been
superseded by other forms of agreement. Some still exist in the
hosiery industry.
Domestic Agreement: A collective agreement made below
the level of the individual plant or factory. The outcome of
domestic bargaining, often informal, between union
representatives (often shop stewards) and junior levels of
management.
Industry-wide Agreement: An agreement reached through
national industry-wide collective bargaining, between
employers' associations and trade unions or union
confederations, and affecting all appropriate workers in the
industrial sector if they work for compames that are members
of the employers' association involved (i.e. if they are federated
companies). The committees at which such agreements are
reached may be called Joint Industrial Councils (JICs), National
Joint Industrial Councils (NJICs) or National Joint
Committees/Councils (NJCs). Until the Second World War
industry-wide agreements were directly influential in affecting
workers' pay, but since then the growth of shop floor bargaining
(see also bargaining structure: shop floor bargaining) associated
with the rise of the shop stewards' movement has reduced their
significance (see Donovan Commission, bargaining structure:
company bargaining; plant bargaining, and shop stewards). In
1984 50 per cent, of manual workers in manufacturing industry
had their pay affected by industry-wide agreements, and it was
the most important level of pay bargaining for 40 per cent. The
figures for non-manual workers were much lower. In some
industries, such as engineering, it provides minimum levels of
pay and conditions, affecting directly only the lowest paid.
Legal Enforceability of Collective Agreements: A collective
agreement is defined by TULRA as an agreement made by one
or more unions and one or more employers or an employers'
49

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

association, which relates to any of the items contained in the

definition of "trade dispute". A collective agreement is
conclusively presumed not to be intended by the parties to be
a legally enforceable contract, unless it is in writing and specifies
that the parties intend all or part of it to be legally enforceable.
In practice, the vast majority of collective agreements are not
legally enforceable and are binding in honour only. A breach of
an agreement cannot give rise to an action in contract for an
injunction or damages. The characteristic informality of
collective bargaining in the United Kingdom is to some degree
attributable to the lack of contractual status and vice versa.
Nevertheless, the terms of a collective agreement may have a legal
effect if they are incorporated into the individual contract of
employment. See collective bargaining, no-strike agreement.
Local Agreement: A collective agreement reached in a
particular locality or set of localities. The term could be used
to describe an agreement covering a particular group of workers
in one factory, a single factory, or a sub-set of factories within
a particular company. More generally it could be taken to cover
any agreement below the national or industry-wide level. It is
a very broad and imprecise term.
Procedural Agreement: A collective agreement regulating the
terms of the relationship between unions and employer. Procedure
agreements deal with the methods of resolving disputes, and
specify bargaining units, facilities for trade union representatives
and the status of unions and their representatives. See bargaining
structure: bargaining unit.
Procedure Agreement: See procedural agreement, above.
Shop Floor Agreement: An agreement through shop floor
bargaining (see bargaining structure: shop floor bargaining).
Such agreements were frequently informal and unwritten in
nature (see Donovan Commission and custom and practice),
and much managerial effort was directed during the 1970s at their
elimination and their codification into plant or company level
agreements.
Substantive Agreement: A collective agreement defining such
matters as the terms and conditions of employment: pay,
holidays, and other conditions of work. To be differentiated from
procedural agreement (see above), although the two concepts
are not always clearly distinct. Thus an agreement on payment
50

COLLECTIVE DISMISSAL

to shop stewards for time spent on trade union duties could be

seen as having both procedural and substantive elements. In many
cases collective agreements would include both procedural and
substantive terms.
93. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: The process of negotiation
between unions and employers in respect of the terms and
conditions of employment of employees, and about the rights
and responsibilities of trade unions. The term is reputed to have
been coined by Beatrice Webb in the late nineteenth century to
describe a process alternative to that of individual bargaining
between employer and individual employees. Other writers have
emphasised the conflict-resolution aspects of collective bargaining,
but in Britain the most important refinement was that made by
Allan Flanders, who defined it as a process of rule-making,
leading to joint regulation in industry. The term is usually seen
as necessarily containing an element of negotiation and hence
as distinct from processes of consultation, from which negotiation
is absent, and where outcomes are determined unilaterally by
the employer. In Britain collective bargaining for many years has
been, and been endorsed as, the dominant and most appropriate
means of regulating workers' terms and conditions of
employment, in line with ILO Convention No. 84. Surveys
indicate that in 1984 over 70 per cent, of all workers working
in enterprises employing more than 25 employees were covered
by collective bargaining: some 10.7 million employees. See
bargaining structure.
Collective bargaining in Britain is voluntary (see voluntarism).
There is no legal obligation on employers to negotiate with trade
unions (see recognition), although there are areas, such as
redundancy, where there is a legal requirement on employers
to consult with recognised trade unions. Some commentators
suggest that collective bargaining is dwindling in importance in
the 1980s as employers turn to other means of dealing with their
employees (see Human Resource Management). Evidence
suggests both a slight reduction in the scope of collective
bargaining where it is established, and a growing disinclination
among employers in the growth industries (private services and
high technology industries) to bargain with trade unions. There
has also been some de-recognition.
94. COLLECTIVE DISMISSAL: A term (not often used by
practitioners in Britain) which denotes job losses through
redundancy involving more than one worker. Statutory provisions
under EPCA 1978 impose certain duties on employers (relating
to consultation with recognised trade unions and notification
51

COLLECTIVE DISMISSAL

to the Department of Employment) when collective dismissals

are planned. These provisions are intended to give effect to the
EEC Directive on Collective Dismissal.
95. COMBINE COMMITTEE: A committee of shop stewards
covering more than one plant in a multi-plant company or, more
rarely, covering more than one company in an industry. Such
committees are almost always unofficial bodies, with no status
in union rule books. They are frequently multi-union, at least
in those companies (or industries) where more than one union
is recognised. In some companies more than one combine
committee may be found, for example one covering skilled
workers, another semi-skilled workers, although this is
increasingly rare.
96. COMMISSION FOR RACIAL EQUALITY (CRE): Set up by
the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA) and came into being in 1977.
It has fifteen members including a Chairperson and Deputy
Chairperson appointed by the Home Secretary. Its task is to work
towards the ehrnination of race discrimination, to promote
equality of opportunity and good relations between different racial
groups and to keep under review the working of the Act. It has
powers of investigation into cases of suspected unlawful
discrimination and can issue non-discrimination notices,
ultimately enforceable by the courts. In 1984 the CRE issued a
Code of Practice which provides guidance on good practice in
employment which may be taken into account by judicial
institutions deciding cases under the RRA. The CRE also provides
assistance in certain circumstances to individuals seeking to
exercise their rights under the legislation and conducts and
commissions research.
The CRE developed an active, investigation approach, starting
46 formal investigations in the first 10 years, but this has been
curbed by problems encountered with the procedure and by
judicial interpretation which restricts its ability to start an
investigation to circumstances where it has reasonable grounds
for believing that an act of discrimination has occurred. See
discrimination.
See List of Addresses.
97. COMMISSIONER FOR THE RIGHTS OF TRADE UNION
MEMBERS (CROTUM): An office established by the EA 1988
to assist trade union members in taking certain specified types
of legal action against their trade unions (not against employers).
Examples of such actions included those designed to stop a union
from organising industrial action in the absence of a proper secret
52

COMPARABILITY

ballot; to allow a member to inspect the accounting records of

the union; and to prevent the unlawful use of union funds.
The setting-up of this office reflects the government's view that
trade union members were unwilling to make use of the rights
given them in the Trade Union Act 1984. The office is publicly
funded and the Commissioner is appointed by the Secretary of
State for Employment.
98. COMMON LAW: In the context of British employment law and
industrial relations the phrase usually denotes judge-made law
in contrast to statutory rules set out in legislation. Reflecting the
independence and prestige of the British judiciary, the common
law in this sense is of critical importance in many spheres of social
and economic activity, including industrial relations. For
example, the contract of employment is a concept of the common
law. In Britain the legal freedom to take industrial action takes
the characteristic form of statutory immunities from common
law liabilities. The English common law differs in some important
respects from Scots law. The latter is a hybrid system with roots
in the Roman (civil) law as well as being under the influence of
English common law. See Act of Parliament, judiciary, right
to strike.
99. COMMUNICATIONS: See employee communications.
100. COMMUNITY PROGRAMME (CP): See Employment
Training.
101. COMPANY: An association of persons formed for the purposes
of some business or project carried out in the name of the
association. A company which is incorporated normally by
registration under the Companies Act 1985 is a legal entity distinct
from its shareholders. In employment law and industrial relations
the term "company" is sometimes used interchangeably with
that of "employer", though not all employers are compames.
See associated employer, holding company, public limited
company, subsidiary company.
102. COMPANY AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
103. COMPANY BARGAINING: See bargaining structure.
104. COMPANY UNION: See staff association.
105. COMPARABILITY: A justification used by unions in arguing
that they should receive the same rewards as better-rewarded
53

COMPARABILITY

workers in comparable employment situations. The argument

has been most widely used in the public sector, where for many
years it was accepted by employers, unions and government alike
as the fair basis for settling pay in monopoly state enterprises,
especially the services. More recently the comparability criterion
in the public sector has been superseded by that of ability to pay.
106. COMPENSATION: A payment made to a worker, originally
mostly in respect of losses suffered through injury or damage,
but now also including money awarded to workers found to have
been subject to unfair dismissal, or discriminated against on
grounds of sex or race (see race discrimination, Sex
Discrimination Act 1975 and 1986). More loosely, and less
frequently, can be used as synonymous with payment generally,
or with the total package of pay and benefits enjoyed by
employees, also called remuneration.
107. COMPREHENSIVE AGREEMENT: See collective
agreement.
108. COMPULSORY ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
109. CONCILIATION: A dispute settlement process where an
impartial third party helps the parties in dispute to reach a
mutually acceptable settlement. It differs from arbitration in that
the third party does not impose a settlement; the agreement
reached is the responsibility of the disputing parties. In Britain
the state-funded service, ACAS, makes a distinction between
collective conciliation (see below) and individual conciliation
(see below), as does the LRA in Northern Ireland.
Collective Conciliation: Is offered in disputes between
employers and trade unions arising from a breakdown in
negotiation. Collective conciliation is seen as appropriate only
when the parties have exhausted their own dispute procedures
without resolving the dispute. It is voluntary and is initiated ad
hoc as a stage in procedure by a request from one or both parties.
In a minority of cases ACAS and LRA take the initiative in
offering conciliation services. About 1500 requests for collective
conciliation are made to ACAS each year, most (over half)
concerning disputes over pay and other terms and conditions of
employment. Discipline and dismissal and trade union recognition
are the other relatively large categories of dispute conciliated by
ACAS.
54

CONSULTATION

Individual Conciliation: Is provided to attempt to resolve a

complaint from an individual that his or her statutory
employment protectionrightshave been infringed. If conciliation
fails to resolve the matter the individual has the right to have
the complaint heard by an industrial tribunal.
110. CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY (CBI): The
largest and best known employers' confederation in Britain. The
CBI is a lobbying organisation and represents the interests of its
member companies at local, national and international level. It
also provides essential information and research services for its
members. It does not carry out collective bargaining on behalf
of its members. Its membership includes some 250,000 public
and private companies, half of them smaller firms with less than
200 employees; most nationalised industries; and most trade and
employers' associations. It appoints representatives to a wide
range of public bodies in the United Kingdom and abroad, such
as the National Economic Development Council and ACAS
to represent the employer viewpoint.
The CBI has a President and a full-time Director General who
frequently acts as its main spokesperson. It is governed by a
Council of some four hundred members. It may be regarded as
the employers' equivalent of the TUC. It has no formal
relationship with any political party.
See List of Addresses.
111. CONSOLIDATION: The process of rationalising payment
structures by bringing into the basic pay some or all of the
bonuses or allowances that apply.
112. CONSTITUTIONAL STRIKE: See strike.
113. CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL: Constructive dismissal occurs
where an employee is forced to resign because of the behaviour
of the employer. The definition of dismissal for claiming unfair
dismissal under EPCA 1978 encompasses constructive dismissal,
but the employee bears the burden of proving there was a
dismissal where this is disputed. Case law indicates that for the
worker to treat himself or herself as dismissed the employer must
have acted in such a way that he or she demonstrated an intention
no longer to be bound by one or more essential terms of the
contract.
114. CONSULTATION; A process of discussion and debate between
unions and employers, or between employers and employees,
usually distinguished from collective bargaining and negotiation
55

CONSULTATION

in that it does not imply a process of bargaining, compromise

and joint agreement but is rather a means through which
employers seek views before deciding on action. For this reason
many trade unionists reject consultation in favour of negotiation
where they are strong enough to do so. Some recent research
suggests that consultation may be undergoing a revival. In
practice, despite the above distinction, consultation and
negotiation are processes that merge into one another and are
thus difficult to distinguish. Nationalized industries are under
a statutory but vague obligation to consult with trade unions.
The law also requires that employers must consult with
recognised trade unions in respect of health and safety, proposed
redundancies, impending transfer of the undertaking, and
pension schemes.
115. CONTEMPT OF COURT: Contempt of court may be
committed where a person enjoined by a court order fails to
comply with its terms. For example, a refusal to abide by an
injunction restraining an unlawful strike may lead to contempt
proceedings. Assuming contempt of court is shown, it is
punishable with quasi-criminal penalties, such as imprisonment,
fines and sequestration. In an industrial relations context, the
courts are normally reluctant to impose imprisonment for fear
of creating "martyrs". A fine (a sum of money ordered to be
paid to the Crown) is readily imposed on either an individual
person or a trade union. Sequestration is designed either to
deprive the contemnors of their property in order to coerce them
to comply with court orders, or to collect unpaid fines.
Sequestration has been used on several occasions as a means of
seizing all or part of a union's property where unlawful industrial
action has continued following an injunction being granted to
the employer or another party. The courts also have a
discretionary power to appoint a receiver to take over the legal
ownership of a union's property.
116. CONTINUITY OF EMPLOYMENT: This term denotes the
period of continuous employment with a particular employer that
an employee must have in order to qualify for various statutory
entitlements. The length of this service qualification varies
according to the type of employment right. In order to claim
unfair dismissal or redundancy pay, for example, the employee
must have two years' continuity, but one month will suffice for
guaranteed pay provided the contract of employment lasts for
at least three months. However, continuity of employment is not
a requirement for certain other statutory entitlements, for example
time off rights and the rights not to be dismissed or subjected
56

CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

to action short of dismissal for union membership or activities

or non-membership.
117. CONTRACT COMPLIANCE: An organisation can use its
economic power (as purchaser of goods and services) to impose
a requirement upon those who seek to deal with it to conform
to required standards. The practice of making the securing of
a commercial contract conditional upon meeting such
requirements is known as contract compliance. It has often been
used to ensure that sub-contractors have satisfactory health and
safety standards and, more recently, to tackle discrimination and
promote equal employment opportunity. Local authorities have
been the most frequent implementere of contract compliance but
their ability to use their economic power in this way may have
been curbed by the Local Government Act 1988. The LGA 1988
prevents non-commercial factors from being taken into account
in the award of a contract, although recent research suggests that
the practice is continuing in many local authorities. Although
attempting to reduce the scope for contract compliance in this
way in Great Britain, the government is promoting it in Northern
Ireland in respect of grants and government contracts as part of
an attempt to tackle religious discrimination. The EA 1982
restricts the ability of organisations to restrict sub-contracting
to only those companies recognising trade unions or employing
union labour. See union-only clauses.
118. CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT: This phrase denotes the
contractual relationship between the employer and the individual
employee, which is normally formed when the employer offers
remuneration and other benefits in return for the performance
of specified work by the employee. The contract of employment
is the legal hallmark of the employment relationship in both the
public and private sectors of the economy. It may be lawfully
terminated on the giving of the correct notice period. In theory,
the parties to the contract (the employer and the employee) may
expressly or impliedly agree on such terms as they may choose,
though the courts have developed a number of standard implied
terms. These include the employer's obligation to pay wages and
to maintain a reasonably safe system of work, and the employee's
obligation to obey the employer's lawful instructions, to give
faithful and honest service, and to perform the work with
reasonable care and skill. Furthermore, the contents, functioning
and termination of the modern contract of employment are much
affected by both statutory rules and procedures and terms
incorporated from collective agreements. Also known as the
57

CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT

contract of service, as distinct from the contract for services (see

self-employment). See also damages, duties under the
employment contract, collective agreement, employee,
employer express term, implied term, statement of terms and
conditions.
119. CONTRACT OF SERVICE: See contract of employment,
employee.
120. CONTRACT FOR SERVICES: See self-employment.
121. CONTRACTING OUT: Unions which vote to establish a
political fund have to provide their members with the right not
to pay the political levy. This right takes the form of contracting
out by the member thus indicating to the union that he or she
does not wish to pay. If they do not contract out they will be
deemed to wish to pay. In Northern Ireand this does not apply;
members do not pay unless they specifically indicate otherwise.
The term can also refer to the employer practice of assigning
certain tasks normally done by the firm's own employees to a
sub-contractor. In Britain in the 1980s the term became
particularly associated with the public sector (especially local
government and the National Health Service) which came under
increasing central government pressure to put out to competitive
tender work that had previously been done by groups of directlyemployed staff (see Local Government Act 1988).
122. CONTRACTOR: The term is used in at least three different
senses. First, it may denote a party to a contract. Second, it may
(with the prefix "independent") be used to denote selfemployment. Third, it may denote a firm which contracts to
provide a particular task or service. See also sub-contractor.
123. CONTROL OF SUBSTANCES HAZARDOUS TO
HEALTH REGULATIONS (COSHH): A set of regulations
brought in under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974
taking effect in October 1989 that places statutory requirements
on employers to adopt and maintain good standards of
occupational hygiene in dealing with substances that may
endanger health at work. The regulations are designed to provide
a comprehensive modern framework of protection, in line with
EC and other international requirements and obligations. The
regulations are accompanied by four Codes of Practice and
guidance provided by the Health and Safety Executive.
58

COSHH
124. CONVENOR: A convenor of shop stewards is a shop steward
elected by other shop stewards in a plant to act as their senior
representative and spokesperson. The convenor often has a stated
part to play in the handling of issues in grievance and discipline
procedures and will often be the leading shop steward in wage
negotiations. Large factories, or those with more than one trade
union, may elect more than one convenor.
125. CORE WORKFORCE: A term used to refer to those employees
in a company who enjoy relative job security and in whom
training is invested (those in the internal labour market). Such
workers perform tasks regarded as central or strategic to the
organisation's success. The contrast is drawn with "peripheral"
workers (see atypical workers), who are regarded as more easily
disposable and who may be used to provide a protective buffer
for the core workforce in times of reduced demand for labour.
Despite the widespread use of the "core/periphery" terminology,
it is sometimes considered to be an unhelpful oversimplification
of the labour market.
126. CORPORATE STATUS: The status of corporation means that
an organisation has an identity, rights and duties distinct from
those of its members. A company is a species of corporation, but
a trade union is stated (TULRA 1974) not to be a body corporate.
All property belonging to a union is vested in trustees in trust
for the union. Nevertheless, a union has many of the attributes
of corporate status in that it may make contracts, sue and be sued
in its own name, and be the subject of criminal prosecutions.
127. CORPORATISM: Systems of government and economic
regulation involving active state intervention in the economy
through joint decision- making machinery involving the state and
employer and employee representatives. Used to contrast with
systems of economic liberalism based on clear separation of the
state from the economy and from the economic interest groups.
In practice the term is used loosely, ranging from systems of
voluntary tripartite participation of unions and employers'
associations to the coercive structures of Fascism. In Britain the
term is sometimes used in relation to the period of the Social
Contract in the 1970s.
128. COSHH: See Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
Regulations.
59

COST OF LIVING INDEX

129. COST OF LIVING INDEX: In Britain, rises (and falls) in the

cost of living are measured by an index, technically known as
the Retail Price Index, also referred to as the cost of living index.
Calculation of the index is based on expenditure on 500 items
in about 7000 households spread over the country. Items covered
include rent, rates, fuel and transport. Figures are published each
month along with a calculation of the "annual rate of inflation"
for that month. The information used for the index is regularly
checked for accuracy and bias by an independent committee, but
it is argued, especially by unions representing the low paid, that
the index consistently understates the rise in the cost of living
for those on low incomes.
It is a normal feature of pay bargaining that unions will base
part of their claim on the RPI, arguing that an equivalent pay
rise is necessary to maintain real earnings. This is sometimes
referred to as a "cost of living claim".
130. COURT OF INQUIRY: The Industrial Courts Act 1919 gave
the Secretary of State the power to establish a Court of Inquiry
to inquire into a trade dispute to establish facts and make
recommendations (which themselves have no legal force). Such
Courts of Inquiry usually have an independent chair (often from
the legal or academic professions) and representatives of
employers and workers. Since the establishment of ACAS, Courts
of Inquiry have declined.
131. CP (COMMUNITY PROGRAMME): See employment
training.
132. CRAFT UNION: See trade union.
133. CRE: See Commission for Racial Equality.
134. CROTUM: See Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union
Members.
135. CUSTOM AND PRACTICE: Frequently abbreviated to C&P,
this term refers to unwritten, informal rules regulating pay and
conditions, work organisation and intensity, and other matters
in the workplace. Often associated with the rise of shop steward
organisation in the 1950s and 60s, some C&P has been reduced
by the process of formalisation of collective agreements in the
1970s but it is still widespread. C&P may refer to rules that are
jointly agreed between workers and managers after negotiation,
or to informal rules applied unilaterally by either side. In some
companies and industries C&P is referred to as "Spanish
customs" or "practices".
60

D
136. DAMAGES: A court makes an award of damages in order to
compensate for loss suffered owing to a tort or breach of contract
or breach of a statutory duty. Damages are normally intended
to compensate the innocent party rather than punish the
wrongdoer, though very occasionally a court may award
exemplary damages by way of punishment. A frequent instance
giving rise to a claim for damages is where an employee is injured
at work because of an alleged fault on the part of the employer.
An employer may also be liable in damages for breach of the
contract of employment but such claims are rare.
A trade union may be sued for damages, including damages
for loss caused by an unlawful strike. Where a union is sued in
tort, statutory ceilings can apply which impose limits on the
amount of damages in accordance with the size of the union. See
injunction.
The Industrial Tribunal may make awards of compensation
in cases of unfair dismissal and racial and sexual discrimination
(see also race discrimination and Sex Discrimination Act 1975
and 1986).
137. DATA PROTECTION ACT 1984: This Act subjects employers
to certain legal obligations, including registration with the Data
Protection Registrar, in respect of computerised personal data
about employees. Employees may have the legal right to obtain
such data and, in some circumstances, to have it erased or
corrected. Part of the stimulus for the Act came from the Council
of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Individuals with
regard to the Automatic Processing of Data, 1981.
138. DAYWORK: Work done during the day, as opposed to either
during the night or on the basis of a shiftwork system. The term
may also be used in contrast to piecework to indicate that the
worker is paid by the day rather than by the unit of output.
139. DE: See Department of Employment.
140i DEMARCATION: Distinctions between jobs according to the
type of worker undertaking them, or the union to which the
worker belongs. Traditionally the job will be demarcated on craft
lines, for example demarcation between electrical tasks and
mechanised tasks. Worker refusal to undertake tasks beyond the
demarcation boundary has been seen by management as a
restrictive practice and a barrier to achieving functional
flexibility through multi-skilling (see flexibility).
61

DEMARCATION DISPUTE

141. DEMARCATION DISPUTE: A dispute over who does what,

in terms of which union members have the "right" to perform
a task. It is associated with multiunionism in a plant. Such
disputes are often seen as disputes between workers and workers
rather than between workers and their employer and, as such,
if they lead to industrial action now fall outside the protected
area of lawful industrial action. The unions involved or the TUC
may involve the Bridlington Agreement to resolve such cases.
See trade dispute, immunities.
142. DENATIONALIZATION: The sale of industries which were
in public ownership. In the 1980s many public sector corporations
have been sold, including British Telecom (the
telecommunications services), British Airways and British Gas.
See privatization.
143. DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT (DE): The department
of state with responsibility for most aspects of employment. This
general responsibility includes national and regional manpower
policy, the promotion of equal employment opportunity and the
payment ofunemployment benefit and supplementary benefit to
people in the employment field. Its industrial relations
responsibilities include Wages Councils, Industrial Tribunals,
the Employment Appeal Tribunal, Courts of Inquiry, and the
administration of most employment legislation. Responsibility
for other functions was delegated in the mid-1970s to such bodies
as ACAS, the Health and Safety Commission, and the
Manpower Services Commission (now the Training Agency). At
the top of the Department is the Secretary of State, a Cabinet
Minister, who divides the work among a Minister of State and
two joint Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State. In 1980 the
Department had a staff of 23,000, divided between a London
headquarters and around 1000 regional offices concerned mostly
with the payment of unemployment benefit. The Department
collects and publishes regular statistics on stoppages of work,
earnings, unemployment and retail prices, published monthly
in the Employment Gazette and annually in the New Earnings
Survey and the Census of Employment. The Department also
conducts and commissions research into aspects of industrial
relations which it publishes in Department of Employment Research
Papers.
See List of Addresses.
144. DE-RECOGNITION: The ending of trade union recognition.
There is no legal procedure to be followed if an employer wishes
to withdraw from collective bargaining; he or she simply gives
notice to the union that recognition is to be withdrawn. This is
62

DILUTION

not common in Britain although some recent examples can be

found where negotiating rights have been withdrawn. Where an
organisation wishes to extricate itself from collective bargaining
it is more likely to try to shift topics from the bargaining/
negotiating arena into the consultative arena, where management
retains the right to final decision, and to seek to marginalise the
union through direct employee communications, individual
commitment-seeking schemes, etc. De-unionization may occur
over time in organisations with high labour turnover (as in some
service sector employment) through lack of employer support
for union recruitment and membership retention. Company
relocation also may provide an employer with an opportunity to
withdraw from collective bargaining.
145. DEREGULATION: This term has two distinct meanings in
present use. First, the opening of state activities to private sector
competition. This has taken the form in the 1980s of the breaking
of public sector monopolies through denationalization and the
subsequent opening-up of markets to competitors. Second, it
refers to general present government policy aimed at encouraging
enterprise and job creation through the removal of what some
see as legislative constraints on businesses, especially small firms.
The Conservative governments of the 1980s argued that much
legislation aimed at protecting employee rights was inimical to
the effective working of the labour market and hence to efficient
performance. Thus they weakened certain statutory protections
(see Employment Act 1982, and 1989) and vetoed EC Draft
Directives on part-time work and on temporary work.
146. DESKILLING: The process of reducing the skill level of jobs
through new divisions of labour and the application of new
technology in order to enhance managerial control over the work
process.
147. DE-UNIONIZATION: See de-recognition.
148. DIFFERENTIALS: Differences in pay or conditions of service
between groups of workers, usually in the same company or
within the same industry. Thus there will often be differentials
between skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers. The
preservation of traditional differentials may often be a demand
in unions' wage claims. See relativities.
149. DILUTION: The use of non-craft workers to perform work
previously done by craft workers. Often resisted by craft unions
(see trade union).
63

DIRECT DISCRIMINATION

150. DIRECT DISCRIMINATION: See discrimination.

151. DIRECT WORKERS: Those workers, sometimes also called
production workers, whose work is directly associated with the
production of goods and services. Distinguished from indirect
workers (maintenance workers, storekeepers, cleaners, etc.),
whose work involves the indirect support of the process of
production.
152. DISABLED QUOTA: See disabled workers.
153. DISABLED WORKERS: Under the Disabled Persons
(Employment) Acts of 1944 and 1958 employers with twenty or
more employees are required to employ those registered as
disabled up to a quota of three per cent, of their workforce unless
they have obtained an exemption permit from the Department
of Employment. The employer must not terminate such a
worker's employment without "reasonable cause" if it means
the quota will not be met. Certain classes of employment may
be designated as reserved for disabled persons (e.g. car park
attendant). The scheme was started to aid those injured in the
Second World War. Now those who have a disease, congenital
deformity or injury which produces a substantial handicap for
work can register. In 1985 only 30 per cent, of employers reached
their three per cent, quota and it is generally accepted that the
present scheme is badly enforced and inadequately resourced.
154. DISCHARGE FOR CAUSE: See fair dismissal.
155. DISCIPLINARY RULES : These set down required standards
of performance and conduct and indicate offences that will attract
disciplinary sanctions and the type of sanction which will be
imposed. Disciplinary rules generally distinguish which offences
constitute gross misconduct which could lead to summary
dismissal. Disciplinary rules may be contained within a company
handbook or the works rules. Under EPCA 1978 an employer
is obliged to give a statement to an employee within thirteen weeks
of engagement which inter alia specifies any disciplinary rules
that apply.
156. DISCIPLINE PROCEDURE: A procedure drawn up by an
employer, or negotiated or agreed with a recognised trade union
(see recognition), for handling discipline and dismissal of
workers. The statutory protection against unfair dismissal has
stimulated the formalisation and introduction of such procedures,
which are now universal in establishments employing at least 100
64

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

people, and are now also widespread in smaller establishments.

Commonly a discipline or dismissal procedure provides for
employees to be warned (verbally and subsequently in writing)
about unsatisfactory conduct or performance prior to the
imposition of the dismissal sanction. It also generally provides
for investigation of alleged offences and an opportunity for the
employee to answer the allegations, accompanied by a union
representative where appropriate. Appeal against the imposition
of disciplinary sanction, including dismissal, is usually provided
only to a higher level in the management hierarchy within the
organisation. About a quarter of procedures surveyed in 1984
which allowed for appeal beyond the establishment provided for
appeal to a joint union/management body and 18 per cent,
provided for the involvement of ACAS as an independent stage
in the procedure, to provide conciliation and/or arbitration.
157. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION: There is a general duty
on employers, under EPA 1975 to disclose information to
representatives of a recognised independent trade union (see
recognition) for the purposes of collective bargaining, provided
certain tests are met and specified exemptions do not apply. The
Act does not indicate which information must be disclosed. If
a union's request for information is refused it may complain to
the CAC, which, if it finds the complaint well-founded, will order
disclosure. Should a disclosure award not be complied with, a
further complaint, together with a written claim regarding terms
and conditions of specified employees, may be made to the CAC.
If awarded, these terms and conditions become part of the
individuals' contracts of employment and cannot be adversely
varied by individual bargaining.
These disclosure ofinformation provisions are very little used.
In 1986 the CAC received thirteen such references and issued
three awards, the other claims being withdrawn, usually having
been resolved on the basis of voluntary settlement. The limited
use of the provisions does not indicate a general openness on the
part of British management but reflects, in part, the limited utility
for trade unions of the provisions in practice.
Other statutory provisions also provide for information to be
given to a union representative on particular matters: transfer
of undertakings, redundancy, health and safety. Information
disclosure may also be negotiated as part of agreements concerning
the introduction of new technology (see new technology agreements). There is no duty on British employers to disclose specified information on a regular basis to their employees, or employee
representatives, although some choose to do so as part of a policy
of employee communications or employee involvement.
65

DISCRIMINATION

158. DISCRIMINATION: Discrimination in employment on the

grounds of sex, married status, race (see race discrimination),
colour, nationality and ethnic and national origins is unlawful
under the RRA 1976 and SDA 1975. The Acts also cover
victimisation against persons exercising their rights under this
legislation. Discrimination on grounds of age is not specifically
covered although in some circumstances this may constitute
unlawful indirect sex discrimination. For discrimination on the
grounds of union membership or non-membership see freedom
of association. Two forms of discrimination are covered by the
RR and SDA: direct and indirect. There is legislation against
religious discrimination in Northern Ireland only.
Direct Discrimination: Direct cUscrimination consists of
treating a person (on grounds of sex, race, etc.) less favourably
than others (not of that sex, race, etc.) would be treated in the
same circumstances. Hostile intent is not essential. Examples of
direct discrimination include a refusal to consider black applicants
for recruitment, a refusal to appoint women to managerial
positions, and dismissing women on marriage. This could be
discrimination based on stereotypes, for example that married
women are unreliable employees.
Indirect Discrimination: Indirect discrimination occurs where
a condition or requirement is imposed on a job applicant or
employee where the proportion of one group (women, married
persons, ethnic minority) who can comply with it is considerably
smaller than the proportion of the comparable group (men, single
persons, another ethnic group) and where the inability to comply
in practice acts to the detriment of the employee or job applicant.
It is open to the employer to escape penalty under the
discrimination legislation by showing that the requirement was
justifiable in terms of the needs of the business irrespective of
sex, married status, race, etc.
Examples of unlawful indirect discrimination include height
requirements unrelated to the job; requiring a level of ability in
the English language above that actually needed for performing
the job; upper age limits for job applications; and recruitment
on the recommendation of existing employees where the
workforce is predominantly of one sex and/or race.
159. DISMISSAL: Termination of the employment contract, with
or without notice, by the employer. For the purpose of claiming
unfair dismissal under EPCA 1978, dismissal is defined as also
including the termination of a fixed term contract without its
being renewed, and constructive dismissal, where the employee
66

DISPUTES COMMITTEE

is forced to resign by reason of the employer's conduct. In

common usage dismissal is used to refer to termination for reasons
relating to the individual and is thus distinguished from
redundancy, which is dismissal for economic reasons of the firm.
160. DISMISSAL PROCEDURE: See discipline procedure.
161. DISPUTE: Used to mean either a situation in which the parties
(employers and trade unions) have failed to reach agreement
(when it may be said that one or more issues are "in dispute"),
or a situation in which such disagreement has led to a form of
industrial action.
162. DISPUTE PROCEDURE: Any procedure designed to resolve
disagreements between workers or trade unions and employers.
A general term which could include discipline procedures,
grievance procedures, redundancy procedures, dismissal
procedures, etc. Sometimes used generally to distinguish
procedures that deal with collective issues as opposed to individual
ones. Dispute procedures involve taking an issue in dispute
through different stages and levels within an organisation. Thus,
for example, a procedure might stipulate that a dispute should
first be discussed at shop floor level between workers and junior
managers; that in the event of failure to agree at that level it
goes to the next stage involving more senior representatives on
both sides, and so on through several stages if necessary until
the dispute is resolved or the procedure exhausted. Some dispute
procedures include the use of arbitration or some other form of
third party intervention, as a final voluntary or compulsory stage.
Dispute procedures are sometimes given the longer and clearer
title procedures for the avoidance of disputes. See also status
quo clause.
163. DISPUTE RESOLUTION: See arbitration, conciliation, third
party intervention, grievance procedure, Disputes Committee,
industrial tribunal.
164. DISPUTES COMMITTEE: A committee of the TUC
established to deal with inter-union problems affecting inter-union
competition. The Committees, composed of senior trade unionists
not involved in the dispute, are guided by the TUC Dispute
Principles and Procedures (known as the Bridlington
Agreement). The legal status of the Committee's recommendations is complex and uncertain.
67

DISTANCING

165. DISTANCING: A form offlexibilitywhich generally involves

the decentralisation of production and is often seen more
specifically as involving the sub-contracting of work normally
done by the firm's own employees. The extent to which this has
been developing during the 1980s is unclear, although in the retail
trades it has been happening for example through the increased
use of franchising.
166. DISTRICT AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
167. DIVISIONALISATION: According to some theories of the
growth of firms, expansion of functionally-organised firms leads
at a certain stage to internal inefficiencies. One common response
to this problem is to restructure the firm into a number of semiautonomous operating divisions, based either on product or on
geographical areas. This divisionalisation results in the creation
of the multi-divisional firm.
168. DOMESTIC AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
169. DONOVAN COMMISSION 1965-68: The Government,
concerned by levels of unofficial strikes and wage inflation and
by reports of economically damaging "restrictive practices",
set up a Royal Commission under Lord Donovan "to consider
relations between managements and employees and the role of
trade unions and employers' associations in promoting the
interests of their members and in accelerating the social and
economic advance of the nation, with particular reference to the
Law affecting the activities of these bodies".
The research undertaken for the Commission provided a
comprehensive picture of industrial relations practice, and to
this day these data provide the starting point for many analyses
of institutional change in the industrial relations area.
The Commission's report (published in 1968) presented the
famous "two systems" analysis of British industrial relations,
identifying the "formal system" involving negotiations at industry
level between the official institutions of trade unions and
employers' confederations and the "informal system" involving
shop floor level bargaining between workers, shop stewards and
managers. According to the analysis, industrial conflict could be
attributed in part to conflict between these two systems; between
the assumptions and norms of the formal system and the practical
realities of the informal. The Commission argued that, whether
or not it was supposed to exist, shop floor bargaining (see
bargaining structure) existed, and employers had lost control
of the workplace because of their refusal to recognise the reality
of shop floor bargaining.
68

DUAL LABOUR MARKET

The recommendations of the Report can therefore be summed

up in the phrase "the formalisation of plant and company-level
industrial relations", a process through which management
should grant recognition and official status to shop stewards,
the elected workplace representatives of workers, and work with
them to draw up codified and written agreements at plant and
company level. Most researchers argue that the 1970s did indeed
witness just such a formalisation, although doubts exist as to what
extent this was a direct consequence of the Donovan
recommendations, and to what extent it was already in train. The
Commission also generally defended the principle of voluntarism
and the tradition of legal non-intervention, although they
conceded the need for legislative protection of certain individual
rights, in particular against unfair dismissal.
170. DOWN TIME: Brief periods when normal work is not possible
because of a machine breakdown or the need to re-set or adjust
machinery. During such periods workers affected may be paid
on a rate known as "waiting time", lower than their normal pay
rates. Not the same as idle time.
171. DOWNGRADING: This term may refer either to the practice
of transferring one or more workers to less rewarding jobs,
possibly as the result of disciplinary action, or to a reduction in
value of importance of a particular job, possibly as a result of
the introduction of new technology. (See deskilling and new
technology agreements.) In the latter case, the job might be rated
lower on a job evaluation scale than it had been before the change.
172. DUAL JOB HOLDING: The practice of holding two jobs
(usually for different employers) at the same time. Sometimes
also referred to as double employment or "moonhghting". Dual
job holding does not appear common in Britain; about three per
cent, of those employed have second jobs, usually part-time
involving fewer than 10 hours a week.
173. DUAL LABOUR MARKET: A term coined by economists
interested in processes of labour market segmentation to suggest
that employment is becoming increasingly divided between
workers in a primary and a secondary sector of the economy.
The model suggests that workers in the primary sector are highly
skilled and reliable, with job-specific skills. These employees
represent an investment that needs to be protected. Hence such
workers are encouraged to remain through good pay, pensions
and promotion prospects. Workers in the secondary sector work
for small, technologically backward firms, are relatively unskilled,
69

DUAL LABOUR MARKET

and experience relatively low pay and job insecurity. A range

of forces operate to reduce the chances of movement between
these two sectors of employment. The dual labour market concept
is inadequate as a description of employment in Britain, where
research has found for example internal labour markets to be
not particularly extensive in firms otherwise allocated to the
primary sector, and more sensitive analytical frameworks have
been developed.
174. DUES: See trade union contribution.
175. DUTIES UNDER THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT: The
reciprocal rights and duties laid on employers and employees
through the express and implied terms of the contract of
employment. Where the parties have not expressly dealt with
a matter the courts are willing to imply terms in order to make
the contract a workable one. The most important terms which
have been implied are the reciprocal duty of co-operation, the
employee's duty of faithful service and the employer's duty to
take reasonable care for the health and safety of the employees,
and the employee's duty to take reasonable care about the
employer's business.

70

176. EA (EMPLOYMENT ACT): See Employment Acts 1980,

1982, 1988, 1989, 1990.
177. EARLY RETIREMENT: See retirement.
178. EARNINGS: The total package of remuneration received by an
employee, including all forms of bonus and overtime payment,
before any deduction is made in respect of tax, National Insurance
contributions, pension payments, etc. Information about
occupational and industrial earnings can be found in several of
the regular publications of the Department of Employment. See
pay, remuneration.
179. EAT: See Employment Appeal Tribunal.
180. EFFICIENCY AGREEMENT: A collective agreement in
which pay increases are conceded in exchange for agreement on
more efficient working. It may include such items as the
introduction of new technology (see new technology
agreements), reduced manning levels, and the elimination of socalled restrictive practices. According to some authorities the
term may be distinguished from productivity agreement in that
the former covers situations in which pay increases may be linked
to forecasted gains resulting from co-operation with change over
an extended period, but in practice the two terms are often used
synonymously.
181. EI: See employee involvement.
182. EMERGENCY POWERS: Under the Emergency Powers Act
1920 the government may with parliamentary approval declare
a "state of emergency" if interference with the supply and
distribution of food, water, fuel, light or the means of locomotion
threatens to deprive the community of the essentials of life. In
some emergencies troops have been used to move essentials such
as food supplies. In addition, the government may, without
parliamentary approval, use troops for "urgent work of national
importance" under the Emergency Powers Act 1964, which put
wartime regulations on a permanent footing. Although legal
limitations on taking strike action are placed on certain groups
of workers (including police, troops, merchant seamen, and postal
and telecommunications workers) there are no specific legal
restrictions on strike action by workers in "essential service"
occupations or industries, apart from those applicable under the
general law. See right to strike.
71

EMPLOYEE

183. EMPLOYEE: An employee is a person who works under a

contract of employment in exchange for a wage or salary, unlike
a self-employed person. Only an employee is eligible to claim
certain statutory rights, for example unfair dismissal and
redundancy pay. A voluminous and complex case law has
developed to ascertain whether a particular person is or is not
an employee for particular legal purposes such as unfair dismissal,
income tax, National Insurance, and compensation for injury
at work. See self-employment.
184. EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS: A range of different
techniques may be used for communicating directly (that is, not
via a trade union) with the employees of an organisation. British
management generally has not adopted an "open" or
"participative" style but a number of Employee Involvement
programmes include an emphasis on various forms of written and
verbal communication both one-way (that is, management
communicating downwards) and two-way, with the objectives
of improving employees' understanding of company policies and
"business realities", generating shared interest and commitment
and countering informal communication which is not
management controlled (i.e. the "grapevine"). The introduction
of financial participation schemes often stimulates improved
employee communications, based around information on the
profitability and share position of the company. The development
of an employee communications programme may be used also
as a way of reducing management's reliance on transmitting
information to its workers via the trade union representatives and
of increasing the role of the supervisor. This is often true, for
example, of employee communications based on team briefing.
Traditionally British trade unions have seen themselves as the
"single channel" for communication within unionised workplaces
and have resisted management attempts which appear designed
to bypass or minimise the unions' role.
There is some survey evidence that British employers are paying
greater attention to employee communications, in part to ward
off the possible legislative threat of European initiatives on
employee participation and information rights, but the picture
is mixed.
185. EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT (EI): A fashionable concept
which refers to a range of communication and participation
techniques introduced and controlled by management. They
include quality circles and team briefing. EI is generally
concerned with participation at the individual job level (direct,
72

EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS

individual participation), rather than participation in higher level

decision making (indirect, representative participation).
Under the EA 1982 companies with 250 employees or more
in the United Kingdom are obliged to publish a statement on
employee involvement in their annual reports. The statement
should cover the steps taken during the year to promote employee
involvement, in particular action aimed at the systematic provision
of information to employees; consulting with them or their
representatives; encouraging involvement through employees'
share schemes or otherwise; and achieving a common awareness
on the part of all employees of the financial and economic factors
affecting the company's performance. Partly no doubt because
the Act does not require that any action be taken, merely that
any action which is taken should be documented in the annual
report, the impact of this legislative provision appears to have
been rather limited. Research reveals many companies failing to
observe the spirit of the legislation and many paying only lip
service to it. One recent random survey of 150 reports found 14
per cent, made no statement at all or one only of the most
generalised kind; and just under half failed to report the existence
of any formal consultative machinery. The report concluded
"there is still some way to go ... for much of U.K. industry in
both practising and reporting on employee involvement and
participation".
186. EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PLAN (ESOP): See
financial participation.
187. EMPLOYER: An employer is the person by whom the employee
is or was employed. See company, contract of employment,
employee, small employer.
188. EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS: Organisations of employers,
almost always within industrial sectors, formed usually for the
purposes of negotiation with trade unions or to provide affiliated
employers with industrial relations advice and assistance. In some
industries employers' associations negotiate industry-wide, multiemployer collective agreements with trade unions. But with the
decline in importance of such agreements since the 1960s
employers' associations are becoming increasingly valued for the
other services they provide to their members. These include
advice on the implications of industrial relations legislation,
recruitment, education and training, work study and bonus
schemes, job evaluation and local pay levels. British employers'
associations thus differ from those in several continental European
countries in that their importance in collective bargaining is
secondary and declining.
73

EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATIONS

Membership of employers' associations is voluntary, and the

rate of subscription, although variable, is comparable to that in
other European countries, at around 0.5 per cent, of the wage
bill. Employers' associations are required to register with the
Certification Officer, but this confers no benefits. Most
employers' associations do not have corporate status, although
some have obtained it through registration under the Compames
Acts. The current legislation regulating employers' associations
is contained in the Trade Union and Labour Relations Acts
1974 and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Amendment)
Act 1976.
189. EMPLOYMENT ACT 1980 (EA 1980): This Act enables trade
unions to obtain government funds for ballots, provides a right
for members not to be unreasonably excluded or expelled from
a trade union, limits employees' right against unfair dismissal,
narrows the immunity for lawful picketing, and considerably
reduces the immunity for secondary industrial action. It was the
first major enactment in the Conservative Party's "step by step"
programme to reform law and promote deregulation.
190. EMPLOYMENT ACT 1982 (EA 1982): This Act narrows the
definition of trade dispute, facilitates the legal liability of trade
unions as such, and prohibits union- and recognition-only
clauses in contracts and the informal practice of such
arrangements. No equivalent to this Act has yet been enacted
in Northern Ireland. See also union-only clauses.
191. EMPLOYMENT ACT 1988 (EA 1988): This Act builds on the
Employment Acts of 1980 and 1982 by providing an unqualified
right to dissociate (refuse to be a union member). It also gives
trade union members the right to challenge industrial action that
has not been validly balloted, and prevents unions from
disciplining members who do not support industrial action, even
if approved by ballot. It provides also for the appointment of
a Commissioner for the Rights of Trade Union Members to
assist members in litigation against unions and makes some
changes to the provisions regarding union elections and political
fund ballots. Further it replaces the MSC with a new Training
Commission (since replaced by the Training Agency). The only
significant part of this Act that applies to Northern Ireland is
that concerned with political funds.
192. EMPLOYMENT ACT 1989 (EA 1989): This Act contains
provisions to remove most of the remaining legislation permitting
discrimination between men and women in the field of
74

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL (EAT)

employment and vocational training (in response to the need to

bring U.K. domestic law into line with Community law). It
constitutes a further deregulation of the labour market by
removing protective legislation restricting the employment of
women and young persons. It also relaxes certain employment
protection rights, for example by restricting the right of trade
union officials to paid time-off rights to carry out their duties,
and by removing from small firms the requirement to provide
employees with details of disciplinary rules and procedures. It
also abolishes the Training Commission. See Training Agency.
193. EMPLOYMENT ACT 1990: This Act covers three main areas.
It removes the last remaining legal protection for the closed shop,
brings unofficial action under similar legal control as official
action, and removes immunity from all forms of secondary
industrial action.
194. EMPLOYMENT AGENCY: Private agencies that supply
workers to a client, usually for a short time and often at the client's
premises. Such workers are typically paid by the agency rather
than the client, the client paying the agency for the services
supplied. Clerical workers and medical staff are typical agency
workers. The employment position of such workers is ambiguous,
since the agencies are not required by law to give employee status
to their workers, although in practice many do. Despite this,
many workers fail to achieve continuity of employment because
of the nature of their work. Since 1973, employment agencies
have been subject to the Employment Agencies Act, and since
1976 it has been an offence for such an agency to operate without
a licence granted by the Secretary of State for Employment. See
temporary workers.
195. EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL (EAT): A superior
court of record established under the Employment Protection
Act 1975 as an appellate body on questions of law from Industrial
Tribunals in Britain. Appeals in Northern Ireland go direct to
the Court of Appeal.
The EAT also hears appeals from certain decisions of the
Certification Officer and has an original jurisdiction to assess
compensation where a successful complainant has not been
readmitted to a trade union under the provisions of EA 1980.
The EAT is tripartite and consists of judges of High Court status
who sit with lay members who have special knowledge or
experience of industrial relations, as representatives either of
employers or of workers. Appeals may be made from the EAT
75

EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL (EAT)

to the Court of Appeal (Court of Session in Scotland). In

1986-1987, 938 appeals from the Industrial Tribunals were heard
by the EAT, over 80 per cent, of which concerned unfair
dismissal cases.
See List of Addresses.
196. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT: See contract of employment.
197. EMPLOYMENT LAW: See Labour Law.
198. EMPLOYMENT OFFICE: See Employment Service.
199. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ACT 1975 (EPA 1975): This
Act sets out the powers of the Advisory, Conciliation and,
Arbitration Service (ACAS), the Central Arbitration Committee
(CAC) and the Certification Officer (CO). It also stipulates the
duties of employers to disclose information for the purposes of
collective bargaining and to consult with recognised trade unions
over redundancies (see recognition). This Act, together with the
Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974, was the basis of
the Labour Party's employment law programme in the era of the
Social Contract.
200. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION (CONSOLIDATION)
ACT 1978 (EPCA 1978): This Act consolidates the Contracts
of Employment Act 1972, Redundancy Payments Act 1965 and
certain provisions which were introduced by the Employment
Protection Act 1975. The Act embodies many of the individual
employee's statutory rights to employment protection, including
the statement of terms and conditions, guarantee payments,
rights to associate and (by virtue of amendments in the 1980s)
to dissociate, time off rights, maternity rights, notice periods,
unfair dismissal protection and redundancy pay.
201. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION RIGHTS: There are a
number of individual legal employment rights which have been
conferred by a variety of statutes (many are now contained in
EPCA 1978) and which are commonly referred to as
"employment protection rights" or "individual rights". These
include the right:
to a written statement of the main terms and conditions of
employment;
to a minimum period of notice;
to an itemised pay statement;
to a guaranteed payment in the event of lay off;
76

EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

to time off work for union duties and activities, for public duties
(e.g. sitting as a magistrate) .and for job search where
redundancy is imminent;
for pregnant women not to be dismissed because of pregnancy;
to time off for ante-natal care;
to return after maternity leave;
to receive maternity pay;
to payment while suspended from work on medical grounds;
not to be unfairly dismissed;
to be provided with a written statement of the reason for
dismissal;
not to be victimised because of union membership or activities
or because of non-membership of a trade union;
to certain payments which the employer cannot make because
of insolvency;
to equal pay and other contractual terms;
not to be discriminated against on grounds of sex, married
status, or race;
not to be unreasonably expelled or excluded from a trade union.
Complaints concerning the infringement of these rights are
heard by an Industrial Tribunal. Many of these rights are subject
to exclusions and qualifications. A number depend on a particular
length of continuous service (see continuity of employment)
under a contract of employment with the same employer,
working a specified minimum number of hours per week. Thus,
many part-time, temporary and casual workers are excluded
from many of the individual rights. Conservative governments
since 1979 have reduced the coverage of some of these rights (for
example by increasing the service qualification for unfair
dismissal to two years) as part of the process of "deregulation",
designed to remove what are seen as burdens placed upon
employers as a result of employment protectionrightsfor workers.
202. EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP: See contract of employment, employee.
203. EMPLOYMENT SERVICE: A government-funded service
intended to match job vacancies to people seeking work; involving
the provision ofinformation about available jobs and applicants.
The service offers interviewing, counselling and aptitude testing
through its employment offices and job centres. In 1980 there
were over 1000 offices spread all over the country. From 1978
until 1988 these services were operated through the Manpower
Services Commission (MSC) (see Training Agency), but recently
they have been transferred back into the Department of
Employment.
77

EMPLOYMENT TRAINING (ET)

204. EMPLOYMENT TRAINING (ET): The problem of training

provision for the long-term adult unemployed in Britain has been,
since the late 1970s, tackled by a wide variety of governmentsponsored training and work-experiences schemes. The largest
of these was the Community Programme (CP), which, through
the work of various voluntary agencies, provided the unemployed
with opportunities to undertake socially useful project work (e.g.
the restoration of derelict land and buildings, nature conservancy,
the construction of facilities for the disabled, etc.) whilst being
paid an allowance. Other schemes included the unsuccessful Job
Training Scheme (JTS), and the Employment Rehabilitation
Programme.
In November 1987 the Secretary of State for Employment
announced the government's intention to bring together all the
existing programmes for unemployed people over 18 into a single,
new unified training programme. The then Manpower Services
Commission (MSC) (see Training Agency) was asked to formulate
plans for the new programme. This they did, and their proposals
were accepted in full by the government in February 1988.
The aim of the new programme, which was given the title
Employment Training (ET), is to give higher priority to the needs
of the long-term unemployed, and also to shift the emphasis from
temporary employment (such as that provided by the Community
Programme) towards training which provides the motivation and
skills leading to jobs. In addition, ET is expected to increase the
involvement of employers in the training of the long-term
unemployed.
Employment Training came into operation in September 1988.
It has an annual budget of some 1.4 billion and aims to provide
training for some 600,000 people a year. Participation in the
programme by the unemployed is voluntary, and all those
between the ages of 18 and 24 who have been unemployed for
between 6 and 12 months, as well as all those between 18 and
50 who have been out of work for more than two years, are
guaranteed a place.
The period of training offered by the programme lasts for up
to 12 months, and begins with an initial assessment of the trainee's
needs. This assessment is carried out by the Training Agents and
Training Managers, bodies and individuals who are appointed
by the Training Commission (TC: see Training Agency) and are
responsible for the local management and delivery of ET.
Using these assessments, a personal training plan for each
trainee is devised, and this sets the pattern for his or her training.
A wide range of training opportunities is provided: from basic
skills to training at craft and technician level. There is also
provision for those who wish to learn how to set up their own
78

ENTERPRISE ZONES

business. Wherever possible, trainees will be given the

opportunity to obtain a recognised vocational qualification or a
credit towards one.
ET aims to enable the contribution which voluntary
organisations and other bodies made to the earlier Community
Programme to be continued and at least 170,000 places in projects
outside employers' premises are built into the new programme.
The government has, however, expressed its belief that it is
essential that trainees who begin their training on project work
should be able to move on to training provided by employers,
so that they can learn and practise their new skills within a normal
working environment.
Each trainee is paid a training allowance that is between 10
and 12 a week higher than his or her unemployment benefit
entitlement. In addition, there is assistance towards travelling
costs and other expenses. For example, child care costs for single
parents of up to 50 a week per child are met, and there is help
towards the costs of necessary tools and clothing. The government
claims that everyone taking part will be better off than if they
had remained unemployed and receiving unemployment benefit.
Trade union reaction to ET has been unfavourable, with
concerns expressed about the low level of trainee allowance and
the often poor quality of training being offered. In the autumn
of 1988 the TUC Congress decided to boycott ET, a decision
which led to the abolition of national tripartite training structures
(see Training Agency).
The reaction of many employers to the new scheme has been
mixed. A number of large employers have criticised the
administration of ET as being overly bureaucratic. They have
also expressed doubts about whether the long-term unemployed
can be trained through ET to sufficiently high levels of skill to
fill job vacancies in skill shortage areas.
205. ENTERPRISE: Correctly used as synonymous with company;
thus company-level and enterprise-level bargaining are the same
thing.
206. ENTERPRISE ZONES: Areas of the country may be designated
enterprise zones in order to seek to encourage investment. Under
the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980, Enterprise
Zone compames do not have to pay rates and property taxes and
receive help with building programmes. They are also exempt
from local government planning controls. Intended to alleviate
unemployment in badly-hit parts of the country their success
appears to have been limited.
79

EOC
207. EOC: See Equal Opportunities Commission.
208. EOP: See Equal Opportunity Policy.
209. EPA 1975: See Employment Protection Act 1975.
210. EPCA 1978: See Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act
1978.
211. EqPA 1970: See Equal Pay Act 1970.
212. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION (EOC): A
comparable body to the CRE, set up under the Sex
Discrimination Act 1975 with the job of working towards the
elimination of discrimination; promoting equality between men
and women generally and keeping under review the workings
of the Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act; and
putting forward proposals for change. It has powers to undertake
Formal Investigations (little used in the employment field); to
grant assistance to individuals intending to take proceedings under
the SDA or EqPA; to issue Codes of Practice in the employment
field; to undertake and assist research and educational activities.
The EOC is headed by a Chair and a Deputy Chair and 13 parttime commissioners appointed by the Home Secretary. These
include representatives from the TUC and CBI but they have
not been drawn from women associated with the women's
movement. The EOC has been criticised by some observers for
its low profile and apparent reluctance to use its legal powers.
The Commission would argue that limited resources and a head
office away from London (in Manchester) have posed problems
for it and that it prefers to move forward on the basis of agreement
and consensus. A parallel body operates in Northern Ireland.
See List of Addresses.
213. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: An employing
organisation which attempts to operate in accordance with good
practice in eliminating unlawful discrimination and promoting
equal employment opportunities. Although many employing
organisations now declare themselves to be equal opportunity
employers (for example, in recruitment advertisements), research
shows that in practice many may not have introduced an equal
opportunity policy or undertaken review or revision of their
practices and procedures. Declaring the organisation to be an
equal opportunity employer is seen to be the first step towards
80

EQUAL PAY ACT 1970

taking positive steps to promote equal employment opportunity,

regardless of sex, race, etc. The CRE and EOC have issued
guidance for such employers.
214. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICY (EOP): A policy adopted
by an employing organisation which aims to ensure that no job
applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on
grounds of sex, race, colour, or ethnic or national origins, or is
disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be
shown to be justifiable. Some organisations also explicitly seek
to avoid discrimination on grounds of age, sexual orientation
(although these are not explicitly covered by an antidiscrimination legislation) and disability. An EOP may also
encompass taking positive steps (where lawful) to aid
disadvantaged groups, for example through the provision of
special training. Effective application of an EOP requires analysis
of the workforce by gender and ethnic origin and monitoring of
applicants and employees.
215. EQUAL PAY ACT 1970 (EqPA 1970): Introduced prior to U.K.
accession to the Treaty of Rome, in the last days of a Labour
government, the Equal Pay Act was to come into force in 1975.
It was amended and re-enacted by the Sex Discrimination Act
1975. Further amendments have been made (see especially equal
value amendment). The Act required equal contractual terms
and conditions of employment for men and women in the same
employment in two situations: when employed on like work (work
of the same or broadly similar nature) or when employed on work
rated as equivalent under a job evaluation scheme. Employers
were not required to undertake job evaluation. The main objective
of the Act was to equalise rates of pay (not levels) and the gap
between women's hourly gross earnings and those of men did
narrow after the introduction of the legislation, but without
reaching parity. At the present time women's average hourly gross
earnings are some 74 per cent, of men's. When weekly earnings
are compared (including overtime, etc.) the proportion drops to
around 66 per cent. Although many women benefited from the
EqPA, job segregation and avoidance or minimisation strategies
adopted by some employers (at times with local trade union
collusion) reduced its impact, as did narrow interpretations by
the tribunals and courts (for example, on what constituted "like
work").
The Central Arbitration Committee was empowered (under
a section of the EqPA, now repealed) to remove discrimination
from collective agreements or employers' pay structures. The
CAC took a broad approach to its powers at first, looking at the
81

EQUAL PAY ACT 1970

context within which agreements operated, but was restricted

by the courts to tackling only those agreements or structures
which were overtly chscriminatory. References to the CAC dried
up and individual claims to Industrial Tribunals for equal pay
fell from 1,742 in 1976 to 39 in 1982. Following the United
Kingdom accession to the Treaty of Rome in January 1973 and
cases before the European Court of Justice it was found that
Article 119 of the Treaty and Article 1 of the Equal Pay Directive
applied to a number of situations not covered by the British
legislation. Amending regulations were introduced in 1983 and
came into force in January 1984.
216. EQUAL PAY FOR WORK OF EQUAL VALUE: Also known
as "comparable worth". See equal value amendment.
217. EQUAL VALUE AMENDMENT: The 1983 Regulations add
a new basis of entitlement to equal terms and conditions, namely
"where a women is employed on work which...is, in terms of
demands made on her (for instance under such headings as effort,
skill and decision) of equal value to that of a man in the same
employment". This concept is also known as the "comparable
worth" test. A number of key issues of interpretation are still
being worked out in the British courts and, for example, the ease
with which British employers will be able to argue the "material
difference" defence remains to be seen. But in an important
decision it was held that, although the British legislative
formulation is that equal value is a residual basis for a claim (i.e.
where like work and work rated as equivalent do not apply),
application of European law means that the presence of a man
doing like work does not prevent a women claiming equal pay
with a man doing dissimilar work claimed to be of equal value.
There has been an increase in claims to ITs since the Amendment
(517 in 1986-1987) but criticism has been made of the complexity
of the Regulations and the length of the IT procedure in these
cases. Some observers argue that, notwithstanding the
Amendment, British provisions are still narrower in scope than
Article 119 read with the Directive. There is evidence that the
equal value amendment has stimulated employer review and
revision of job evaluation schemes and fostered negotiations over
pay structures. Some trade unions are seeking to use equal value
as a lever to improve the position of low paid workers, for example
in local authority manual employment.
218. ESOP (EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP PLAN): See
financial participation: employee share ownership plan.
82

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

219. ESTABLISHMENT: In common usage the term usually denotes

a single identifiable workplace, such as a factory, a depot, an office
or a mine. Hence establishment-level bargaining is equivalent
to factory-level bargaining in manufacturing, or bargaining at the
level of the individual pit in coal mining. The term is also used
as the basis for collecting certain types of statistical information,
for example on employment levels, labour turnover, etc., where
it is defined as the smallest unit capable for providing such
information at a particular address.
The term has an entirely unconnected meaning usually, but
not exclusively, associated with the Civil Service, to denote the
authorised numerical staffing level of an office or department.
Thus departments may be described as operating below or above
establishment, according to whether they are in fact employing
fewer or more people than the approved level.
220. ET: See Employment Training.
221. ETHNIC MONITORING: Analysis of employees and job
applicants according to racial/ethnic origin. The information is
used to review the effectiveness of an equal opportunity policy.
222. EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Article
11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedom (an instrument of the Council of Europe)
has had a major influence on the right to dissociate, that is, the
negative right aspects of freedom of association. In particular
the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the
"British Rail" case in 1981 provided part of the government's
justification for the progressive enlargement protection of the right
to dissociate. The European Convention is not directly
incorporated into British law or binding on British courts, and
it is a matter of public debate whether legislation to this effect
should be introduced.
223. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The governing body of trade
unions, subject to the overriding authority of the union conference
(the sovereign union policy-making body) and responsible for
the routine running of the union and the practical implementation
of policy. In many unions official strike action can be taken only
with the approval of the executive committee. Although
historically unions have elected their executive committees in a
variety of ways, the passing of the Trade Union Act 1984 and
EA 1988 has forced unions to adopt the individual secret ballot
as the only lawful means of election.
83

EXPIRY OF AGREEMENT

224. EXPIRY OF AGREEMENT: The date on which a fixed term

agreement expires.
225. EXPRESS TERM: A term of a contract is express when it is
embodied in the words (spoken or written) of the parties to the
contract. An express term may be contrasted with an implied
term. See contract of employment.

84

226. FACILITIES (FOR TRADE UNION REPRESENTATIVES): Such items as a meeting, place, access to a telephone
and use of a photocopier or printer as resources for shop floor
trade union organisation. Originally such facilities were provided
through funds raised by collections from the members (rarely
provided by the official union), but in the 1960s and 1970s
management came under pressure to agree to provide such items
for shop stewards, and this was a feature of those decades. In
1978 ACAS published a Code of Practice on Time Off for Union
Duties and Activities which included a recommendation to
management that union representatives be accorded necessary
facilities such as "accommodation for meetings, access to a
telephone, notice boards and, where the volume of the official's
work justifies it, the use of office facilities". See also time off
rights.
227. FACTORY INSPECTORATE: See health and safety.
228. FACTORY INSPECTORS: See health and safety.
229. FAILURE TO AGREE: The term used to denote a formal
acknowledgement by the parties to negotiation that they are
unable to reach an agreement. A recorded failure to agree
automatically refers an item to a higher level of procedure. If
no such higher level exists, failure to agree may lead to a referral
to an outside body (for conciliation or arbitration or to an
Industrial Tribunal, for example). A failure to agree at the final
level of procedure also indicates that any industrial action taken
by either of the parties would be constitutional, as permitted
under the terms of the procedure agreement.
230. FAIR DISMISSAL: Also known as dismissal for cause. Under
the EPCA 1978 a dismissal may be fair if the reason for it falls
within the following categories: capability, conduct, redundancy,
statutory restriction or some other substantial reason. These
reasons potentially justify dismissal but the Industrial Tribunal
must also find that the dismissal satisfied the criterion of
reasonableness for it to be fair. This decision depends on
"whether in the circumstances (including the size and
administrative resources of the undertaking) the employer acted
reasonably or unreasonably in treating the reason as a sufficient
reason for dismissing the employee". Fairness therefore concerns
both substantive and procedural aspects: a reason for dismissal
and reasonable carrying out of the dismissal. Until recently it
was automatically fair to dismiss a worker refusing to join a trade
85

FAIR DISMISSAL

union where there was an approved closed shop (union

membership agreement) in force. Legislation (including E A
1988) has effectively removed this ground for fair dismissal. See
unfair dismissal.
231. FAIR EMPLOYMENT COMMISSION (FEC): The FEC was
set up under the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989
and came into being on January 1, 1990. It replaced the Fair
Employment Agency and has approximately 60 staff. Its role
extends only to religious discrimination.
See List of Addresses.
232. FAIR EMPLOYMENT (NORTHERN IRELAND) ACT
1989: This replaces an earlier statute outlawing religious
discrimination in Northern Ireland, the Fair Employment Act
1976. The main provision are:
1. Registration of all employers with more than 25 employees,
and all public sector employers with the newly-formed Fair
Employment Commission (FEC).
2. A requirement on registered employers to submit a monitoring
return containing a breakdown of religious composition of the
company's workforce and its distribution throught the firm.
Compames with more than 250 employees are also required to
monitor applicants, successful and unsuccessful.
3. Companies must review their employment practices in
conjunction with their statistical returns at least every three years.
4. Provision is made for the pursuit of timetabled affirmative
action programmes towards achieving goals arrived at in
conjunction with the FEC.
5. The FEC is set up to administer the requirements of the Code
of Practice published by the Department of Economic
Development in 1989.
6. A Fair Employment Tribunal is set up to adjudicate on matters
concerned with the Act.
7. Indirect discrimination is outlawed.
8. There are provisions for criminal and economic sanctions for
non-compliance with the Act.
233. FAIR WAGES RESOLUTION: This was a Resolution of the
House of Commons, under which government departments
required firms undertaking contracts to observe fair labour
standards, including collectively bargained terms and conditions
of employment and the freedom of workers to be members of
trade unions. The Resolution was rescinded by the British
government in 1983, after it had denounced ILO Convention No.
94 on Labour Clauses (Public Contracts). See labour clauses.
86

FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION

234. FATHER (OR MOTHER) OF THE CHAPEL: The term used

in print unions to denote the senior lay official of the union
representing a chapel or departmental organisation of workers
in a print workshop.
235. FEATHERBEDDING: A term used to denote practices
employed by unions or groups of workers to improve conditions.
Seen, pejoratively, by managers and employers as resulting in
payment for work not done, overstaffing and doing non-essential
work, the same practices are seen by workers as contributing to
stable earnings and as protection against exploitation. See
restrictive practices.
236. FEC: See Fair Employment Commission.
237. FEDERATED COMPANY: A company which is a member of
its appropriate Employers' Association and which is therefore
party to any industry-wide agreements reached between that
association and the trade unions. Non-federated firms are thus
not members of the employers' association and are thus not
involved in relationships with other employers in their collective
bargaining. See also collective agreement: industry-wide
agreement.
238. FINAL OFFER ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
239. FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION: A term applied to various
forms of employee profit-sharing and share ownership schemes
which give employees a financial stake in the company for which
they work. Under the prompting of the Finance Acts of 1978,
1980 and 1984 employee shareholding schemes have grown in
the United Kingdom in recent years. A recent survey showed
that just over 20 per cent, of public and private companies
practised at least some form of employee share ownership,
although not necessarily for all their employees. Extension of
employee share ownership has been a much publicised feature
of the recent privatisation of some public sector corporations,
such as British Telecom. Although seen by some as a form of
workers' participation and industrial democracy, in most cases
the numbers of shares involved are small, providing workers with
no real shareholder power, and in some cases may involve the
allocation of non-voting shares only.
Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP): An idea brought
into United Kingdom from America which provides a way for
employees to obtain an equity stake in the company for which
87

FINANCIAL PARTICIPATION

they work that they would not otherwise be able to afford. A

trust is established which purchases shares on behalf of employees,
using money borrowed from a financial institution. The dividends
on the preference shares are used to pay off the loan and the shares
are then gradually released to the employees. They are still held
in trust but, if the scheme so allows, the employees can sell them.
ESOPs have been used in connection with management and
employee buy-outs of companies when new shares are acquired
at the buy-out price.
Profit Sharing Scheme: This form of financial participation
has a long history but has received renewed attention in the last
decade because of legislative encouragement and tax advantages.
Approved profit sharing (APS) schemes involve distribution of
shares to employees free of charge. The shares are purchased by
a trust established by the company and financed from company
profits. The shares are allocated to individual employees and held
by the trustees on their behalf for a minimum of two years.
Another scheme with tax advantages is S AYE (save-as-you-earn),
where an employee enters into a savings contract with the option
to purchase shares at the end of the contract period at a price
fixed previously. Both types of scheme must be open to all fulltime employees who have been with the company for at least five
years. In 1980 there were 184 APS and seven S A YE schemes.
This had increased by June 1986 to 562 APS and 541 S A YE.
There were also some 1,676 approved discretionary schemes
(allowing companies to grant share options to selected employees,
such as executives). There are also non-approved schemes which
do not enjoy the tax advantages.
Profit-related Pay (PRP): An element in the total pay package
which is related by some formula to the profitability of the
company (or a unit thereof). Survey evidence indicates that some
20 per cent, of private sector establishments had a cash based
profit sharing scheme in 1984 and 15 per cent, paid value added
bonuses.
As with profit sharing, there are tax advantages for employees
where the scheme is approved by the Inland Revenue. The
intention of a profit-related pay scheme is that part of the
employees' pay will move up or down according to the profits
made by the company, thus making pay more responsive to
company performance. As well as being seen as a way of
improving individual performance and motivation through giving
employees a direct interest in the success of the business, and
as a means of fostering commitment to the company, profit-related
pay is argued by its supporters to have employment implications

FIXED TERM AGREEMENT

in that labour costs will be automatically reduced when the

company runs into difficulties (through the profit-related
element), thus minimising the risk of layoff and redundancy.
These claimed advantages of profit-related pay have yet to be
substantiated by research findings.
Companies which have introduced financial participation
generally express relatively long-term objectives such as making
employees feel they are part of the company, increasing employee
commitment and making employees profit conscious. Among the
arguments raised against financial participation are: the double
risk it involves for employees in tying their jobs and savings to
the success of the same organisation; the recruitment inhibiting
effects which may result from existing employees attempting to
maximise their proportion of the profits; and the fear that
employees, through their representatives rather than as
shareholders, may demand a greater say than management is
prepared to concede in the strategic decisions which can affect
the company's profitability and consequently their pay.
240. FINE: In the context of industrial relations fines as a disciplinary
sanction are usually limited to cover instances in which union
members may be disciplined for breaking union rules. All unions
have appeals procedures through which members may appeal
against any internal disciplinary action. Occasionally employer's
disciplinary rules may provide for fines as a sanction. A fine may
also be levied by a court of law, for example against a union
engaged in industrial action held to be unlawful. See contempt
of court.
241. FIRING: Dismissing an employee. A worker whose contract of
employment is ended by an employer can be said to have been
"fired". Other colloquial expressions for this include being
sacked, given the sack, "given his/her cards", "sent down the
road". See also dismissal, unfair dismissal, redundancy.
242. FIRST-LINE SUPERVISOR: See foreman (forewoman).
243. FIXED TERM AGREEMENT: A collective agreement that
remains in force for an agreed period of time (one, two or three
years). In the British context of non-legally binding collective
agreements there is no legal enforceability for such agreed periods.
At one time very rare, such deals are becoming increasingly
common in the 1980s, with pay awards being agreed, for example,
for two year periods. They are generally known as long-term pay
agreements or deals.
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FIXED TERM CONTRACT

244. FIXED TERM CONTRACT: A contract of employment may

be for a fixed term as distinct from a term of indefinite duration.
A fixed term contract may be terminable by notice given by the
employer or employee. The non-renewal of a fixed term contract
counts as a dismissal, though it is not an unfair dismissal unless
it is unreasonable. An employee can, in writing, give up rights
to claim unfair dismissal and redundancy pay at the expiration
of the fixed term. See contract of employment.
245. FIXED TERM DEAL: See fixed term agreement.
246. FLEXIBILITY: A vogue term of the 1980s. Increased awareness
of international competition, uncertain market conditions and
the pace and scope of technological change (among other factors)
appear to have led to a renewed managerial emphasis on obtaining
flexibility in the use and deployment of labour, often aimed at
cost-effectiveness or labour cost cutting. The growth of
unemployment and labour legislation aimed at restricting union
power help provide a context within which management may be
able to obtain changes in existing working practices. Where
greenfield site companies are being set up flexible working
arrangements are usually introduced at the outset. There are in
practice very few legal constraints on U.K. management's quest
for flexibility.
It is usual to distinguish different kinds of flexibility, in
particular functional flexibility and numerical flexibility.
Functional Flexibility: Sometimes referred to as task flexibility,
this concerns breaking down traditional occupational boundaries,
whether between different skilled groups or between skilled and
other workers. Dual skilling (e.g. electrical and mechanical craft
skills) and, less commonly, multi-skilling may be an objective
of taskflexibility.Similarly, production workers may be required
to take on indirect tasks (e.g. quality control, cleaning of work
area, maintenance) and adjust to production demands by mobility
within the plant. From the workers' perspective functional
flexibility may involve intensification of work and a loss of
elements of job control. Associated with functionalflexibilityare
generic job titles and harmonisation of terms and conditions
of employment. See also demarcation.
Numerical Flexibility: This enables a firm to adjust rapidly
to changing levels of demand by increasing or decreasing the hours
worked by its employees (often referred to as "flexibility of time),
or by using subcontractors to undertake work. (This lastmentioned is also known as distancing.) Traditionally overtime
90

FOREMAN (FOREWOMAN)

has been used to meet increased demand and workers may have
been under-utilised in periods of low product demand, or goods
have been produced for stockpiling. Numerical flexibility aims
to avoid this by using atypical workers (e.g. part-time workers,
temporary workers) to meet periods of increased demand. The
numbers of part-time staff or the hours they work may be
increased or decreased as required and temporary workers hired
and fired as employer need determines. Another way of obtaining
flexibility of time is annualised hours, whereby the patterns of
work of full-time regular employees may be tailored to reflect
different levels of demand at different periods.
247. FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS: Under such arrangements
employees are required to be present at their place of work for
certain specified periods (called "core time") and to be at work
for a specified number of hours each week or month. But provided
these two conditions are met employees may choose their own
times for starting and finishing work. A concept much discussed
but so far only used for certain groups of white-collar workers.
248. FLEXITIME: See flexible working hours.
249. FOREIGN WORKER: Those who have no right of abode in
the United Kingdom (non-patrials) may be subjected to
restrictions in obtaining a work permit and in changing jobs. An
employer wishing to employ a foreign (non-EEC) worker has to
satisfy the Department of Employment that no suitable resident
labour is available for the vacancy in order to obtain a work
permit. Entry of foreign workers into the civil service is
restricted. Limitation of entry into the United Kingdom is
permitted where the Government finds a person unacceptable
by reason of public policy, health or security grounds. Once
admitted, equal treatment for the worker is required in labour
law and taxation and under the social security system.
250. FOREMAN (FOREWOMAN): Although difficult to define with
precision, this term usually denotes first line management:
managers directly concerned with the detailed supervision of
work. Although the work varies from company to company,
foremen/women may have responsibility for aspects of work
organisation, handling minor disciplinary and grievance issues,
and acting as a "communications channel" between the workforce
and higher management. In the years after World War II the
foreman/woman's powers declined rapidly in the face of strong
shop floor trade union organisation, but in recent years much
attention has been paid to developing their role as a part of
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FOREMAN (FOREWOMAN)

management's communications network. The term is often used

synonymously with supervisor.
251. FOREWOMAN: See foreman.
252. FORMALIZATION: The Donovan Report, published in 1968,
characterised the British system of shopfloor collective bargaining
identified in parts of manufacturing industry as, among other
things, informal in nature. By this the Commission meant that
the agreements emerging from such bargaining were typically
unwritten and of uncertain authorship, scope and legitimacy,
having frequently been negotiated by union and management
representatives whose status was unclear and whose authority to
enter into such agreements was often non-existent. Donovan
recommended the formalisation of such collective bargaining,
both through the writing down and codification of agreements
and through defining the status and bargaining authority of union
and management representatives. There is evidence that this
happened to a considerable extent during the 1970s, although
British collective bargaining remains still remarkably informal
compared to American and other European systems. Recent
research suggests that formalization has primarily affected
"market relations", that is, aspects of the terms and conditions
of service of workers, while bargaining over "managerial
relations", decisions affecting the organisation, pace and intensity
of work, remain largely informal.
253. FRAGMENTED BARGAINING: A term used by the authors
of the 1968 Donovan Commission Report to characterise an
important aspect of shopfloor bargaining in manufacturing
industry during the 1960s. It refers to a bargaining situation in
which different groups of workers in one factory or different trade
unions in one factory bargain separately, each on their own behalf.
It is bargaining that is uncoordinated, at the factory level, between
managers and unions or groups of workers. Fragmented
bargaining, with its built-in potential for a constant process of
claims based on the maintenance of internal differentials, was
identified as a contributor to wage inflation in Britain in the 1960s
and 1970s. The reform of collective bargaining in the 1970s has
substantially reduced the extent of fragmented bargaining. See
bargaining structure.
254. FRANCHISING: A form of self employment where a company
(the franchisor) allows another party (the franchisee) the right
to provide a service or sell a product in a specific area. Examples
include fast food outlets, retailing of products and services from
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FRICTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT

socks to printing. It has been estimated that some 18,500 people

operate as franchisees in Britain, a number expected to increase.
255. FREE RIDER: A non-unionist in a unionised workplace or
industry; a person who enjoys the benefits of union collective
bargaining activities without paying anything to support those
activities. The closed shop is the traditional union method of
reducing or eliminating free riders.
256. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Freedom of association
includes the "positive" right to join a trade union and take part
in its affairs and the "negative" right to abstain from
membership, also called the "right to dissociate". Although
freedom of association was traditionally a social right, it is now
promoted through legal provisions. The positive aspect is legally
stated in EPCA 1978 by the rights of individual employees not
to be dismissed or be subject to employer action short of dismissal
because of membership of an independent union or taking part
in its activities at the appropriate time, that is, either outside
working hours or at a time within working hours with the
employer's agreement or consent. Also relevant are the time off
rights which assume union recognition, though the basic freedom
of association rights apply whether or not the employer recognises
the union for collective bargaining. The negative right has been
enacted in (equivalent) form: the employee's right not to be
dismissed because of non-membership of any or a particular
union, and the right not to be subject to employer action short
of dismissal to compel membership of any or a particular union.
Both sets of rights are enforceable in the industrial tribunals,
and are supported by a generous scale of compensation in the
event of infringement and the possibility of "interim relief".
In addition, the dissociation rights are supported by a procedure
for joinder. Although the legal support for the positive right has
not provided an effective deterrent to anti-union discrimination
or a means of promoting collective bargaining, the negative right
makes it virtually impossible lawfully to enforce the closed shop.
The development of both the positive and negative rights has
been influenced by international labour standards, particularly
ILO Conventions and the European Convention on Human
Rights.
257. FREELANCE WORKER: A form of self employment whereby
a worker offers a service to a number of different employers on
a fee basis. Examples would include journalists, musicians.
258. FRICTIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT: See unemployment.
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FRINGE BENEFITS

259. FRINGE BENEFITS: Many employees receive from thenemployers payments or services over and above the wage or salary
paid directly for the performance of work. Such additional
benefits may include access to occupational pension schemes,
travel allowances, discounts on the company's goods or services
to employees and their families, and access to recreational and
social facilities. At higher managerial levels the list may extend
to cover cars, assistance with school fees and mortgages, cheap
loans, and the provision of private medical services. Although
many of these benefits are now subject to taxation, they are a
valued and important aspect of a remuneration package and are
often seen by compames as useful devices in helping to secure
employee loyalty and commitment to the company, not least
because of the problems employees may encounter if they lose
access to such benefits. In recent years some criticism has been
voiced at British industry's failure to control its cost levels on
fringe benefits.
260. FULL-TIME OFFICIAL: a trade union official employed by
the union to work on its behalf (and thus to be distinguished from
lay officials). Full-time officials (FTOs) may have responsibilities
for defined geographical areas (regional, district and area officials),
for specific functional tasks (law, health and safety, training,
organisation, etc.), or for specific industries or occupations. Such
officials may generally be elected or appointed to their posts,
although the situation affecting most general secretaries and
officials of similar level (e.g. union presidents) has been changed
by the provisions of Part 1 of the Trade Union Act 1984, which
requires that all members of a union's "principal executive
committee" must be elected by individual secret ballot at least
every five years.
The committee is defined to include all voting members, and
this often includes union general secretaries and their equivalents
who have a vote as ex officio members. These electoral provisions
have been extended in the Employment Act 1988.
261. FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY: See flexibility.

94

262. GANG PIECEWORK: See group piecework.

263. GENERAL SECRETARY: In most trade unions the senior fulltime official is called the general secretary. The senior official
of the TUC is given the same title. General secretaries are subject
to the supervision and direction of the union's national executive
committee, although in practice they often wield considerable
authority over executive policy. Frequently the best-known public
representatives of the unions, they also dominate the powerful
committees of the TUC, such as the Finance and General
Purposes Committee, as well as making up the bulk of union
representation at the top levels of tripartite structures. Following
the passage of the Employment Act 1988 all are now subject to
re-election by individual secret membership ballot at least every
five years. See full-time official.
264. GENERAL UNION: See trade union.
265. GENERIC JOB GRADES: See generic job titles.
266. GENERIC JOB TITLES: Broad job titles or grades of work
rather than narrow, more specific titles, e.g. "production worker"
rather than "machine operator" or "fitter". The use of generic
job titles, and broad bands or job grades in job evaluation
schemes, is associated with moves towards taskflexibilityand
removal of demarcation between workers.
267. GENUINE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION (GOQ):
Applicable where a particular sex or race is a permissible
qualification for holding a job, as specified in the Sex
Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976.
268. GOING RATE: The rate of pay or wages generally assumed to
be applicable in a particular district, often for a particular industry
or occupation. There may thus be, for example, a "going rate"
of pay for electricians in the Midlands, and that rate should be
high enough to attract workers to jobs paying that rate. The notion
is thus related to the concept of a "local labour market".
Employers' Associations often provide information on going
rates to their members, as information relevant to collective
bargaining over pay. The term can also be used to refer to the
average pay increase in a particular year or wage round, again
in respect of geographical areas and/or industrial or occupational
groups. See also wage: wage round.
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GOLDEN FORMULA

269. GOLDEN FORMULA: The scope of the freedom to organise

industrial action is defined by reference to what is sometimes
called the golden formula: namely that the action must be "in
contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute". Trade unions
organising action that falls into that definition have historically
been protected from civil action in the courts by so-called
immunities. Since 1980, however, the definition of trade dispute
has been narrowed: several categories of industrial action are no
longer covered by the new definition, hence exposing the union(s)
taking such action to the possibility of legal actions. The immunity
has been removed in some cases even where a trade dispute is
contemplated or furthered. See trade dispute.
270. GOLDEN HANDSHAKE: A sum of money paid to senior staff
(usually directors and top management) on the termination of
their employment. In effect a form of redundancy payment. Such
payments can be very large. Companies are not required to
disclose amounts paid to individuals, only aggregate payments.
271. GOLDEN HELLO: A one-off payment of money designed to
entice someone into employment. Used to attract scarce labour
away from other employers, particularly in the City of London,
the country's banking and finance centre.
272. GOOD FAITH BARGAINING: Entering into "real" rather
than sham negotiations. The term has no legal meaning in Britain.
273. GOQ: See genuine occupational qualification.
274. GO-SLOW: A form of collective industrial action characterised
by a slowing-down in the pace or intensity of work, normally
therefore also involving a restriction or reduction in output.
Usually associated with action at a relatively low organisational
level, often involving small groups of workers. Such action is
rarely organised on a national or official basis. But see also work
to rule.
275. GRADE CREEP: In companies operating payment systems
based on job evaluation methods, workers often press, through
their unions if they exist, to have their jobs re-evaluated and regraded, usually on the grounds of a change in job specification.
If successful, such pressures lead to grade creep or drift, as jobs
are reclassified upwards. This device provides workers with a
means of obtaining increased earnings without needing to
negotiate increases in pay rates.
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GROUP INCENTIVE SCHEME

276. GRADE DRIFT: See grade creep.

277. GREENFIELD SITE: A site on which a new factory is built
in a part of the country not traditionally associated with industry.
Greenfield site locations allow employers to take advantage, on
occasions, of lower local pay rates and of a brand-new workforce,
often with little or no previous experience of factory work and
trade unions. Starting up on a greenfield site thus enables
employers to start their production and employment policies
unencumbered by tradition and historical legacy. In recent years
the electronics industry has been associated in particular with
the use of greenfield sites, most notably in the Thames valley
west of London, the so-called "silicon valley".
278. GRIEVANCE: Grievances are complaints, usually, though not
always, lodged by individual workers or groups of workers
(whether or not represented by a trade union). Grievances
frequently concern wages and terms and conditions of
employment, or management action, such as discipline. Where
procedures exist, attempts are made to resolve grievances through
grievance or dispute procedures. See also status quo clause.
279. GRIEVANCE ARBITRATION: A form of dispute settlement
for handling individual grievances which is common in the United
States but much less so in the United Kingdom. See grievance
procedure, arbitration.
280. GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE: A machinery for seeking to
resolve employee grievances either individual (individual
grievance procedure) or collective (collective grievance procedure)
although in practice the terms are not always used with such
precision. Such procedures usually deal with employee
complaints, e.g. of ill-treatment, or with allegations of breaches
of agreement, rather than with such matters as pay claims. See
disputes procedure.
281. GROSS MISCONDUCT: See summary dismissal.
282. GROSS PAY: See pay.
283. GROUP INCENTIVE SCHEME: Any system of payment
relating output to the performance of groups of workers rather
than to individual levels of performance. A scheme may cover
groups within a factory, or the entire factory workforce (when
it may be called a factory or plant incentive scheme). Despite
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GROUP INCENTIVE SCHEME

evidence of growing interest in such schemes among personnel

managers and a preference for group rather than individual-based
schemes, there is no clear evidence of their extended use. See
also profit sharing schemes.
284. GROUP PIECEWORK:
285. GUARANTEE PAY: See pay.
286. GUARANTEED WEEK: A provision in a collective agreement
which guarantees an employee either a certain number of days
or weeks of employment, or payment in lieu.
287. GUIDELINES: Generally, advice or recommendations of a nonbinding nature intended to achieve consistent behaviour. In
industrial relations the term has a wide but not very specific usage.
Two clear examples of guidelines, however, are those laid down
by the Employment Appeals Tribunal encouraging employers
to adopt consistent and reasonable practices in their handling of
disciplinary and dismissal cases, and, at a very different level,
guidelines used during some periods of voluntary incomes policy
that seek to indicate general levels of acceptable pay increases
rather than to lay down strict maxima. See also Codes of Practice.

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H
288. HARMONIZATION: Narrowing or eliminating the differences
in the basis of treatment of manual and non-manual workers to
achieve "single status" in respect of fringe benefits and other
terms and conditions of employment. Remaining differences
should be based on the job rather than status. Harmonization
of terms and conditions is often seen as an element in obtaining
greater flexibility in the workforce and as part of a wider
commitment-seeking approach to managing labour and a number
of British companies are now introducing it for these reasons.
289. HEAD OFFICE: The central office or headquarters of a
company, a government agency or a trade union. The term usually
refers to the actual building in which those associated with the
most senior decision-making level of an organisation work.
290. HEADQUARTERS: See head office.
291. HEALTH AND SAFETY: A TUC Report in 1987 noted that
some 700 workers die each year in accidents at work and 275,000
are injured, and that there are some 900 notified deaths from
"prescribed" industrial diseases. The extent of occupational
illness is much greater than this but difficult to quantify. The
trend is disturbing, as the statistics for total and major injury
accidents in manufacturing and construction have been rising in
the 1980s. The incidence rate for fatalities and major injuries in
1985 in manufacturing industry was 91 per 100,000 employees
and in construction 232.
Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 (HSWA 1974): This
is the principal legislation dealing with health and safety at work.
It enables the Health and Safety Commission (see below) to draw
up detailed regulations and codes on specific issues, and imposes
legal duties on employers and employees and on the designers,
manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, etc. and others to
uphold reasonable safety standards. An employer must ensure,
so far as is reasonably practicable, both the health, safety and
welfare at work of all employees and that other people, not in
his or her employment, are not exposed to risk. Employees must
take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and
others who may be affected by what they do, or do not do, at
work. The act also requires employers to consult with the safety
representatives (see below) of recognised trade unions.
Health and Safety Commission: The Commission is the public
agency with responsibility for proposing regulations and codes
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HEALTH AND SAFETY

on industrial safety and generally for promoting health and safety

at work. It is composed of representatives of both employers and
employees and of local authorities and is responsible to the
government.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE): The Executive is the
public agency with responsibility for inspection and enforcement
of health and safety legislation. It employs inspectors with powers
to issue improvement notices, requiring a person to remedy a
contravention of the law, and prohibition notices, requiring a
person to cease carrying out an activity. An inspector may initiate
proceedings for criminal offences if a breach of the general duties,
regulations or other statutory provisions is discovered.
Factory Inspectorate: This is the largest of the inspectorates
under the HSE. The others include the Nuclear Installations
Inspectorate, and the Mines and Quarries Inspectorate.
The Factory Inspectorate is responsible for most of
manufacturing industry, construction and other sectors, including
for example docks, education, health services and entertainment.
The number of inspectors has been reduced in recent years,
although it is intended to reverse this trend. At the end of 1985
there were fewer than 600 inspectors responsible for inspecting
some 400,000 fixed establishments and many additional transient
workplaces. In each of the most recent years around 5,000
improvement and prohibition notices have been issued by the
Factory Inspectorate. Under the HSWA (see above), Factory
Inspectors have extensive powers of entry, investigation and
information seeking. In addition to the power to issue notices,
inspectors may institute a criminal prosecution in the magistrates'
court or Crown court (depending on the seriousness of the offence)
alleging a specific breach of a relevant statutory provision. Such
prosecutions may result in the imposition of a fine or (extremely
rare) imprisonment. In 1985 convictions were obtained in 1534
cases (a "success rate" of 86 per cent.) and resulted in fines
averaging around 500 per conviction.
Safety Committee: Where asked to do so by two or more safety
representatives, the employer is required to form a safety
committee. Employers without recognised unions are free to
establish safety committees if they wish although their existence
is more likely in organised companies. The statutory provisions
have served to increase the number of such committees and other
health and safety representation. A survey in 1984 found that
some form of health and safety representation (committee, worker
representation) was almost universal in public sector establish100

HOLIDAY

ments and existed in three-quarters of private sector

establishments. A joint health and safety committee was found
to exist in a fifth of all private sector establishments, with 41 per
cent, of establishments reporting the existence of such a committee at a higher level within the organisation. A joint committee
existed in 23 per cent, of public sector establishments, with 80
per cent, reporting that such a committee existed at a higher level.
Safety Representative: The Safety Representatives and Safety
Committees Regulations of 1977 enable an independent trade
union to appoint safety representatives from among the employees
in an organisation where it is recognised. Safety representatives
(who may or may not be shop stewards) have certain powers
under the HSWA 1974: to investigate potential hazards and
dangerous occurences and to examine causes of accidents; to
investigate complaints relating to an employee's health and safety
or welfare at work; to make representations to the employer on
these and on general matters affecting the health, safety or welfare
of employees; to carry out inspections in accordance with the
regulations; to represent employees in consultations at the
workplace with inspectors; to receive information from inspectors
in accordance with the legislation; and to attend meetings of safety
committees. An employer must permit a safety representative
to take reasonable paid time off for performing these functions
and to be trained. In 1985 the TUC estimated that some 130,000
safety representatives had been appointed. The TUC and
individual unions provide training courses for such
representatives. See time-off right.
292. HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION: See Health and
Safety.
293. HOLDING COMPANY: A holding company is a company
controlling a subsidiary company. See subsidiary company.
294. HOLIDAY: With the exception, until recently, of workers in
Wages Council and Statutory Wages Board industries, and
women and young workers, whose right to certain bank and other
holidays was protected by the Factories Act 1961, no workers
in Britain (other than shop assistants who are legally entitled to
half a day's holiday each week) enjoy statutory minimum holidays.
A European "Recommendation" on matters including annual
holidays was blocked by the British government in 1984. For
most workers, therefore, holidays are decided through collective
bargaining or unilateral employer decision. Recent figures suggest
a basic holiday entitlement of 20 to 25 working days for full-time
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HOLIDAY

employees, although this conceals large variations. Non-manual

employees do rather better than manual workers, 30 per cent,
of non-manual workers gettingfiveweeks or more compared with
19 per cent, of manuals. Holiday entitlements in Britain are lower
than in many other European countries. For many workers
holiday pay consists of the basic weekly or monthly wage (without
overtime and other bonus elements) although agreements may
be reached to pay a holiday bonus or supplement to help offset
any loss in earnings.
There are presently eight official public holidays in Britain. For
most workers these days are not guaranteed holidays, but it is
normal for those who work on public holidays to be paid at
enhanced rates and/or to receive time off in lieu in compensation.
295. HOMEWORK: Work done in the domestic home for an
employer who "puts out" work. Also known as outwork.
296. HOME WORKER: Someone (usually a woman) undertaking
homework. The employment status of homeworkers is often
uncertain; some will be employees, others self-employed,
depending on the particular circumstances. Estimates of the
number of homeworkers in Britain vary considerably; a figure
of around 400,000 is often quoted. Research evidence shows that
many homeworkers are low paid in comparison to "in" workers
(those who work on the employer's premises) and do not receive
employment-related benefits. See atypical workers.
297. HORIZONTAL UNION: See trade union.
298. HRM: See Human Resource Management.
299. HSE: See Health and Safety Executive.
300. HSWA 1974: See Health and Safety: Health and Safety at Work
etc. Act 1974.
301. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (HRM): The
management of employees as a business resource. Sometimes the
phrase is used in Britain simply as an alternative to "personnel
management" but generally HRM is thought to be distinguishable
from personnel management by being more integrated into
corporate level strategic decision making and by not necessarily
being the responsibility of only one particular management
function. Associated with HRM is an individualised approach
to managing the employment relationship with an emphasis, for
example, on direct employee communication. As such it is
sometimes viewed as a union-bypassing strategy.
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302. IDLE TIME: Time when a worker has work available but does
not do it. It is distinguished from down time in that it carries
no implication that work is suspended because a machine is in
need of repair or adjustment.
303. ILO CONVENTIONS: ILO Conventions have been influential
in the drafting of several statutory employment rights. For
example, the legal protection for the positive aspect of freedom
of association was influenced by ILO Conventions No. 87 on
Freedom of Association, No. 98 on the Right to Organise and
Bargain Collectively, and No. 135 on Protection and Facilities
for Workers' Representatives. But ILO Conventions, even if
ratified, are not binding on the British government or courts.
Moreover, in furtherance of its deregulation policy, the British
government has, in the 1980s, denounced several ILO
Conventions, for example Convention No. 94 on Labour Clauses
(Public Contracts), No. 95 on Protection of Wages, and No. 26
on Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery. It has refused to ratify
Convention No. 158 on Termination of Employment. See Fair
Wages Resolution, Wages Act 1986.
304. IMMUNITIES: There is no positive right to take industrial
action in Britain. The freedom to do so comes from the granting
of protection from action under the common law. This protection
is provided where action concerns a trade dispute. The scope
of the immunities and the definition of "trade dispute" are
therefore of great importance in determining the right to strike
in Britain. The statutory immunities from common law liabilities
thus constitute the legal freedom to take industrial action. The
principal common law liabilities are based on the law of tort (civil
wrongs). They include liabilities for conspiracy, intimidation,
inducing breach of contract and interference with contract. The
immunities from these liabilities are contained in TULRA and
apply only where the strike organisers act in contemplation or
furtherance of a trade dispute; the so-called "golden formula".
Some relevant torts are not, however, covered by the immunity,
for example, interference with business by unlawful means,
especially if the unlawful means involves the non-performance
of a statutory duty. In addition, the EA 1980 and EA 1982 and
the TUA 1984 removed the protection of the immunities from
certain categories of industrial action, including secondary action,
official strikes held without a strike ballot, and action to promote
union- and recognition-only practices. As well as reducing the
scope of the immunities, the definition of "trade dispute" has
also been narrowed.
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IMPLIED TERMS

305. IMPLIED TERMS: A contract may contain terms which are

not expressly stated, but which are implied because the parties
so intend or by operation of law. See contract of employment,
express term.
306. IMPROVEMENT NOTICE: A health and safety inspector may
serve an improvement notice on someone contravening a statutory
provision relating to health and safety at work, requiring the
situation to be remedied within a specified period. There is a
right to appeal against the notice to an Industrial Tribunal. The
tribunal may cancel, affirm or amend the notice. It is a criminal
offence to contravene the requirements of an improvement notice.
See Health and Safety: Factory Inspectorate, prohibition
notice.
307. INCENTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEM: A system of payment in
which a proportion of earnings is related to either the level of
worker effort or the level of output. Incentive payment systems
therefore include systems of payment by results such as
piecework, on both individual and group bases. It is, however,
also used to cover schemes in which workers may be encouraged
to perform well without any necessary relationship to production,
e.g. attendance bonuses, merit pay, performance related pay.
More rarely it is used to describe longer-term reward systems
in which workers are entitled to a share in the company's
performance and profitability, such as profit-related pay and
employee share ownership plans. See financial participation.
308. INCOME SUPPORT: This is a non-contributory means-tested
benefit paid by the state to families if their total income falls below
a certain minimum level and the head of the household is out
of work. Introduced in April 1988 through the Social Security
Act 1986 to replace the previous system of "Supplementary
Benefit", the system replaced the previous single level of payment
with lower rates for young people. Although the payment, as with
the old Supplementary Benefit system, can technically be made
to the families of workers on strike, the law has stated since 1980
that any worker on strike will be deemed to be in receipt of strike
pay at a level set from time to time by the government (in 1990
19.50 per week) whether or not the strike pay is in fact being
paid, and that Income Support will be reduced by that amount.
309. INCOMES POLICY: Governmental policies designed to restrict
the rate of growth of pay in an effort to reduce the level of
inflation. Post-war incomes policies are generally dated from the
so-called "pay pause" of 1961, and were in force during the
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INDEMNITY FUND

second half of the 1960s and for much of the 1970s, under both
Conservative and Labour governments. They are conventionally
divided into "voluntary" policies, in which success rests on the
government's ability to persuade unions and employers to accept
the policy, and "statutory" policies under which the government
has the power to invoke legal sanctions against non-conformers.
The detail of incomes policies has varied considerably: some have
prescribed norms in terms of a percentage increase, others in
terms of absolute amounts of money; some have included controls
on prices (prices and incomes policies); some have allowed
exemptions for such factors as low pay and increases related to
productivity improvements (see productivity agreements). It is
generally agreed that they succeeded in having a limited impact
for a limited period, but were almost always followed by "catchu p " periods of rapid pay increase, often accompanied by militant
industrial action, especially by groups of public sector workers
who felt that, for a number of reasons, they had fared worse than
the private sector under incomes policies. The electoral defeats
of the Conservative government in 1974 and of the Labour
government in 1979 are both attributed in part to public disquiet
at widespread industrial action related to attempts by unions to
defeat incomes policies. Since 1979 the government has followed
an economic policy that associates inflation with increases in the
money supply (see monetarism) and hence perceives no role for
incomes policies. See cash limits.
310. INCREMENTAL PAYMENT: Several public sector employers
(civil service, education, local government) appoint employees
to scales or ranges of pay. After starting work on either the
minimum point of the scale or whatever is decided as the
appropriate entry level, employees move automatically to a higher
point on the scale each year until they reach the maximum.
Movement up the scale may in some cases be withheld as a
disciplinary sanction or in the event of alleged unsatisfactory
performance. The introduction of appraisal in the public sector
is expected to lessen the extent to which progression up an
incremental pay scale will be automatic on seniority.
311. INCREMENTAL SCALE: See incremental payment.
312. INDEMNITY FUND: A fund maintained by an employers'
association to indemnify its members against financial losses
caused through strikes. Employers' associations in Britain have
not succeeded in establishing such funds on any permanent basis.
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313. INDEPENDENT EXPERT: Where a claim is made for equal

pay for work of equal value the IT, after an initial filtering
process, appoints an independent expert to investigate and report
to the tribunal on whether the two jobs are of equal value.
Independent experts are appointed by ACAS, from among
academics, consultants and others deemed to have appropriate
experience. They act on a fee-paid basis as required.
314. INDEPENDENT REVIEW COMMITTEE: This is a
committee of the TUC appointed to hear cases alleging
unreasonable exclusion or expulsion from membership of a trade
union. Individuals may also complain of such exclusion or
expulsion to an IT.
315. INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION: A trade union certified
as independent of the employer by the Certification Officer. See
certificate of independence.
316. INDEXATION: Any system in which any or all aspects of a
payment or reward system are linked to the cost of living and
rise automatically with inflation. In Britain the item most
frequently index-linked is occupational pensions, especially those
in the public sector. Since the initial approval of the idea by the
Conservative government in 1972, around six million public sector
workers are members of an index-linked scheme. Index-linking
is usually applied retrospectively, every April, based on
government estimates of the rate of inflation for the previous year.
Index-linked schemes may be either "full" or "partial" according
to whether they provide increases that compensate fully or
partially for cost of living adjustments. The state old-age pension
scheme is only partially index-linked. In recent years there have
been moves to extend the concept of index-linking into private
occupational pension schemes.
317. INDEX-LINKING: See indexation.
318. INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION: See discrimination.
319. INDIRECT LABOUR: See indirect workers.
320. INDIRECT WORKERS : Workers not directly concerned with
production. It is impossible to give precise definitions, but such
workers would include those involved with maintenance and
repair, store-keepers, drivers, etc. Usually applied as a
subcategory of manual workers to distinguish them from direct
workers.
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321. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS : See employment protection rights.

322. INDUSTRIAL ACTION: The term that refers to all forms of
collective action taken by workers against employers in pursuit
of their claims or grievances. It thus includes such forms of action
as a strike, a work to rule, an overtime ban, etc. Technically
it also covers equivalent action taken by employers, such as a
lockout and mass dismissals of workers, although in popular
usage this is less common. Since 1980 the legal status of all forms
of industrial action has been changed and all forms of collective
union action, not merely strikes, are covered by the new
legislation. See trade dispute, immunities.
323. INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
324. INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT: In the United Kingdom this term
may be used synonymously with industrial action, but it is also
used to cover other manifestations of industrial discontent such
as high levels of lateness or absenteeism, turnover, acts of
individual sabotage, etc. The term is also used in a more
theoretical sense to capture the notion of structured differences
of interests between workers and employers (or between labour
and capital in the Marxist sense). Thus for Marxist writers, for
example, industrial conflict is an endemic feature of capitalist
societies. There is some uncertainty as to whether collective
bargaining should be classified as a form of industrial conflict;
some writers give it as an example of industrial peace, as opposed
to conflict, while others see collective bargaining as the
"institutionalisation of conflict".
325. INDUSTRIAL COURT: The Court was brought into operation
in Northern Ireland in 1963. Its main functions parallel those
performed by the Central Arbitration Committee in Great Britain
and relate to collective disputes. It additionally determines claims
from a failure to comply with a Labour Relations Agency
recommendation for trade union recognition.
326. INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY: A term generally used to argue
that, by analogy with political democracy, workers are entitled
to a significant voice in the decisions affecting the companies in
which they work. The term is not used in a consistent manner.
It is used by some who argue that any system short of full workers'
control is a denial of industrial democracy, and this was the
standpoint adopted by union activists in the early decades of the
century who advocated a form of syndicalism or "guild socialism"
as an appropriate form of workers' control. The same term,
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INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY

industrial democracy, is also used by those who claim that

collective bargaining provides the most effective means of worker
influence and hence that collective bargaining is a form of
industrial democracy. During the late 1970s the term became
specifically associated with the proposals of the Bullock Report,
which advocated trade union rights to representation on the
boards of directors of large companies. Before and since then it
has been loosely used to describe various forms of consultation,
employee involvement and participation, but in the United
Kingdom it tends to be associated primarily with union-based
structures, as opposed to systems that operate independently of
trade unions.
327. INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE: See trade dispute.
328. INDUSTRIAL INJURY: An injury sustained by a person at
work, arising out of and in the course of his or her employment.
Compensation may be payable through the state's national
insurance benefits and, if liability in tort can be established,
damages may also be recoverable for negligence or breach of
statutory duty. See Health and Safety.
329. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS (IR): The term used to seek to
delimit a subset of social relations in industry as a coherent field
of academic study or practitioner expertise. Starting from the
point that not all social relations in industry can be defined as
industrial relations (the term would usually be seen as excluding
on the one hand the partly social interaction of workers and on
the other employer decisions on product mix, to give two
examples), academics and others have sought to define the term
in various ways. For Flanders, who characterised industrial
relations systems as systems of rules, "the study of industrial
relations may ... be described as a study of the institutions of
job regulation". This influential definition has been criticised
as excessively restrictive and as focusing on methods of conflict
resolution rather than on the underlying sources of conflict. Thus,
as Hyman has argued, it would exclude from the study debates
as to whether "the existing structure of ownership and control
in industry is an inevitable source of conflict". Hyman's preferred
definition is that "industrial relations is the study of the processes
of control over work relations; and among these processes, those
involving collective worker organisation and action are of
particular concern". Other writers, such as Gospel, have sought
to define industrial relations through a taxonomie approach. Thus
he defines work relations as those affecting technology and work
organisation; employment relations as those covering job structure,
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INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL (IT)

security and the package of rewards, and industrial relations as

those affecting collective bargaining and union/management
relations. This definition of IR may be unduly restrictive, and
under the Hyman definition aspects of all three would be included
within industrial relations.
It would be a mistake to think that the term is used
systematically and rigorously by academics or practitioners (there
is no agreement as to whether it is singular or plural!). The
academic study of industrial relations has been characterised by
a marked eclecticism and lack of theoretical rigour, while the
practice has often been ad hoc and opportunistic.
The term labour relations is sometimes used to specify purely
collective aspects of the subject, but the two terms are also used
interchangeably.
330. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MANAGER: In some companies
where trade unions are recognised a functional distinction is made
between managers who handle collective bargaining and other
relationships with trade unions (industrial relations managers)
and those who handle individual aspects of employment such as
recruitment, training, etc. (personnel managers). In other
companies no such distinction is made and the personnel manager
will handle both areas.
331. INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL (IT): ITs are tripartite judicial
bodies with jurisdiction over a range of individual employment
rights. First established in 1964, they have grown into the key
judicial institution in individual employment matters, handling
some 35,000 applications a year. The main jurisdiction, in terms
of caseload, is unfair dismissal.
With central offices in London, Glasgow and Belfast, the ITs
sit throughout the United Kingdom. Those who chair tribunals
are solicitors or barristers of at least seven years' experience,
appointed full- or part-time. The Chair sits with two lay members,
paid on a fee-paid basis, who are drawn from panels of those
nominated via employer organisations and those nominated via
employee organisations. The role of the lay members is not to
represent particular interests but to contribute industrial relations
expertise and knowledge and act as equal judges with the legal
member.
In Great Britain appeals go to the EAT and then, with leave,
to the ordinary courts. In Northern Ireland appeals go direct to
the Court of Appeal. Thus the ITs are constrained in their
decision making by precedents handed down by the higher courts.
The ITs are claimed to offer a range of advantages over the
ordinary courts for handling employment cases: their
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INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL (IT)

acceptability, fostered by their tripartite composition; their alleged

greater ability to pay heed to the policy intentions of the
legislation; and a range of operational advantages concerning cost,
accessibility, freedom from technicality, expedition and expertise.
These advantages are displayed by the ITs in comparison with
the ordinary courts: for example, no court fees are payable and
costs are not normally awarded against the losing party; legal
representation is not required; most cases get to hearing within
10 weeks and are heard within a day; no gowns or wigs are worn
by the tribunal members and hearings are held in office buildings.
However, the ITs have been criticised for becoming more
legalistic and formal than hoped for and because in practice,
despite the self-help ideology of the system, the unrepresented
person is at a disadvantage. The ITs follow the usual British court
practice of adversarial (rather than inquisitorial) hearings with
the parties themselves bearing the responsibilityfor determining
the nature of evidence, documentation, and witness testimony
to be presented. The expertise displayed by tribunals has also
been questioned particularly, but not only, in the context of the
discrimination jurisdictions. When hearing a case under SDA
or EqPA the tribunals try to have a woman on the tribunal and
when hearing a claim under RRA select someone with experience
of race relations to sit. In Northern Ireland separate tribunals
hear complaints relating to religious discrimination. Many claims
to ITs do not in fact reach a hearing but are abandoned by the
applicant or settled through ACAS or LRA individual
conciliation, or privately.
332. INDUSTRIAL UNION: See trade union.
333. INDUSTRY-WIDE
agreement.

AGREEMENT:

See

collective

334. INFORMALITY: Many aspects of industrial relations in

Britain, whether regulated through joint agreement or by
unilateral managerial or worker control, are uncodified and
unwritten. This derives in part from the traditions of voluntarism
in which collective agreements have no legal force and are
therefore not subject to judicial scrutiny. Agreements and
understandings may thus take the form of longstanding practices
sanctioned by time and tradition (see custom and practice). The
authorship of and legitimate authority for such informal practices
are often uncertain, and they may well be vague and unspecific.
Although efforts to reduce the level of informality during the
1970s met with some success, most commentators agree that
British industrial relations retains a high degree of informality
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INTERIM RELIEF

compared to other European, American and Australian practice.

Opinion is divided as to whether this matters: some argue that
an element of informality "lubricates" the formal machinery,
helping it to function better; others argue that it may be a source
of "restrictive practices" and/or managerial arbitrariness.
335. INFORMATION: See disclosure of information.
336. INJUNCTION: An injunction is a court order requiring a person
either to cease doing something, to refrain from unlawful strike
action, for example, or, in its mandatory form, to do something.
The courts are normally reluctant to grant an injunction in order
to restrain an employer from breaking the contract of
employment, preferring the penalty of damages, and injunctions
are most commonly sought by employers against trade unions.
Injunctions imposed on trade unions and union officials are
described as "labour" injunctions. Most labour injunctions are
"interlocutory", that is, they require the allegedly unlawful strike
to be called off until the case is heard on full trial, where a
permanent injunction might be granted together with damages.
The theory of the interlocutory injunction is that the "status quo"
will be preserved until the full trial. The reality is that in strike
situations the full trial hardly ever occurs and the legal rights
of the parties are effectively determined in interlocutory
proceedings which are often brief. There has been union criticism
of the apparent ease and speed with which injunctions have been
granted to employers in strikes called in recent years. In exercising
its discretion as to whether to award an injunction, the court has
regard to whether there is a serious issue to be tried, the balance
of convenience, and, in cases alleging unlawful strikes, the
likelihood of a defence based on a statutory immunity succeeding
at the full trial. The reduction in the scope of the immunities,
and in particular the requirement for a ballot before strike action
is lawful, has increased the ability of employers to obtain
injunctions. Disobedience of the terms of an injunction may lead
to contempt of court proceedings and the union may be subject
to a fine or, have its funds sequestrated. See sequestration, trade
dispute.
337. INTERIM RELIEF: When an employee alleges that he or she
was dismissed because of membership of a union, or taking part
in its activities, or non-membership of a union, he or she may
seek interim relief. This is an order of an industrial tribunal
requiring the continuation of pay until the matter is finally
determined by the tribunal. The tribunal will make this order
only if it considers it "likely" that the claim will succeed at the
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full hearing. The application must be presented within seven days

of the dismissal and, in the case of anti-union discrimination,
be supported by a certificate from an authorised trade union
official. See freedom of association.
338. INTERNAL LABOUR MARKET: Operating within individual
firms, internal labour markets are forms of structured labour
market characterised by the following features: access from
outside (the external labour market) is restricted to specific entry
points, often at lower levels; more senior jobs are filled by internal
promotion or transfer, often accompanied by in-house job-specific
and firm-specific training. Such internal structures are seen as
characteristic of certain large organisations, especially those which
claim an organisational benefit from encouraging long service,
which they do both through providing internal opportunities and
through reducing the ability to move to another firm. Some
authors also perceive them as devices for enhancing managerial
control over the workforce through a process of stratification and
division.
339. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO): See
ILO conventions.
340. INTER-UNION DISPUTES: Disagreements between trade
unions, either about membership (see Bridlington Agreement)
or about rival claims to exclusive rights to perform certain jobs
or types of work. The former are usually resolved by reference
to the TUC Disputes Committee. The latter may result in
industrial action, sometimes also known as demarcation
disputes. Such industrial action between workers and workers
is no longer protected by the trade union immunities (see EA
1982) because of the narrowing of the trade dispute definition,
on the grounds that in such disputes the employers are neutral
or "innocent bystanders", although, as argued by the Donovan
Commission, this is by no means always the case.
341. INTIMIDATION: This term is used to describe exercise of
power in an illegitimate manner to achieve objectives. Examples
might include the actual or threatened use of physical violence,
and the use of dismissal to victimise union activists. Allegations
of more subtle forms of mtimidation are often difficult to prove
and hence their existence remains a source of controversy. The
tort of intimidation was developed by the courts in the 1960s.
See immunities.
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ITEMISED PAY STATEMENT

342. INVENTIONS: Inventions may be claimed as the property of

the inventor under laws established by the Patents Act 1977.
Generally inventions made by employees belong to employees
unless either (i) the invention was made in the course of the
employee's normal duties and in circumstances such that an
invention might be expected to result from the carrying out of
those duties, or (ii) the invention was made in the course of the
employee's duties and the employee had a special obligation to
further the interests of the employer's undertaking because of
the special nature of those duties. Whether the invention belongs
to the employee or the employer, the employee is legally entitled
to compensation, although the compensation rules differ
according to who owns the invention. Although the law does allow
collective agreements to override statutory rights to
compensation there is virtually no evidence of such agreements.
Indeed very few collective agreements even mention inventions
and patents.
343. INVOLVEMENT
involvement.

OF EMPLOYEES:

See employee

344. IR: See industrial relations.

345. IT: See Industrial Tribunal.
346. ITEMISED PAY STATEMENT: Under the terms of the
EPCA 1978, amended by the Employment Act 1980, employees
are entitled to receive a detailed account of how their pay is
calculated each time they are paid. (There are some exceptions,
notably part-time employees who have worked less than five
years continuously for the same employer.) The pay statement
must include the following items:

the gross pay,

the size and nature of any fixed and variable deductions,
the net pay,
where parts of the net pay are paid in different ways (e.g. some
in cash and some credited to a bank) how much was paid under
each method.

The employer is also required to notify the employee of any

change in fixed deductions. Failure to issue such a statement,
or issuing an incomplete statement, can be challenged by an
employee at an Industrial Tribunal.

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347. JIC (JOINT INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL): See collective

agreement: industry-wide agreement.
348. JIT: See just-in-time.
349. JOB: Defined by the British Standards Institute as ' 'all the work
carried out by a worker or group of workers in the completion
of their prescribed duties and grouped together under one title
or definition". Used loosely to refer to an occupation or
employment position and also to a collection of prescribed tasks
to be performed.
Job Analysis: Process of collecting and analysing information
about the tasks, responsibilities and content of jobs. Used in the
preparation of job descriptions (see below) and as a basis for
job evaluation.
Job Creation: Means of expanding the supply of jobs available.
The term usually refers to expanding the number of jobs in ways
other than those that flow from increased labour demand in a
period of economic growth. Thus job creation devices may include
the use of government subsidies or job splitting (see job share
scheme), for example.
Job Description: Statement of the main tasks, content and
responsibilities of a job.
Job Enrichment: Redesign of jobs involving both job
enlargement (adding on similar additional elements to increase
the scope of the job) and also vertical loading (incorporating some
greater discretion for the job holder by adding on functions
previously considered to be supervisory or indirect). Argued by
motivation theorists to increase worker job satisfaction and
overcome managerial problems such as absenteeism and industrial
unrest associated with Taylorist (see Taylorism) job design based
on extreme fragmentation of tasks. There was less emphasis on
"job enrichment" as a label in the 1980s than in earlier decades.
Attention has switched toflexiblejob design, with the rationale
being less often expressed as increased job satisfaction and more
overtly as increasing productive efficiency and competitiveness
through more intensive and flexible utilisation of labour.
350. JOB CENTRE: See employment service.
351. JOB EVALUATION: See job evaluation scheme.
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JOB SECURITY

352. JOB EVALUATION SCHEME: Job evaluation is concerned

with assessing the relative demands, etc. of different jobs within
an organisation. The usual purpose is to provide a basis for
relating differences in pay to differences in job requirements.
Survey evidence shows that about one fifth of establishments have
at least one job evaluation scheme and just over one third of them
have two or more schemes covering different groups of workers.
Different methods of evaluation are used, including job ranking
and job classification (involving whole job comparison) and
analytical methods such as points rating, which break the job
down into different aspects that are examined separately.
Commonly, this involves establishing which factors are important
in assessing the jobs to be measured and how the factors are to
be compared (weighted). Although systematic, job evaluation is
not scientific and in effect usually rationalises and reinforces
existing differences in pay. The introduction of legislative
provisions on equal pay for work of equal value, however, has
led to a critical reassessment of some job evaluation schemes and
attempts to eliminate job bias often introduced in the choice of
factors and the weightings they are given.
353. JOB REGULATION: The process of regulating job content
through the creation of rules. There can be unilateral job
regulation, by management or by workers/unions, or joint job
regulation through collective bargaining. Job content may be
affected by collective agreements both inside and outside the
factory, by legislation, by works rules, wages structures (see
wage), etc.
354. JOB SECURITY: Tenure of employment or, more narrowly,
tenure in a particular post or job. Various employment protection
rights enacted since the 1960s have given employees a measure
of security against arbitrary termination of their employment.
Thus, for example, notice of termination has to be given and
employers are required to dismiss only for good cause and in
accordance with a fair procedure (see unfair dismissal). There
are also provisions regarding job loss through economic reasons
which call for consultation over intended redundancies and
compensation for job loss (see redundancy), and provisions
relating to the security of workers where their employing company
is acquired by another (see transfer of undertakings). The extent
to which these provisions have in fact increased job security for
workers is, however, open to question. Survey evidence indicates
that the incidence of non-economic dismissals has decreased since
the introduction of the unfair dismissal legislation but it is difficult
to know whether this is because the increase in job loss through
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JOB SECURITY

economic reasons has made such disciplinary dismissals less

necessary. Some workers may be more secure against arbitary
dismissal because of the introduction and operation of dismissal
or discipline procedures but surveys of employers find they
report that the legislation has not made it harder to dismiss
workers. Certain workers (particularly those termed atypical) will
not be covered by the statutory protections at all and so do not
enjoy whatever job security the legislation might offer. Those
who are covered by it may not be returned to their job should
they be unfairly dismissed because of the rarity of the reemployment remedies in practice.
The implications of the redundancy legislation for worker job
security are also not straightforward. The consultation
requirements are not such as to realistically offer the opportunity
for the union to present alternatives to prevent redundancies
taking place, and the payment of severance pay to redundant
workers, by encouraging workers to "sell" their jobs and reducing
the likelihood of collective opposition to job loss occurring in this
way, runs counter to attempts to increase job security.
The extent of job security for workers which is afforded by
legislation in Britain, therefore, is not very great. Some trade
unions have signed "job security" agreements with employers,
often in the context of the introduction of new technology
agreements or changing working practices. These usually call
for measures to be taken where possible to avoid redundancy (for
example, a ban on replacement recruitment, ending of overtime
working, ending of subcontractor work) and provide protection
against compulsory redundancy. It is still open to the employer
to offer severance terms to attract workers to be made redundant
"voluntarily" and thereby to eliminate those jobs through buying
them out.
355. JOB SEGREGATION: Employment in Britain is segregated by
gender, both horizontally and vertically. That is to say, women
tend to be in different jobs or occupations to those of men
(horizontal segregation) and within a particular occupation tend
to hold the lower status and lower rewarded positions (vertical
segregation). Women workers are heavily concentrated in
relatively few occupations, frequently those with a large demand
for part-time workers. Figures for 1985 show that women) tend
to be over-represented (compared to their proportion in the total
occupational labour force of 42 per cent.) in clerical and related
occupations (where they constitute 74 per cent, of all workers),
catering, cleaning, hairdressing and other personal services (76
per cent.) and professional and related occupations supporting
management and administration (68 per cent.). In contrast they
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JOINDER

constitute only 10 per cent, of general management; nine per cent,

of professional and related occupations in science, engineering
and technology, and less thanfiveper cent, in metal and electrical
processing, making and repairing occupations. Within those
occupations where figures are available women are
disproportionately concentrated in lower grades. Within the
administration group of the Civil Service, for example, where
there are nine grades, women constitute 75 per cent, of the bottom
grade and 68 per cent, of the second grade up but only 2.6 per
cent, of the top grade and 1.4 per cent, of the second grade from
the top. Horizontal and vertical job segregation is reflected in
women's disadvantaged earnings position compared to men.
Similar patterns of segregation are found in training schemes.
Women on Youth Training Schemes tend to be doing clerical,
catering or selling work (82 per cent, compared to 18 per cent,
of men) and while half the young men on such schemes are in
manufacturing, only eight per cent, of young women are. The
broad patterns of job segregation have changed little over time,
despite the SDA.
356. JOB SHARING: A working arrangement involving two people
sharing the responsibilities and tasks of one full-time job. A means
of improving the status and career prospects of part-time workers
and offering flexibility to employers. Sharers have their own
contracts of employment and share the pay and benefits of a
full-time job on a pro rata basis. There is no statutory right to
job sharing and it is not widespread in practice although examples
may be found in a wide variety of occupations: administrative
and clerical, library staff, teachers and health service workers,
for example.
357. JOB SHARE SCHEME: A government scheme designed to
encourage employers through grant aid to create part-time jobs
for unemployed people. Part-time jobs are created by splitting
an existing full-time job and they are filled by people currently
registered as unemployed or leaving certain government training
schemes. Despite the similar title, job share schemes do not
further equal opportunity objectives for women in the way
voluntary job sharing does, because the restricted entry excludes
many women, particularly married women who will not be on
the unemployment register.
358. JOB SPLITTING: See job share scheme.
359. JOINDER: If an employer infringes an employee's right not to
be dismissed because of non-membership of a trade union, or
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JOINDER

not to be subject to action short of dismissal to compel

membership, then either the employer or the employee may
"join" a trade union or other person to the proceedings in cases
where the infringement is induced by industrial action. The
joined parties may be required to pay all or part of any
compensation award. Or where someone complains to an
Industrial Tribunal that their dismissal was because of refusal
to join a trade union (or that some other adverse action has been
taken against them for the same reason) the trade union can be
"joined" to the proceedings. This can be done by the employee
or employer where it is alleged that the union put pressure on
the employer to take the action complained of. If the tribunal
upholds the complaint the trade union may be required to pay
all or part of the compensation award.
360. JOINT COMMITTEE: A committee whose membership
includes representatives of both unions and employers and/or
management.
361. JOINT CONSULTATION: See consultation.
362. JOINT INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL QIC): See collective
agreement: industry-wide agreement.
363. JOINT LIABILITY: See liability.
364. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY: See liability.
365. JOINT REGULATION: The outcome of collective bargaining
between unions and employers is often perceived as a system of
agreed rules that regulate aspects of the work relationship. Joint
regulation is thus a means of industrial government different from
either unilateral management control or workers' control. Since
joint regulation can apply only to topics that are the subject of
collective bargaining, joint regulation of certain matters can
obviously co-exist with unilateral regulation of others. In the late
1960s the Donovan Commission advocated an extension of joint
regulation through collective bargaining, to broaden bargaining
scope so as to reduce areas of potential conflict; most decisions
in industry are still taken unilaterally by management.
366. JOINT REPRESENTATION: Representation by more than one
agency.
367. JOINT VENTURE: An initiative undertaken in partnership.
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368. JUDICIARY: The judiciary is the body of professional judges,

whose function is to adjudicate on disputes and other matters
brought before the courts. The judges in the higher courts are
persons qualified and experienced in law and legal practice,
usually as practising barristers. There is no specialist labour law
judiciary in Britain. See common law, Employment Appeal
Tribunal, Industrial Tribunal.
369. JURIDIFICATION: The term is used to denote the increasing
extent of legal regulation of industrial relations. The trend
towards juridification is a feature in many industrialised market
economies, but its precise meaning, significance and application
in the context of the United Kingdom are matters of debate among
academics. Juridification is at times contrasted with deregulation
and voluntarism.
370. JURISDICTION DISPUTE: A dispute between two or more
trade unions as to which has the right to represent a particular
group of workers. If the unions are TUC-affiliated the dispute
may be referred to the TUC for resolution under the Bridlington
Agreement. The TUC has always upheld the right of TUC unions
to dispute representation rights with non-TUC unions or staff
associations.
371. JUST-IN-TIME (JIT): A system of production which obviates
the need for buffer stocks. The exact quantity and quality of parts
are delivered just-in-time for use in production rather than for
inventory; products being made to meet demand rather than for
stock. Influenced by the perceived success of Japanese
manufacturers who have adopted JIT (started by Toyota) some
British companies, particularly in the automotive industry, have
introduced it either as an integral part of the factory organisation
on greenfield sites or through negotiation on established sites.
Its managerial advantages are seen to he in securing high volume
output at lowest unit costs, making product diversification a more
economically viable option and eliminating wasted or unnecessary
labour and machine capacity. JIT is a production control system
but has wider implications concerning the company's relationship
with its suppliers, its work organisation and employment practices
(including labour flexibility, and an emphasis on obtaining
employee commitment).

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372. KEYNESIANISM: The economic policies associated with the
theories of the economist J.M.Keynes. Developed during the
1930s, they were widely adopted by governments of both main
political parties during the 1950s and 1960s. Intended to maintain
full employment through the use of public expenditure, fiscal
measures and credit controls, Keynesian policies involve direct
government intervention in the management of the economy as
the key regulator of demand and output. Keynesianism provided
the basis for the growth of the public sector during the 1950s
and 1960s, and in turn for the stable basis of public sector
industrial relations during the same period. Since the mid-1970s
the mounting scale of public expenditure has pushed
governments, first Labour and then Conservative, away from
Keynesian policies and towards those of monetarism. The trade
union movement has, in its policies and responses, remained
staunchly Keynesian.

120

373. LABOUR CLAUSES: Contracts for the supply of goods and

services sometimes include "labour" clauses, which are designed
to regulate the employment of the labour engaged by one of the
contracting parties. In the 1980s the British government adopted
the policy of discouraging labour clauses. See Fair Wages
Resolution, union-only clauses, contract compliance.
374. LABOUR COST: The total financial costs incurred by employers
as a consequence of the employment of labour. They therefore
include pay and other benefits, employers' contributions to
pension schemes, their insurance contributions, sick pay, and
so on. Recent statistics suggest that Britain has one of the lowest
labour costs in Europe, and with a much lower proportion (less
than 30 per cent.) of labour costs taking the form of benefits such
as insurance, pensions, etc.
375. LABOUR DISPUTE: See trade dispute.
376. LABOUR FORCE: The size of the economically active
population is given as those people on the labour market at any
time, and includes those in work and those seeking work.
377. LABOUR INTENSIVE INDUSTRY: An industry or industrial
sector in which labour costs account for the major share of total
costs. Examples include much of the service sector, where there
are relatively low levels of capital investment.
378. LABOUR LAW: The branch of law regulating employment. Its
scope includes the relationship between the employer and
individual employee, the collective relationship between
management and trade unions, and the internal affairs of trade
unions.
379. LABOUR MOBILITY: Generally defined to mean the
movement of workers between occupations (occupational
mobility; see alsoflexibility)or between locations (geographical
mobility). This may take place either within a firm or company,
or between firms. In common usage, the term may be used to
denote the preparedness of workers to move from parts of the
country with high unemployment to those places where work
is more available. In some occupations contracts of employment
will include a mobility clause enabling the employer to relocate
the employee geographically as required.
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LABOUR MOVEMENT

380. LABOUR MOVEMENT: The term used to describe the

political and industrial organisations created by and for the
working class in Britain. It is conventional to distinguish two main
structures of the labour movement: the trade unions, representing
the interests of workers at their place of work, and the Labour
Party, created by the union movement in the early years of the
twentieth century to give political expression to the wider interests
of the working class, especially, in the first instance, to seek to
remove the adverse affects of judicial intervention. The clear
division of responsibility between unions and the Party is one
of the key features of the British labour movement, and reflects
the voluntarist nature of British industrial relations, characterised
by a degree of autonomy from state and legal intervention. One
feature of this has been that for many decades the trade unions
made few specific policy demands of the Labour Party in
government, except in respect of legislation dealing specifically
with industrial relations matters, despite the great formal and
informal power wielded by the unions within the Party. In many
ways the traditional separation between industrial and political
broke down during the corporatism phase of the Social Contract
(1974-1979). In the 1980s the institutional and financial
relationships between the unions and the Labour Party remained
deep and strong, although both wings of the labour movement
perceive the possibility that there may be drawbacks for both
in this.
381. LABOUR RELATIONS: Used synonymously with industrial
relations.
382. LABOUR RELATIONS AGENCY: This is an independent
body in Northern Ireland established under the provisions of the
Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1976. It is the
equivalent to Great Britain's Advisory Conciliation and
Arbitration Service. Its role is to assist employees, workers and
their trade union representatives to improve the conduct of their
industrial relations. The policy of the Agency is determined by
a Board consisting of a Chair and nine members; three nominated
by the Confederation Of British Industry, three by the Irish
Congress of Trade Unions and three independent members. It
is staffed by people with special experience and expertise in
industrial relations. The LRA provides third party intervention,
advisory services and has a statutory duty to assist in trade
disputes involving trade union recognition at the request of the
employer or trade union involved or on its own initiative.
See List of Addresses.
122

LAYOFF

383. LABOUR TURNOVER: The rate at which employees enter and

leave employment. May be applied at any level of aggregation
from a single workplace to the entire economy.
384. LABOUR-ONLY
contractor.

SUB-CONTRACTING:

See sub-

385. LAST IN FIRST OUT (LIFO): Seniority does not play such
an important role in the United Kingdom as it does in the United
States, but in handling dismissal because of economic reasons
of the firm (redundancy) it has been common for trade unions
to negotiate that the principle of selection should be that the
people with the shortest service be dismissed first, that is, "last
in first out". Where LIFO is used (whether by agreement or
management practice) it is not usually simply a question of
seniority, since management generally reserve the right to take
into account such matters as retaining necessary skills and the
workers' disciplinary and work records, etc. An ACAS survey
undertaken in 1985 found LIFO was the most common criterion
included in redundancy arrangements (82 per cent.) but the most
important in only 41 per cent. The same survey found a move
away from seniority in the most recent arrangements, with an
increased emphasis on skills and experience.
386. LAST OFFER ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
387. LATENESS: Arriving for work after the time stipulated by
contract or custom. Unauthorised or unexcused lateness of a
continuous nature may lead to disciplinary action. Trade unions
rarely preoccupy themselves with the principle of the issue, but
are more concerned to ensure consistency over managerial
acceptance or rejection of reasons given for lateness. See clocking.
388. LAYOFF: Workers are laid off by their employers, told not to
come to work, for a temporary or indefinite period or permanently
(see redundancy). Reasons may include shortage of work or of
material, or other factors outside the workers' control. Workers
on temporary layoff almost always receive a form of layoff pay,
usually a guaranteed minimum rate significantly less than their
normal earnings. Permanent layoff is covered by redundancy
payments for those eligible. Layoff has also a more specialised
meaning under the statutory redundancy pay scheme: where an
employee is laid off in the sense of being excluded from work
for four weeks, or is subjected to short time working (where he
or she earns less than half pay for a period of six or more weeks
in a period of thirteen weeks), he or she may be able to resign
his or her employment and claim redundancy pay. See also pay:
guarantee pay.
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LAYOFF PAY

389. LAYOFF PAY: See guarantee week; see also layoff, pay:
guarantee pay.
390. LAY OFFICIAL: A worker who acts as a trade union
representative while continuing in paid employment. To be
distinguished from full-time officials, union officials employed
by the trade unions. Most lay officials are either shop stewards
or branch officers. Many unions also have an executive
committee composed largely or wholly of lay officials.
391. LEAP-FROGGING: Competitive wage bargaining between
groups of workers both within and between companies who use
inter-group comparisons as the basis for constantly pushing up
wages and conditions. Thus an improvement for one group would
be used as the basis for a comparable claim by others.
392. LEARNING CURVE: It is commonly accepted that new
employees starting a job will spend time acquiring knowledge
of the job and thus gradually improve performance up to full
efficiency. The graphic representation of this improvement over
time is the learning curve.
393. LEAVE OF ABSENCE: Permission to be absent from work.
Usually applied to absence for reasons such as the performance
of civic duties, jury service, etc. There is a statutory right to time
off for performance of such duties. Leave of absence may also
be granted for reasons not covered by legislation, such as the care
of dependants.
394. LEGAL AID: Legal aid may be given to persons whose
disposable income and capital fall within certain limits in order
to provide them with expert assistance and representation in legal
proceedings. Legal aid is not available, however, for
representation in an Industrial Tribunal.
395. LEGAL ENACTMENT: A general term for a statute or Act
of Parliament, statutory instrument, by-law or other statement
of law. See Act of Parliament.
396. LEGAL ENFORCEABILITY OF COLLECTIVE
AGREEMENTS: See collective agreement.
397. LIABILITY: The term denotes subjection to a legal obligation
or the obligation itself. A person who breaks a contract or commits
some other wrong is said to be liable or responsible for it.
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Joint Liability: Liability which is imposed on several persons

together, so that if one is sued he or she can insist on the others
being joined to the action.
Joint and Several Liability: Liability which is imposed on each
of several parties jointly, and also severally, so that a party may
claim against all, or against any one, leaving it to that one to seek
any relief from the others.
398. LIEU DAYS: Holidays may be awarded either to compensate
for unpaid overtime or in other cases where hours are worked
beyond the agreed norm, or where work is undertaken on a
statutory holiday.
399. LIEU RATE: Payment that may be made to a worker paid on
time rates who is unable to supplement income through access
to a payment by results scheme.
400. LIFO: See last in first out.
401. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY: See Public Limited
Company.
402. LINE MANAGEMENT: Management is sometimes presented
as divided into two broad categories: staff management, who are
responsible for the indirect functions of management; and line
managers, responsible for the direct functions, in particular the
actual production of goods and services. Although the terms are
widely used, the idea of division that underlies them has been
widely criticised.
403. LOCAL AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
404. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: A level of administrative authority
in Britain, providing services such as education, personal social
services, highways, and environmental health. There are over
400 local authorities, covering counties and (smaller) districts
within counties. They are major employers, employing in 1989
well over 1.5 million people, with high proportions of women
and part-time workers. For collective bargaining purposes they
negotiate together, bargaining with trade unions in a number
of national committees. Recently, local governments have come
under pressure to "opt out" of national collective bargaining and
to negotiate locally. So far eight or nine local authorities have
done so. Local government has also come under pressure to
expand the contracting-out of its services (see Local Government
Act 1988).
125

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Since the late 1960s industrial relations in local government

have been conflictual, with the strikes and disruption of 1978-1979
being seen by some as a major contributor to the defeat of the
Labour government in the general election of 1979.
405. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1988: This Act (i) sets out a
list of local government functions that must be put out to
competitive tender, and (ii) imposes a statutory duty on public
authorities making contracts for the supply of goods and services
to exclude non-commercial matters from consideration. Such
matters cover, among other things, most aspects of terms and
conditions of employment. See labour clauses, contract
compliance.
406. LOCKOUT: The employer practice of denying the possibility
of work to employees in connection with a trade dispute. In
practice difficult to distinguish from strikes, since the result is
the same. On occasions the same sequence of events may be
described as a strike by an employer and a lockout by the workers.
Official statistics do not distinguish between the two.
407. LONDON WEIGHTING: A supplement to earnings paid by
many employers to employees who work in the London area.
It is intended to compensate for the higher cost of living in the
city. Most public sector workers and many in private sector
employment receive it. Some companies make a distinction
between inner and outer London, the former attracting a higher
rate of pay. Although separately negotiated for each company,
the amounts paid are broadly similar. Some unions are now
claiming, and some companies paying, analogous payments for
other large cities.
408. LOW PAY: There are several definitions of low pay in use. The
official criteria relate to the level of earnings below which
employees are entitled to state benefits such as Income Support
and Family Credit. The Low Pay Unit defines low pay as twothirds median male full-time earnings (in 1987 just over 132 per
week). The Council of Europe "social decency" definition works
out at 68 per cent, of male full-time earnings, around 135. In
April 1987 1.65 million full-time male workers earned less than
132 per week (excluding overtime), as did 2.51 million full-time
women, and 4.03 million part-timers earned less than the hourly
equivalent. In 1979 7.8 million adult workers (38 per cent, of
the workforce) fell below the EEC decency threshold, and in 1987
9.4 million (46 per cent.). See Wages Councils, minimum wage.
126

LUMP SUM

409. LUDDISM: The pejorative term applied to those workers who

seek to resist the introduction of modern machinery and methods
in order to defend their existing position. Ned Ludd, from whom
the term comes, was a man, possibly fictitious, associated with
campaigns of machine-breaking in the textile industry in the early
nineteenth century.
410. LUDDITES: See Luddism.
411. LUMP: See sub-contractor.
412. LUMP SUM: A fixed payment, a sum of money paid all at once.
For example, on retirement workers may be able to take part
of their pension as a lump sum, paid in one amount, or choose
instead to have it spread out over monthly instalments.

127

M
413. MACHO MANAGEMENT: The journalistic term used in the
1980s to denote the more aggressive, tough-minded managers
of this period. Typically such managers are preoccupied with "the
right to manage", are unsympathetic or hostile to trade unions,
and are concerned to achieve dramatic improvements in
productivity through the elimination of what they see as inefficient
working practices.
414. MANAGEMENT: The term is used to describe those employees
who are involved with the processes of control, design and
administration within companies. It is also used to describe the
processes of control, design and administration. In Britain the
term covers levels of function from the Board of Directors down
to the daily supervision of groups of workers (first-line
supervisors: see foreman (forewoman)). British management
is sometimes accused of a lack of professional expertise. In the
1980s the country witnessed a recognition of the need for
management development and formal management education,
including the particular area of personnel management and
industrial relations. It has also been argued that British
management was slow in recognising the importance of personnel
and industrial relations expertise; many compames, including
many large public sector employers, were criticised for their lack
of expertise in this area during the 1960s and early 1970s. The
1970s witnessed a major growth in personnel management, and
an improvement in the importance attached to this function within
the hierarchy of management. There is some evidence that during
the 1980s the relative importance of personnel management again
declined in the face of the increasing importance attached to
financial decision-making. By 1987 some 12.8 per cent, of the
working population were described as managers and
administrators. There is also evidence that, by contrast with some
other European countries, senior British managers tend to be
financial experts rather than experts in more productionorientated techniques such as engineering. Again, this is seen
as a weakness by some commentators.
415. MANAGEMENT BOARD: Some formulations of proposals for
industrial democracy envisage a two-tier structure for the board
of directors: a supervisory board, which would be responsible
for broad strategy and planning and which would oversee the
operation of a management board, which would take charge of
the routine management of the company. Although much
discussed this model is only rarely found in the United Kingdom
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MANPOWER PLANNING

(see Board of Directors), and was rejected in the Bullock Report,

as the structure least conducive to effective industrial democracy.
416. MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT: A number of recent
reports have documented the neglect of management training and
development in United Kingdom. Most of the 2.75 million
managers in the United Kingdom lack formal education and
training (only about one fifth have a degree or professional
qualification of any kind) and Britain compares badly with her
international competitors and certain of her European partners
in terms of investment in this area. Some 20 per cent, of Britain's
larger companies (employing over 1000 employees) made no
provision for management training at all in 1986, afigurewhich
rises to 75 per cent, in smaller companies. One report found that,
of those companies which did undertake formal management
development, the median expenditure was a mere 600 per
manager. One explanation for the low expenditure on
management development may lie in the research finding that
there is a lack of clarity as to what competencies might be required
of senior, middle and junior managers.
Although there is as yet no demonstrable statistical link between
investment in management training and development on the one
hand and successful company performance on the other, British
companies are being exhorted to invest more in this area. One
spin-off of this interest in management education has been a
growth in Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes
offered by British business schools.
417. MANAGERIAL PREROGATIVE: The right of management
to manage without reference to trade unions or employees.
Hence it is management without collective bargaining or
negotiation. In practice the balance between managerial
prerogative and joint regulation fluctuates with time and across
groups. Part of the philosophy of the Donovan Commission was
that management should be prepared to concede joint regulation
across a wide range of issues, but in practice most managers have
stuck to the view that they have a number of inalienable functions
and rights. In the 1980s the tendency was to try to enlarge the
area of managerial prerogatives and to reduce that of collective
bargaining.
418. MANNING LEVEL: See staffing level.
419. MANPOWER PLANNING: Defined by the Department of
Employment as "strategy for the acquisition, utilisation,
improvement and preservation of an enterprise's human
129

MANPOWER PLANNING

resources". Three stages involved in the process are an evaluation

of existing resources, an assessment of future labour requirements
in the light of the enterprise's objectives, and the taking of
measures to ensure that the requirements are met. Often still only
practised in a rudimentary form in many British compames. Also
now becoming known as human resource planning.
420. MANPOWER SERVICES COMMISSION (MSC): See
Training Agency.
421. MANUAL UNION: See trade union.
422. MANUAL WORKER: A worker who works through the
expenditure primarily of physical rather than intellectual labour.
See blue-collar worker and white-collar worker.
423. MARGINAL WORKERS: See atypical workers.
424. MATERNITY LEAVE: Time off for childbirth. Statutory
maternity leave applies for a total of 40 weeks and begins at the
11th week before the expected week of confinement. This
statutory leave is available to women who have been employed
by the same employer for two years, working at least 16 hours
per week (or eight hours a week if she has five years' service).
The worker is required to give her employer written notice of
her intention to return to work both before taking leave and again
three weeks before returning, as well as at seven weeks after the
expected week of confinement if the employer so requests, and
must provide medical confirmation of the expected week of
confinement. Anyone not complying with the formalities loses
the right to return. The employee may return to work at any time
up to 29 weeks from the actual week of confinement and is entitled
to return to work at her old job on terms and conditions not
less favourable than those which would have been applicable to
her had she not been absent. If not permitted to return she may
claim unfair dismissal unless her employer employs fewer than
six people and it is not "reasonably practicable" to reinstate her
or to offer suitable alternative employment.
In practice these rights are not used by many women. A study
in 1980 found only 10 per cent, of all women employed during
pregnancy gave notice to return and subsequently did so. Many
women (46 per cent, in the research study) are not qualified under
the statute and for many others the lack of childcare facilities
reduces their ability to return.
Collective agreements often improve on the statutory
provisions, extending the ability to take maternity leave to women
excluded from the statutory provisions and extending the length
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MERIT PAY

of time off permitted. Few collective agreements, however,

include arrangements for childcare facilities to be provided.
425. MATERNITY PAY: Whether or not a woman intends to return
to work after maternity she may be entitled to statutory maternity
pay for 18 weeks, the first six weeks at a higher rate, if she fulfills
the eligibility criteria (as outlined for maternity leave, above).
Social security benefits are also payable to women at childbirth
and in effect the employer is required to top up state social security
benefits to a level not exceeding nine tenths of basic wages.
Employers are reimbursed from a common fund. The Social
Security Act 1986 transferred the statutory maternity allowance
to employers to administer, in a way similar to sickness benefit.
426. MDW: See measured daywork.
427. MEASURED DAYWORK (MDW): A system of wage payment
in which a worker is guaranteed a certain rate of pay hourly or
weekly in exchange for an agreed level of work effort and output,
established by time and motion study. The system was popular
in the 1970s, when it was seen as a replacement for systems of
payment by results that were associated with high levels of
industrial action. The introduction of MDW reduced levels of
overt conflict, but also reduced levels of output as incentives were
eliminated. Some employers re-introduced a direct output-related
incentive element on top of the MDW to overcome this.
428. MEDIATION: Although sometimes used to mean the same as
conciliation, the official agency, ACAS, distinguishes between
the two, seeing mediation as a more positive form of third party
intervention than conciliation. The mediator, unlike the
conciliator, makes definite recommendations as to the terms of
settlement of the dispute. Unlike arbitration, the parties are free
to modify or reject the recommendations if they wish. Mediators
are drawn from lists maintained by ACAS of academics and
others, in the same way as arbitrators. This method of dispute
settlement is little used in the British context, with only a handful
of cases each year going to mediation.
429. MERGER: See amalgamation.
430. MERIT PAY: Assessing pay according to individual performance
rather than according to job size is becoming a common theme
in the development of reward structures. At one time merit pay
was associated with secretive payments made to individuals which
might be arbitrary and unfair, for example based on
131

MERIT PAY

favouritism. Today merit pay in larger companies is likely to be

tied to a more systematic way of assessing and rewarding
individual performance (for example based on a system of
appraisal). Merit pay may be part of the variable, incentive
component of the total wage or salary or may be reflected in the
size of increases made to basic pay. See performance related pay.
431. MINIMUM WAGE: There is no legally enforceable national
minimum wage in the United Kingdom. Workers in a few sectors
are covered by Wages Councils which, together with the
Agricultural Wages Boards, fix minimum, legally binding terms
for selected workers. For the most part workers have received
protection from exploitative wage levels through collective
bargaining and the lack of a general minimum wage reflects this.
The Wages Councils operate in areas with low unionisation and
little collective bargaining and were introduced as temporary
measures designed to give way once collective bargaining was
established. Until very recently the trade union movement,
represented by the TUC, put its faith in tackling low pay via
collective bargaining rather than through legislation. Although
the unionisation of low paid workers in some areas (particularly
the public sector) increased during the 1970s, unions representing
such workers began to push harder for the introduction of a
statutory national minimum wage and the TUC has now
committed itself to this. At the same time, however, the present
United Kingdom government is moving away from even the
selective minimum wage settling which exists; removing young
workers from the protection of the Wages Councils and restricting
the scope of their awards. See Wages Act 1986.
432. MISCONDUCT: See disciplinary rules, unfair dismissal.
433. MOBILITY CLAUSE: A clause in a collective agreement or
contract of employment that stipulates the extent to which
workers may be asked to move from one job to another or from
one place to another. See labour mobility.
434. MONETARISM: An economic theory, developed by Milton
Friedman and other economists, which argues that inflation is
related to the supply of money in the economy. Inflation may
be reduced by government intervention to reduce the money
supply, otherwise all economic activity should be left to the
operation of free market forces. Techniques to reduce the money
supply include the raising of interest rates and reducing public
expenditure, both of which may produce results disliked by trade
unions. One further consequence of the policy is that it reduces
132

MULTIUNIONISM

government interest in reaching agreements with trade unions

over such matters as incomes restraint since, within the theory,
such incomes policies are irrelevant to the defeat of inflation.
In Britain monetarism has been, largely associated with the
Conservative government since 1979.
435. MONITORING: See ethnic monitoring, religious monitoring.
436. MOONLIGHTING: See dual job holding.
437. MOTHER OF THE CHAPEL: See Father of the Chapel.
438. MSC (MANPOWER SERVICES COMMISSION): See
Training Agency.
439. MULTI-EMPLOYER BARGAINING: See bargaining
structure.
440. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION: Foreign-owned
multinationals employ about 15 per cent, of the British workforce
in manufacturing and account for about 20 per cent, of the output.
While most behave in a manner similar to British-based companies
in their industrial relations, some have a long history of particular
approaches to this area. An example would be IBM and its
longstanding policy of non-unionism. In recent years Japaneseowned multinationals have started something of a trend towards
practices associated with methods of employee involvement and
communications, single union agreements, strike free
agreements, and pendulum arbitration (see arbitration). Several
British-based compames have started to experiment with all or
parts of this approach in an effort to emulate Japanese success.
See also single table bargaining.
441. MULTI-PLANT BARGAINING: See bargaining structure.
442. MULTI-SKILLING: See flexibility.
443. MULTI-UNION BARGAINING: See multiunionism.
444. MULTIUNIONISM: Also known as multi-union bargaining,
and refers to bargaining between an employer and more than one
trade union. Employers have long disliked situations in which
more than one trade union has represented the same or similar
groups of workers: in some companies manual workers may be
represented by two general unions and three or four craft unions.
These represent historical origins and are being reduced through
133

MULTIUNIONISM

mergers and amalgamations, but many employers still consider

multiunionism to be a source of conflict and problems. See single
table bargaining, single union agreement.
445. MUTUALITY: Some agreements in the 1970s, especially those
associated with measured daywork, contained clauses to the effect
that changes in the pace of work, the organisation of work,
machinery, etc. could be introduced only with the mutual
agreement of management and trade union representatives. The
best-known of these was at British Leyland and was scrapped
by the company in the 1980s. See status quo clause.

134

N
446. NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
(NEDC): Set up in 1962 the NEDC is a body, presided over by
the Prime Minister or the Chancellor of the Exchequer, designed
to discuss matters of national economic policy with representatives
of interested organisations including the TUC, CBI, nationalised
industries, the Bank of England, etc. The National Economic
Development Office (NEDO) provides the full-time staff for
research and assistance, and there are also regional and sectoral
structures. Its status has been much downgraded since the 1980s;
the Conservative governments have given it a much lower priority
than did their predecessors and they have also significantly
reduced NEDO staffing levels. In recent years the TUC has
threatened to boycott the NEDC and did in fact do so for one
year in protest at the government's banning of trade union
membership at GCHQ, a major inteUigence-gathering institution.
447. NATIONAL INSURANCE: One aspect of the social security
system is the payment of National Insurance contributions which
gives access to the system and entitlement to certain benefits in
situations of unemployment, sickness, disability or old age.
Membership is restricted to those in employment, whether as
self-employed or employees. The structures of payment and
benefit for each of these groups varies, however. The
contributions paid by employees are matched by secondary
contributions paid by their employers. Contributions are
compulsory but the liability to pay only arises once earnings
exceed a prescribed lower earnings limit (46 in 1990). The lower
earnings limit means that many part time workers will be
excluded from the scheme.
448. NATIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE (NJC): See industry-wide
agreement.
449. NATIONAL JOINT INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL (NJIC): See
industry wide agreement.
450. NATIONALIZED INDUSTRY: Industries owned and run by
the state. They are managed by Boards of Directors appointed
by the government, and their affairs are subject to the scrutiny
of Parliament and the appropriate Ministry. Although nationalized
industries operate in many ways like private companies, they are
restricted in their ability both to borrow money and to control
the prices charged for their goods and services. Growing concern
with the size of public expenditure since the 1970s has led
governments of both parties to try to find ways of reducing the
135

NATIONALIZED INDUSTRY

cost of some of these industries, which have therefore come under

pressure to become more commercially minded and less
dependent on government assistance. This has reached its
conclusion in the present government's programme of
privatization of nationalized industries, many of which have now
been sold, including the giant gas and telecommunications
monopolies, water, docks and electricity. Remaining nationalized
industries include coal, railways, and the Post Office. The
nationalized industries have for many years been characterised
by stable industrial relations structures based on extensive
systems of consultation and negotiation, very high levels of trade
union membership and the use of arbitration to resolve disputes.
There is some evidence that this model is changing. See
denationalization, privatization, public sector.
451. NEDC: See National Economic Development Council.
452. NEDO (NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
OFFICE): See National Economic Development Council.
453. NEGOTIABLE ISSUE: Any matter which is the subject of
collective bargaining. What is or is not negotiable is determined
by management and trade unions and the state of the relationship
between them; there is no formula or legal regulation.
454. NEGOTIATION: A process of bargaining between
management and trade unions, the outcome of which is an agreed
compromise, acceptable to both sides, although not necessarily
what either would have wanted. As a component of
management/union relations it is to be distinguished from
consultation, in which management retains the right to unilateral
action after listening to union comments.
455. NEGOTIATING MACHINERY: Any procedure or
arrangement that allows for the negotiation of individual and/or
collective issues between management and trade unions.
456. NEGOTIATING PROCEDURE: See negotiating machinery.
457. NETWORKING: See telework.
458. NEW REALISM: Term used to describe what some perceive
as the changed approach of at least some trade unions to take
account of the very different circumstances of the 1980s. The
term has at least two clear meanings. First, it refers to the
preparedness of some unions to make concessions to employers
136

NON-MANUAL UNION

in exchange for recognition that they would not have been

prepared to make in earlier decades (see strike free agreement,
single union agreement). Second, it refers to the reluctant
acknowledgement by the unions in the 1980s that, however much
they might dislike government policy, it was in their interests
to maintain such political dialogue as they could, since the unions
were not going to win political concessions through taking
industrial action.
459. NEW TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENTS: Collective
agreements which deal specifically with the introduction of new
equipment and, often, associated changes in working practices.
The term was developed in the 1970s and was associated with
a concerted trade union effort to obtain substantial benefits out
of new technology for themselves and their members. In 1979
the TUC published a checklist for union negotiators laying out
a number of substantive and procedural points that should form
the basis of new technology agreements. Key among these are
union rights to information and consultation, and substantive
benefits in terms of guarantees against job loss, programmes of
retraining, and reductions in hours of work for employees. There
was also widespread interest in the health and safety aspects of
new technology. It is now clear that very few New Technology
Agreements have been reached (not more than a few hundred)
and that four white-collar unions account for most of these. Even
fewer come close to achieving the stated objectives, and recent
research has concluded that unions have been able to obtain few
benefits for their members through negotiating over new
technology. But new technology and its introduction may be
covered through the normal processes of collective bargaining
rather than being the subject of a separate agreement. New
Technology Agreements alone thus significantly understate the
extent to which new technology is the subject of collective
bargaining.
460. NJC (NATIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE): See industry-wide
agreement.
461. NJIC (NATIONAL JOINT INDUSTRIAL COUNCIL): See
industry-wide agreement.
462. NON-DISCRIMINATION NOTICE: See Race Relations Act.
463. NON-MANUAL UNION: See trade union.
137

NON-UNION

464. NON-UNION: In Britain the non-union sector (where there is

no trade union recognised for collective bargaining) is relatively
small, although there is no legal duty on employers to recognise
a trade union, even if it has a high proportion of employees in
membership.
Although there are some large well-known non-union
companies operating in Britain, such as IBM and Marks and
Spencer, most large companies are to a greater or lesser extent
organised. A survey of establishments employing at least 25
workers which was undertaken in 1984 found that 66 per cent,
recognised trade unions in respect of at least some workers. Where
there were union members in the establishment this proportion
rose to 91 per cent. There is variation across sectors and 56 per
cent, of establishments in the private sector are non-union. In
the public sector there are hardly any non-union establishments.
In private manufacturing 44 per cent, are non-union. The
proportion of non-union establishments in private sector
manufacturing appears to be increasing (it was 35 per cent, in
1980). This is not because union recognition is being withdrawn
but rather through the closure of well-organised plants. In large
part because of the decline of manufacturing industry, which is
relatively well organised, and the growth in private services, which
are not, the proportion of the workforce which is unionised has
declined in the 1980s, from a peak in 1979, so that the nonunionised now outnumber the unionised.
465. NO-STRIKE AGREEMENT: See strike free agreement.
466. NO-STRIKE CLAUSE: The collective agreement normally
includes a provision that the parties will refrain from engaging
in a strike, lockout or other industrial action. The restriction
on such action is normally limited to exhaustion of the final stage
of the dispute procedure, though exceptionally it may prohibit
industrial action for the duration of the agreement. Following
the general principle concerning the legal enforceability of
collective agreements (see collective agreement), the no-strike
clause is morally, not contractually, binding as between the
negotiating parties. Nor may it (assuming it is suitably worded)
be incorporated into the individual contract of employment,
unless the agreement is in writing, expressly envisages
incorporation and is accessible to the employee and the individual
contract actually incorporates the clause. See contract of
employment, strike free agreement.
467. NOTICE PERIODS: Either the employer or employee is
normally entitled to terminate the contract of employment by
138

NUMERICAL FLEXIBILITY

giving the other party notice of termination. At common law

the period of notice is a matter for the contract to determine.
In the absence of an express term, reasonable notice must be
given. But the notice period must not be less than the statutory
minimum periods of notice as laid down in the EPCA 1978: an
employee with at least one month's, but less than two years'
continuity of employment is entitled to one week's notice;
thereafter he or she is entitled to a week's notice for each year's
continuous employment, up to a maximum of twelve weeks'
notice for an employee who has twelve or more years' continuity
of employment. When dismissing an employee, an employer may
require an immediate cessation of work, provided pay in lieu of
notice is given. An employee who has been employed for more
than one month ought to give a statutory minimum of one week's
notice.
468. NUMERICAL FLEXIBILITY: See flexibility.

139

o
469. OCCUPATION: (1) The term given to the trade or profession
held by an employee. Occupations would thus include teaching,
nursing, carpentry, journalism and so on. Further down the
occupational hierarchy categories tend to be broader, for example
semi-skilled worker. (2) A form of industrial action in which
workers take over a factory or workplace and exclude
management and other groups from entering the premises.
Briefly popular as a tactic during the 1970s. Also known as sit-in.
470. OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS: See health and safety.
471. OCCUPATIONAL PENSION: An occupational pension
provides financial benefits, in the form of a regular payment
and/or a lump sum, to employees who have retired from an
employment, industry, occupation or firm to which an
occupational pension scheme may be linked. Companies are under
no legal obligation to provide such a scheme, and if they do not
their pensionable employees will, on retirement, be eligible for
the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS: see state
pension). But many companies in both the private and public
sectors do now provide occupational pension schemes carrying
benefits at least as good as those available under SERPS. Such
employers may seek to have their occupational schemes
"contracted out" of the SERPS scheme such that the occupational
scheme replaces SERPS benefits. Agreement to such contractingout is granted provided that the schemes satisfy criteria laid down
in a range of statutes: in particular they have to provide a pension
at least as good as that available under SERPS and have to pay
a pension related to the employee's earnings. In 1983, out of 11.1
million members in occupational pension schemes, 9.1 million
were in schemes that had been contracted out.
Recent legislation (the Social Security Acts of 1985 and 1986)
has extended the right of employees to transfer between schemes.
In addition, from 1988 employees have had the right to opt for
a personal pension that can, in effect, be transferred from job
to job. But these are money-purchased schemes in which benefits
relate only to the amount of money in the scheme on retirement;
they are not related to earnings. For this and other reasons takeup so far has been small.
Access to occupational pension schemes varies widely. Some
exclude part-time workers (although this is changing, partly due
to the Social Security Act 1989, giving effect to the EC Directive
on equal treatment in occupational social security schemes).
Others may be available to white-collar but not blue-collar
workers (but see harmonization).
140

OPEN-ENDED AGREEMENT

Since the 1960s occupational pension schemes have increasingly

become subject to collective bargaining and consultation. There
is a duty on the managers and trustees of pension funds to disclose
information to employees and trade unions. Areas of controversy
remain, including the rights of scheme members and their union
representatives to influence the uses to which the funds are put,
and the rights of employers to use "surpluses" in pension funds
for purposes other than paying pensions.
For some years companies developed pension schemes as a
means of winning employee loyalty and an interest in remaining
with the firm. However, government intervention directed at
increasing labour mobility by requiring transferability between
schemes may reduce employers' ability to use occupational
pension schemes to attract and retain labour.
Occupational pension schemes have been affected by sex
discrimination legislation. Most notably in 1986 the European
Court ruled that it is unlawful for occupational pensions to be
payable at different ages for men and women. Under the Social
Security Act 1989, it will become unlawful as from January 1,
1993 for occupational benefit schemes, including retirement
pensions, to discriminate on the grounds of sex.
472. OCCUPATIONAL UNION: See trade union.
473. OFF/ON THE JOB TRAINING: See training.
474. OFFICIAL: See full-time official, lay official.
475. OFFICIAL ACTION: See industrial action, strike.
476. OFFICIAL STRIKE: See strike.
477. ON THE JOB TRAINING: See training.
478. OPEN DOOR POLICY: Adopted by managements (particularly
in non-union establishments) wishing to appear accessible to their
employees and willing to hear any grievances. In practice this
is usually an unsatisfactory form of employee communication and
grievance handling if used on its own, although it may be part
of a wider and more structured approach to employee
communications.
479. OPEN-ENDED AGREEMENT: A collective agreement which
contains no stipulated termination date. Such agreements are
terminated by either party giving notice of termination or by the
conclusion of a new agreement that supersedes the old one. Most
141

OPEN-ENDED AGREEMENT

collective agreements in Britain are of this kind despite the

increase in fixed term agreements.
480. OPEN UNION: See trade union.
481. OPERATIVE: Manual workers, especially those in
manufacturing industry, may be referred to as operatives (or in
some cases operators).
482. OUTWORK: See homework, telework, subcontractor.
483. OVERMANNING: Any situation in which management claim
that more people are being employed than is necessary to perform
a particular task. Trade unions in Britain have regularly been
accused of insisting on excessively high levels of staffing, a charge
which they have always denied. See staffing level, restrictive
practices.
484. OVERSTAFFING: See overmanning.
485. OVERTIME: Hours of work done in excess of any standard or
basic working week as laid down in a contract of employment
and/or collective agreement. Despite criticism from both
employers and trade unions overtime levels have remained high,
averaging between four and five hours for all full-time male
manual workers, but increasing to nearly 10 hours a week for
those male manual full-time workers who actually work overtime
(only around 50 per cent. do). In 1985 the government estimated
total overtime worked at 11.5 rnillion hours, equivalent to 600,000
full-time jobs. For those who work overtime, it makes a significant
contribution to pay, converting an inadequate level of pay into
an acceptable wage. Thus it is often defended by workers and
unions at local level, despite official disapproval. For managers
too it represents a source offlexibilityin enabling them to increase
output in response to demand without recruiting extra staff. In
unionised workplaces where overtime is regularly worked, unions
have often sought managerial agreement that it be distributed
on a rota basis so that it is equally available to all those who wish
to do it. Although most overtime is voluntary in nature, the
routine working of overtime can lead to a situation in which a
court may rule that a refusal to work "voluntary" overtime may
constitute a breach of contract.
Overtime Ban: A form of collective industrial action involving
the refusal to work overtime.
142

OVERTIME

Overtime Premium: Most overtime undertaken by full-time

workers is paid for at an enhanced rate of pay, based on a
proportion of basic pay. Thus, for example, it would be common
for overtime worked from Monday to Friday to be paid at 50
per cent, above normal rates ("time and a half') and that done
on Sundays and public holidays to be paid at a 100 per cent,
premium ("double time"). "Triple time", a 200 per cent,
premium, is not unknown. Overtime may also be compensated
for through time off instead of premium pay. See lieu days.

143

486. PACKAGE DEAL: A collective agreement that covers a wide

range of benefits and working arrangements. Thus, in addition
to pay, a package deal might cover holidays, hours of work, sick
leave arrangements, occupational pensions, and so on. In
exchange employers would frequently benefit frorh agreements
to changed working methods, the introduction of new technology
agreements, etc.
487. PAID-UP MEMBER: A union member up-to-date with his or
her trade union contributions. Falling into arrears with payments
may in some unions lead to disciplinary action and may prevent
a member from standing for office or transferring into another
TUC-affiliated union. Since the widespread introduction of the
check-off arrears are increasingly rare.
488. PARENTAL LEAVE: See maternity leave, paternity leave.
489. PARTICIPATION: See workers' participation, employee
involvement, industrial democracy, financial participation.
490. PARTICIPATION RATE: See activity rate.
491. PART-TIME WORKER: Part-time work in Britain is
predominantly done by women. Since 1951 the proportion of parttime workers in the workforce (defined as those working 30 hours
per week or less) has risen from four per cent, to 22 per cent.
Part-time working is particularly common in the service sector
(in hotels and catering at least 60 per cent, of employees are parttime and in retail distribution almost half of all employees are
part-time). Many different patterns of part-time working exist,
and the hours worked by part-time workers range widely. Some
part-time workers will come within the coverage of individual
employment protectionrightsbut those working fewer than 16
hours (or eight hours if they have at least five years' continuous
service) are not covered. Part-timers generally have less access
than full-timers to employment related benefits, such as
occupational pension schemes, paid holidays and sick leave;
are less likely to be offered training and promotion and are
disadvantaged in pay, particularly through not having access to
premium pay. Some adverse treatment of part-time workers may
constitute unlawful indirect sex discrimination but some
differential treatment has been held to be justifiable under the
legislation. The EC Draft Directive on part-time work would
improve the position of part-time workers in Britain but the
United Kingdom government opposes its implementation. Part144

PAY

time workers are less likely than full-time workers to be in trade

unions, although a number of unions are now seeking to recruit
them and are campaigning to extend to them equal status with
full-time workers through collective bargaining. See also atypical
worker.
492. PARTY TO AN AGREEMENT: A party to an agreement is
a person who is directly involved in its formation and bound by
obligations arising from it. See contract of employment,
collective agreements: legal enforceability of collective
agreements.
493. PATERNALISM: An approach to the management of labour
that emphasises employer responsibility for employee welfare.
Between the two world wars certain employers (in Britain
especially Quakers) developed extensive and influential systems
of employee welfare: housing, pensions, sick pay arrangements,
etc. More recently certain British companies such as Marks and
Spencer have been described as "sophisticated paternaliste",
using techniques of careful recruitment, counselling, training,
etc. to satisfy individual aspirations. Japanese companies, with
their emphasis on security of employment and a range of employee
benefits, are also sometimes described as paternalist. The
approach, with its emphasis on employee loyalty and satisfaction,
tends to perceive trade unions as unnecessary, and paternalism
has been criticised by some for its tendency to anti-unionism.
494. PATERNITY LEAVE: The right of the father to time off from
work at or around the time of birth of his child. There is no
statutory provision for paternity leave in Britain but some trade
unions have negotiated for its inclusion in collective agreements.
Where arrangements have been agreed the paid leave is usually
for only a few days. The United Kingdom appears to be behind
some of its European partners on the provision of such leave and
there is very little voluntary provision for parental leave for child
care of the kind envisaged in the EC Draft Directive, blocked
by the United Kingdom government.
495. PAY: a term widely and imprecisely used to refer to the amount
earned by an employee. May be used to mean either gross pay
(see below) or net pay (see below).
Basic Pay: The guaranteed component of weekly or monthly
pay, independent of overtime and forms of bonus pay or
allowances.
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PAY

Basic Rate: The pay attached to a fixed amount of working

time, apart from overtime, bonus and allowance payments.
Gross Pay: The total amount earned by an employee in a given
earnings period (usually a week or a month). Gross pay includes
basic pay, overtime and all forms of bonus, merit or other
supplementary payments and is calculated before any deductions
for tax,, etc. See net pay below.
Guarantee Pay: A statutory entitlement under EPCA 1978 to
a minimum payment (for five days in a three month period) in
circumstances where the employee is not provided with work
because of a diminution of the employer's requirements for the
employee to do the work.
Net Pay: Also known as take-home pay, the amount of pay
actually received by an employee. It comprises gross pay (see
above) less deductions for tax, National Insurance, occupational
pension schemes, superannuation, etc.
Premium Pay: Pay for working outside "normal" hours, for
example in the evenings or at weekends, or for working particular
patterns, for example shiftwork or night work. There is no general
statutory entitlement to premium pay but collective agreements
commonly provide that work undertaken at certain times will
attract high rates of pay (for example twice the basic rate for
Sunday working). Women workers, particularly part-time
workers, generally have less access to premium pay than male
workers. Part-time workers are sometimes employed on basic
rates to cover "unsocial hours" (those outside "normal working")
to avoid having to pay premium rates to full-time workers
performing overtime. This is common for example in the service
sector. One attraction of annualised hours for employers is that
they can avoid the need to make premium payments.
Real Earnings: This refers to the purchasing power of wages
from year to year taking into account the effects of inflation. It
is distinguished from money earnings, the actual amount of money
earned. Union negotiators frequently argue that employers must
concede an amount equivalent to the rise of the cost of living
since pay was last agreed before the negotiation of improvements
can begin. Serious bargaining disagreements can result from
unions' desire to talk in terms of real earnings, and employers'
to talk in terms of money earnings. There may also be
disagreements as to whether calculation of real earnings should
be applied to pay before or after the application of standard
deductions (tax, National Insurance contributions, etc.).
146

PAYMENT BY RESULTS

(PBR)

Real Pay: See real earnings, above.

Take-Home Pay: See net pay, above.
496. PAY AS YOU EARN (PAYE): The most common means of
collecting income tax from employees. Tax is deducted from pay
by the employer and paid direct to the Inland Revenue.
497. PAY DAY: The day of the week or month on which employees
receive their pay. Employees in Britain are usually paid in arrears.
Under the Truck Acts manual workers were able to insist on
payment in cash. Until the 1980s more workers were paid in cash
than in many other countries. The repeal of the Truck Acts
through the Wages Act 1986 enabled employers to pay all
employees by cheque or some other form of cashless pay.
498. PAYE: See Pay As You Earn.
499. PAY IN LIEU OF NOTICE: See notice periods.
500. PAY PACKET: Literally, the envelope in which wages (usually
those of manual workers) were paid in cash. Now also used more
loosely to refer to the pay statement given to each employee every
week or month with the details of gross and net pay.
501. PAY REVIEW: See review body.
502. PAY ROUND: See wage: wage round.
503. PAY STATEMENT: See itemised pay statement.
504. PAY STRUCTURE: See wage: wage structure.
505. PAYMENT BY RESULTS (PBR): A type of payment system.
Sometimes used in a strict sense to indicate a system in which
there is a direct relationship between pay and output (e.g.
piecework). At other times the term may be taken to refer to
any system in which an element of pay is related to employee
performance, and thus could include such items as attendance
bonus. Systems of payment by results are still the most common
form of payment for manual workers in British manufacturing.
See incentive payment system.
147

PAYMENT IN KIND

506. PAYMENT IN KIND: Defined by the Department of

Employment as "goods provided by employers, free or below
cost, to employees, their dependants and former employees, for
example articles of food or fuel", i.e. payment in means other
than money. The amounts involved are generally small
(concessionary coal for miners was one well-known example) and
regulated by law. A number of fringe benefits may fall into the
category of payment in kind.
507. PBR: See payment by results.
508. PENALTY CLAUSE: Clauses in collective agreements that
stipulate monetary or other penalties against either employees
or management in the event of certain kinds of behaviour. Most
commonly used to describe clauses that prevent workers from
enjoying certain benefits if they take industrial action. Such
clauses are not common. In commercial contracts a penalty clause
may operate if work is not performed on time: for example in
the building industry.
509. PENDULUM ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
510. PENSION: See occupational pension, state pension.
511. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: See appraisal.
512. PERFORMANCE RELATED PAY: Where part of the wage
or salary is linked to attaining or surpassing a required
performance level (see also merit pay). Performance pay for
executives has become more widespread in Britain in recent years
with opportunities for managers to earn an additional percentage
(often around 30 per cent.) over their basic salary based on
company performance or on meeting objectives within their own
area of responsibility, or on a mixture of the two. See incentive
payment scheme.
513. PERIPHERAL WORKERS: See atypical workers, core
workforce.
514. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT: The term refers both to the
process of managing people and to the specialist management,
function which normally undertakes that task within'
organisations. The Institute of Personnel Management (IPM)
defines it as follows:
"Personnel Management is that part of management
concerned with people at work and with their relationships
within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop
148

PICKETING

into an effective organisation the men and women who make

up an enterprise and, having regard to the well being of the
individual and of working groups, to enable them to make
their best contribution to its success."
The IPM is the professional organisation for personnel managers
in Britain and it has an examination qualification scheme.
However many of those responsible for personnel management
in establishments in Britain have no professional or other formal
qualification, although this is less true of larger establishments
and those with recognised trade unions. Senior personnel
management staff have often worked in other functions within
the enterprise.
Specialist personnel management responsibility is present on
only a minority of the boards of enterprises in Britain (43 per
cent, in 1984, covering the trading part of the public sector and
private sector organisations) and personnel management is often
seen as an operational rather than strategic function. Surveys
carried out in the 1970s and 1980s have found that personnel
managers and line managers perceive personnel management as
having increased its influence and the growing amount of labour
legislation is given as an important explanation for this.
See List of Addresses.
515. PICKETING: Picketing is attendance by workers outside a place
of work during a strike. An assembly of a large number of pickets
is sometimes called "mass picketing". The phrase "flying picket"
describes groups of mobile pickets who move between different
places of work. As the physical manifestation of industrial conflict,
picketing not only features in the wider pattern of immunities
from tortious habilities but also raises the question of public order,
involving control by the police and criminal offences.
The legal right to picket is defined in TULRA in terms of
attendance at or near the picket's own place of work only for
the purpose of peacefully obtaining or communicating information
or peacefully persuading a person not to work in contemplation
of or furtherance of a trade dispute. The right also covers trade
union officials who accompany member pickets whom they
represent. The right is a right in form only as it provides
immunities from a narrow range of tortious liabilities and very
minor criminal offences.
Attendance which is not within the statutory definition (either
because it is at the wrong place or for purposes beyond persuasion
in a trade dispute) involves loss of immunities in respect of both
tortious and criminal liabilities. The government has issued a
Code of Practice on Picketing which is, if relevant, taken into
149

PICKETING

account in court proceedings. The Code recommends that

normally the maximum number of pickets should be six, a
guideline which has been incorporated in the terms of injunctions
and in police control over picketing. See Public Order Act 1986.
Secondary Picketing: Secondary picketing is picketing which
is unconnected with a trade dispute at the picketed premises.
However, the legal restriction affects not only secondary but also
much "primary" picketing directed against the employer in
dispute: pickets lose statutory immunity from tortious liabilities
if they picket at any venue other than their own place of work.
Picketing which is undertaken other than by employees in dispute
at their own place of work is secondary picketing. TULRA as
amended by EA 1980 thus outlaws picketing of employers other
than the employer in dispute, and also picketing of the employer
in dispute other than at the place of work of the employees in
dispute. Picketing of head office or other plants of the same
company by employees from a plant in dispute would be
secondary picketing and the employer could seek an injunction
to stop it. See secondary action.
516. PIECEWORK: A payment system in which an agreed sum of
money is paid in exchange for a specified unit of work. There
are two basic types. First, money piecework, which attaches a
price to each piece of work. Second, time piecework, in which
a worker is given a fixed time to do a job but is paid the same
amount if the job is finished earlier. The term piecework is
sometimes, incorrectly, used more generally as a synonym for
payment by results. See incentive payment scheme.
517. PLANT: (1) A work-site; a factory. Thus a multi-plant company
is one which operates at a number of different geographical
locations, each one being a plant. A single-plant company has
only one factory. (2) Plant can also be used to mean equipment
or machinery.
518. PLANT AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
519. PLANT BARGAINING: See bargaining structure.
520. PLC: See public limited company.
521. PLUSSAGE: A broad term for a range of payments to employees
above basic pay in recognition either of particular working
conditions or employee capabilities. These might include
payments for supervisory responsibilities or for the possession
of particular qualifications.
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POLITICAL FUND

522. POACHING: The recruitment by one trade union of members

of another. Such behaviour, if undertaken by unions affiliated
to the TUC, is almost always in breach of the Bridlington
Agreement and may lead to internal disciplinary action against
the offending union. The term is also used to refer to employers
who entice workers away from a rival employer.
523. POINTS RATING: See job evaluation.
524. POLITICAL DONATION: In Britain the two major political
parties receive a significant proportion of their funds through
political donations; the Conservative Party from business and
industry and the Labour Party from the trade unions. Figures
published in 1987 showed that during the previous 18 months
252 companies had paid over 2m to the Conservative Party. In
addition industry had made donations to other organisations
which in turn assist the Conservative Party. Precise figures on
these latter donations are not available. It is estimated that such
donations make up around 55 per cent, of Conservative Party
income. In the case of the Labour Party, donations from trade
union sources make up around 85 per cent, of its income, and
to this has to be added the costs of Members of Parliament
sponsored by individual trade unions, and other fees and grants
(see political fund). Donations made directly to political parties
have by law to be declared.
525. POLITICAL FUND: Since the passing of the Trade Union Act
1913 trade unions have not been able to pay for political activities
from their general funds; they have had to establish separate
political funds for the purpose. Once a decision to establish such
a fund has been taken, all members have the right to pay or not
to pay the political levy, an identifiably separate element of the
trade union contribution. Each member has the right of
"contracting out" of paying the levy through indicating in
writing a desire not to pay. Members who do not contract out
are deemed to wish to pay the levy. The situation in Northern
Ireland is exceptional: there the reverse logic applies in that union
members do not pay unless they express a specific wish to do
so (a system of "contracting-in"). The proportion of members
paying the levy varies from under 10 per cent, in some unions
to over 90 per cent, in others. The Trade Union Act 1984
required all unions with such funds to ballot their members for
its continuation, and changed the definition of "political
objectives". The result was that all unions with existing funds
voted to retain them, and eleven more voted to establish them
for the first time. In 1988, 47 unions had political funds, and
most of these were affiliated to the Labour Party.
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POLITICAL LEVY

526. POLITICAL LEVY: See political fund.

527. POLITICAL STRIKE: See strike.
528. POSITIVE ACTION: Steps taken by organisations to promote
equality of opportunity for disadvantaged groups. The SDA and
RRA specifically allow for certain positive action to be taken by
an employer in circumstances where a particular group (women,
an ethnic minority) is under-represented. It is possible to take
steps to encourage members of under-represented groups to apply
for jobs (through targetted advertisements for example) and to
provide them with training to help fit them for particular jobs.
These provisions (particularly the training aspect) have not been
widely used by employers. The legislation also allows trade unions
and similar bodies to reserve seats on elective bodies for members
of one sex and a number of trade unions now have reserved seats
for women as a way of increasing their representation on executive
committees. Other than that described above, the British
legislation does not permit any form of positive or affirmative
action which requires positive (or "reverse") discrimination in
favour of women, or minority ethnic groups, since such action
would amount to discrimination against men, or white workers,
and as such be unlawful. In Northern Ireland, however, the Fair
Employment Act provides for affirmative action programmes to
counter the effects of religious discrimination.
529. POSTAL BALLOT: A ballot conducted in whole or part
through the post. Full postal ballots involve both the distribution
and return of ballot papers by post, semi-postal ballots involve
the distribution of ballot papers at the workplace and their return
by post. See Trade Union Act 1984, industrial action, executive
committee, Employment Act 1988.
530. POST-ENTRY CLOSED SHOP: See closed shop.
531. POVERTY TRAP: A situation in which a rise in earned income
is offset by loss or reduction in income related welfare benefits
payable to low wage families (for example family income
supplement, rent rebate). In some cases, after taxation, a low
wage family caught in the "poverty trap" may in fact be worse
off after a pay increase.
532. PRE-ENTRY CLOSED SHOP: See closed shop.
533. PREMIUM PAY: See pay.
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534. PRICE INDEX: See cost of living index.

535. PRICES AND INCOMES POLICY: See incomes policy.
536. PRIMARY SECTOR: One of three sectors into which
employment is divided (the other two are the secondary:
manufacturing, and the tertiary: the service sector). The primary
sector, which is not large in Britain, includes agriculture and
extractive industry such as mining and quarrying. In 1986,
309,500 people were employed in agriculture, horticulture,
forestry and fishing (less than two per cent, of the employed
population) and 237,500 in coal mining and other mining and
quarrying.
537. PRIVATE HEALTH SCHEMES: Private medical care, paid
for directly or through membership of a private medical insurance
scheme, has existed alongside the National Health Service since
its creation. Membership of these schemes rose by 50 per cent,
(although from a low base) in the early 1980s, and the number
of private hospitals also increased. In some companies
membership of a private health scheme is offered as part of the
remuneration package to senior managers and this habit is
spreading. Although trade unions are generally hostile to the
development of private medicine, not all feel able to resist the
offer of membership of such schemes to their members, especially
at a time when the National Health Service is experiencing
problems in maintaining levels of service and care.
538. PRIVATE SECTOR: That part of the economy owned by
private investors. This covers most of British manufacturing and
commerce, and the proportion is increasing (see privatisation)
although governments of both parties have in the past been
prepared to take into public ownership important private
compames that were experiencing financial problems. Examples
in the 1970s included Rolls-Royce and British Leyland.
539. PRIVATIZATION: The policy, most especially associated with
the Conservative governments since 1979, of selling all or part
of state-owned companies to the private sector. This includes (a)
the sale of entire nationalized industries such as British Telecom,
British Gas and the electricity supply industry and (b) the
requirement that agencies such as local government and the
National Health Service put out to private contractors work
previously done by their own employees (see contracting out and
sub-contracting). The consequence of the latter policy has led
to the widespread use of private companies doing work such as
153

PRIVATIZATION

cleaning and catering in schools and hospitals. In many cases this

has involved the same people doing the same work as before but
for a new employer, often on inferior terms and conditions of
service and with no recognition of trade unions. It is argued
that this policy alleviates personnel and industrial relations
problems for these public service agencies since it delegates
employment responsibilities to the sub-contractor. See also
denationalization.
540. PROBATIONARY PERIOD: A period at the start of certain
types of employment during which the employee has to satisfy
the employer of ability to do the work. Subject to satisfactory
performance the contract should be made into a normal contract
of employment at the completion of the probationary period.
Such arrangements are found, for example, in teaching.
541. PROCEDURAL AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
542. PROCEDURES: The name given to all systems, formal or
informal, used to resolve conflicts or disagreements, individual
or collective, between employees and employers. See discipline
procedure, dismissal, dispute procedure, grievance procedure,
negotiating machinery.
543. PROCESS WORKER: A worker, usually semi-skilled, who
works directly as part of a production process.
544. PRODUCTION WORKER: A worker, unskilled or semiskilled, who works as part of the process of production (see
operative, direct worker). Distinguished from workers who
perform work of maintenance or servicing (indirect workers).
545. PRODUCTrVITY AGREEMENTS: A term coined in the
mid-1960s to refer to collective bargaining of a particular
substantive kind. In productivity bargaining pay increases are
conceded in exchange for trade union commitments to changes
in working practices, staffing levels and the organisation of work:
in other words to changes that will increase labour productivity.
It is sometimes suggested that productivity agreements should
be self-financing, that is, that wage increases should be fully
funded from savings in the agreement; they should not result
in any net increase in labour costs. Whether such agreements
are fully or partially self-funding, unions and employers may then
negotiate over the distribution of the savings as between workers
and employer. Productivity bargaining was at the height of its
154

PROMOTION LADDER

importance in the late 1960s, partly because of a perceived need

to improve labour productivity and partly because productivitybased wage increases were exempted from the controls of incomes
policy in the late 1960s. It was endorsed by the Donovan
Commission as an appropriate form of plant and company
bargaining: virtually all productivity bargaining was conducted
at these levels. Since then the term has been less widely used
although the concept is still current; terms such as efficiency
agreements or flexibility agreements may be used instead.
546. PRODUCTIVITY BARGAINING: See productivity
agreement.
547. PROFIT CENTRE: The level(s) in a company at which a profit
is calculated based on the sale of goods or services. Such profits
may be realised through transactions on an external market, or
within the same company on the basis of internal transfer pricing.
It has been claimed that in the 1980s in Britain lower levels of
companies (establishments, divisions) have been designated profit
centres in order to encourage local manageria' discretion and
flexibility, giving managers enhanced local discretion. The extent
to which this philosophy has really led to an increase in local
managerial autonomy in multi-plant companies has been
questioned by researchers.
548. PROFIT-RELATED PAY: See financial participation.
549. PROFIT SHARING SCHEME: See financial participation.
550. PROHIBITION NOTICE: A health and safety inspector may
serve a prohibition notice on a person in control of activities which
the inspector considers involve risk of serious personal injury.
Activities affected by the notice must cease at once, or after a
specified period. There is no need for there to be a specific breach
of the law for a prohibition notice to be issued. There is a right
of appeal against the notice to an Industrial Tribunal. The
maximum penalty for contravening a prohibition notice is up to
two years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. See HSE,
Factory Inspector, improvement notice.
551. PROMOTION LADDER: An arrangement whereby workers
are promoted to more senior and responsible jobs, usually on the
basis of seniority. At one time widespread in the steel industry,
where it was largely controlled by the unions. See internal labour
market.
155

PROTECTIVE AWARD

552. PROTECTIVE AWARD: Where an employer fails to consult

with an independent recognised trade union over redundancy,
the union may apply to an industrial tribunal for a protective
award, which is the equivalent of remuneration payable to
employees who have been dismissed for redundancy.
553. PSBR: See Public Sector Borrowing Requirement.
554. PUBLIC CORPORATION: The major public
companies. See nationalised industry.

sector

555. PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY (PLC): Companies are limited

or unlimited, depending on whether the liability of their
shareholders is limited. A limited company may be either private
or public, the distinction being shown in the name, that is, a
private company has the word "limited" as the last part of its
name whereas the name of a public company must end with the
words "public limited company" or pic.
556. PUBLIC ORDER ACT 1986: This Act codifies and redefines
many of the more serious criminal offences applicable to
picketing. It also gives the police powers to stipulate conditions
for the conduct of assemblies of 20 or more people.
557. PUBLIC SECTOR: Those areas of industry and commerce
owned and controlled by the state. As well as central government
(Civil Service) this covers the nationalized industries and the
public services, the former being controlled by state-appointed
boards of directors, the latter directly by the responsible
department of state or local government agency. In 1980 the
public sector employed over 29 per cent, of the employed
population; this had fallen to 26.6 per cent, in 1986.
In Britain the public sector has long been characterised by
distinct industrial relations features, reflecting the state's longheld commitment to the virtues of collective bargaining based
on high levels of union density as the preferred means of industrial
government. The principles of union recognition, negotiation and
consultation had been established for the Civil Service and the
Post Office by the 1920s and were extended to other parts of the
public sector especially during its rapid expansion in the period
after the Second World War (although many of the industries
taken into public ownership such as steel, coal, and railways were
already well-unionised). Other common features included
156

PUBLIC SERVICES

centralised national bargaining with trade unions, the use of

arbitration to resolve trade disputes and, particularly in the
public services, the use of the principle of comparability as the
basis of wage settlement. These features, combined with good
job security and pension rights, gave public sector industrial
relations a reputation for industrial peace and stability, the major
exception being coal mining, and led to the characterization of
the state as a "model employer". This pattern began to change
in the early 1970s as public sector workers began to react to what
they perceived as the discriminatory impact of incomes policies
on them as opposed to their private sector counterparts. Wage
demands led to a wave of national public sector disputes in the
1970s, two of which, the miners' strike of 1974 and the local
government strike of 1978-1979, are seen as having contributed
to government defeats in general elections. Also during the 1970s
the government sought to decentralise elements of pay bargaining
in the public sector through the introduction of local bonus and
productivity agreements designed to increase productivity. This
contributed to the rapid development of shop stewards in the
public sector and a decentralisation of authority in public sector
unions. Wage problems have been compounded by difficulties
caused by reductions in public expenditure and, more recently,
by union hostility to privatization. Since 1979 the government
has made clear its reservations as to the usefulness of national
bargaining, pay comparability and arbitration, and several public
sector employers have removed or reduced them. Despite these
changes union density in the public sector remains high, and
public sector industrial action has continued to dominate the strike
statistics.
558. PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT
(PSBR): This is composed of the public sector deficit
(government expenditure on the public sector minus revenue
generated by the public sector) plus borrowing to bridge the gap
between expenditure and income. Since the mid-1970s in
particular governments have been concerned by the size of the
PSBR and have taken steps to reduce it. In recent years these
have included privatization and cash limits.
559. PUBLIC SERVICES: Those public sector industries that
provide services and are not intended to generate revenue to cover
their costs. Examples would include the National Health Service,
the education and social services, the Civil Service, and the Fire
Brigade.
157

PUBLIC UTILITY

560. PUBLIC UTILITY: This term has a dual meaning in that it

referes both to those corporations that provide universal (public)
goods and to the fact that, at least until recently, these utilities
formed part of the public sector. They include, for example,
gas, electricity and water. But at least the second of these
meanings is being lost through the impact of privatization. Gas
and water have both been sold off, as has the electricity industry.

158

561. QC: See quality circles.

562. QUALIFICATION: The experience and expertise acquired by
people in work and education. Formal qualifications are usually
those acquired through formal education or training:
examinations, degrees and diplomas testifying to attainments.
Informal qualifications are those acquired through experience.
Qualification requirements may form the basis of job recruitment
and promotion.
563. QUALITY CIRCLES (QC): Formally, a quality circle is a group
of some ten workers coming from the same work area, performing
similar work, who meet voluntarily on a regular basis to identify,
investigate, analyse and solve their own work related problems.
The quality circle presents ideas to management who decide
whether or not they should be implemented. The QC normally
plays a role in implementation and monitoring. Although often
seen as a Japanese idea, the QC concept originated in America.
Interest in QCs in Britain gathered momentum in the 1980s, often
as part of employer initiated EI programmes. Estimating the
number of QCs is difficult, however, because of their relatively
high birth and death rate. QCs can result in cost savings for
companies although management tend to give their reasons for
introducing them as relating to improving employee job
satisfaction, improving product quality and developing better
communications.
564. QUANGO: The letters stand for Quasi-Autonomous NonGovernmental Organisation and the name is used of bodies which
have a role in respect of government or government policy but
are distanced from government machinery in that they are
independent of a government department. An example is the
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service. This is an
executive quango which employs staff and handles its own budget.
The rationale lies in performing functions which cannot be
performed by the Department of Employment's own staff, usually
for reasons of public policy.
Executive quangos may be distinguished from administrative
quangos, which are advisory bodies whose expenses are met by
the relevant government department. These number several
hundreds. Sometimes various administrative tribunals, such as
the Supplementary Benefit Appeals Tribunals, are also described
as quangos. These bodies generally handle appeals against the
aclministrative decisions of government departments and therefore
need to be independent of them.
159

QUANGO

Since the mid-1970s concern over the level of public

expenditure led to an inquiry into quangos and the abolition of
many, with continuing review of those which remain.
565. QUIT RATE: The rate at which workers voluntarily leave work.

160

R
566. RACE DISCRIMINATION: There is repeated evidence
showing racial discrimination in employment in Britain. Black
people are most likely to be discriminated against: members of
the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities experience higher
rates of unemployment than white people; they are found
disproportionately in the lower grades of employment (unskilled
and semi-skilled work) and are often over-qualified for the work
they undertake. A study in 1984-1985 found at least one third
of employers directly discriminating against Asian and West
Indian applicants for jobs at the first stage of recruitment. The
levels of discrimination were no lower than found in a similar
study undertaken in 1973-1974, before the introduction of the
Race Relations Act 1976. Discrimination occurs across a variety
of occupations and it has been found that black graduates are
also receiving unequal treatment in the labour market.
Investigations undertaken by the CRE and other research
findings have highlighted the common practice of word of mouth
recruitment (using existing employees to find people to fill
vacancies), which can indirectly discriminate against black
workers, and has shown how some workplace cUscrimination may
be condoned or encouraged by union representatives, despite
national level commitment to equal employment opportunities.
567. RACE RELATIONS ACT 1976 (RRA): The Race Relations
Act 1976 applies to discrimination on the grounds of colour, race,
nationality and ethnic and national origins. It applies in Great
Britain but not in Northern Ireland. Religious discrimination
is not explicitly covered in Britain but separate legislation covers
this in Northern Ireland. "Ethnic origin", however, has been
interpreted broadly to cover groups with a common or presumed
common identity such as Jews or Sikhs. There are important
exceptions to the legislation which, for example, allow
discrimination on grounds of nationality to preserve immigration
controls.
Both direct and indirect discrimination are covered by the
legislation which applies to all stages of employment:
arrangements made for deciding who is offered a job; the terms
on which the job is offered; opportunities for promotion, training
and transfer; the benefits and services granted to employees; and
in job termination or other unfavourable treatment of employees.
The Act provides for a few, specific exemptions where it may
be a genuine occupational qualification (GOQ) to be a member
of a particular race, ethnic group, etc. The list of genuine
occupational qualifications includes actors, models, personal
welfare offices and certain jobs in places like restaurants where
161

RACE RELATIONS ACT 1976

(RRA)

"for reasons of authenticity" a person of a particular racial group

is required, for example a Chinese restaurant.
Nothing in the legislation requires discrimination in favour of
ethnic minorities and such discrimination would be likely to be
unlawful under the legislation. There is provision for positive
action of a narrow kind in that encouragement may be given to
members of an ethnic group, etc. which during the past twelve
months has been under-represented to apply for posts, and
training may be provided to equip such people to fill posts.
The Race Relations Act covers cUscrimination by employers,
trade unions, professional associations, employment offices and
similar bodies and redress may be sought against an individual
and their organisation.
Those who consider they have been unlawfully discriminated
against can seek redress via an Industrial Tribunal. They may
receive assistance in so doing from the CRE, established under
the Act. An IT which upholds a complaint may declare the rights
of both parties; award compensation, which may include both
specific damages (e.g. for loss of earnings) and general damages
(e.g. for injury to feelings) up to a specified maximum; and
recommend that a particular course of action be taken within a
specified period appearing to the IT to be practicable for the
purpose of obviating or reducing the adverse effect of the unlawful
discrimination on the complainant (for example a
recommendation may require an employer to consider the
successful applicant for promotion at the next opportunity). If
a recommendation is not complied with and no reasonable
justification is offered then compensation may be increased, up
to the maximum specified.
In the context of the extent of race discrimination revealed by
research, the number of complaints to tribunals is relatively low.
In 1986-1987 only 672 complaints were brought under the RRA.
Over half of the claims were withdrawn without reaching a
hearing, a minority being settled through conciliation. The
success rate for applicants whose cases are heard at tribunal is
low (12.5 per cent, in 1986-1987) and the remedies awarded are
derisory. In two thirds of the successful cases brought under the
Race Relations Act in 1986-1987 the compensation awarded was
below 750.
Explanations for the low applicant success rate include the
nature of the tribunal system, which involves an adversarial
hearing and in which the applicant bears the burden of proof;
narrow interpretation of the legislation, for example what
constitutes indirect discrimination; and a lack of expertise on the
part of the tribunals, and a reluctance to take account of "social
facts" as a context for decision-making in the individual case.
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RATE FOR THE JOB

The low remedies reflect the difficulty in showing actual financial

loss and the low value placed by the tribunals and higher courts
on the injury to feelings that racial discrimination occasions.
The RRA empowers the CRE to undertake a "formal
investigation" into cases of suspected unlawful discrimination
and, where it finds unlawful discrimination, to issue a "nondiscrimination notice" which may require the employer (or other
body) not to commit any further unlawful discrimination and
to keep the Commission informed of the steps taken in order not
to do so. If the non-discrimination notice is not successfully
appealed against and there is persistent discrimination over five
years the Commission can seek an injunction from the courts.
The problems of the individual complaint route described above,
and the difficulty in getting at structural discrimination, rather
than individual instances of discrimination, through complaints
by the victims of it underline the importance of the CRE's
investigation and enforcement role. The CRE has been more
active than the EOC in using its powers but it has been limited
in its ability to do so by court interpretations which have placed
obstacles in the way of starting an investigation.
568. RANK AND FILE: The mass of trade union members; all those
union members who hold no union office. The analogy is a
military one, ranks and files referring to the horizontal and vertical
lines of soldiers on parade.
569. RATE CUTTING: The unilateral reduction by employers of
piecework prices where there has been no change in the nature
of the work performed. Workers fear that this may be done if
through working harder they are able substantially to push up
earnings. One consequence of the fear of rate cutting is that
workers may deliberately withhold effort: this practice is seen
by management as a restrictive practice.
570. RATE FIXING: The establishment of a rate of pay or time
required to do a particular job under a system of payment by
results. The job is done by a rate fixer or supervisor, traditionally
without the use of time and motion study. It traditionally also
frequently involved direct bargaining with the operator doing the
job, and this became a major source of shop floor bargaining
(see bargaining structure) in industries such as engineering in
the 1950s and 1960s. Although such methods survive they have
largely been superseded by the use of work study techniques.
571. RATE FOR THE JOB: The established or recognized rate of
pay (weekly, hourly) for a given job or occupation. Frequently
163

RATE FOR THE JOB

thus used as a normative argument by workers or unions who

feel they are earning less than the going rate. Implicitly it refers
to the labour market notion of the rate needed to retain or recruit
particular types of labour.
572. REAL EARNINGS: See pay.
573. RECEIVER: See contempt of court.
574. RECOGNIZED TRADE UNION: See recognition.
575. RECOGNITION: A union must be an independent trade union
and recognised by an employer for the purpose of collective
bargaining in order to qualify for a range of legal rights, including
the rights to be consulted over redundancy situations,
occupational pensions and health and safety. In addition,
recognition is a precondition for both thetime-offrightsfor trade
union representatives and the employer's duty to disclose
information for collective bargaining. According to the legal
definition of recognition (EPA as amended) recognition means
recognition of the union by the employer to any extent for the
purposes of collective bargaining, and collective bargaining means
negotiations relating to one or more of the matters specified in
the definition of trade dispute. Since 1980 Britain has not had
a legal procedure to secure union recognition against an unwilling
employer, although in Northern Ireland specific legal provisions
for handling trade union recognition problems still exist, operated
by the Labour Relations Agency. See certificate of
independence.
576. RECOGNITION-ONLY CLAUSES: See union-only clauses.
577. RECOGNITION-ONLY PRACTICES: See union-only
clauses.
578. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION: The process of bringing
people into an organisation. Employing organisations use a variety
of methods to recruit to vacancies. Government agencies such
as job centres tend to be used more frequently for lower level
jobs (such as semi-skilled manual workers) and more expensive
channels, such as newspaper advertising, private employaient
agencies and recruitment consultants, for higher level posts, such
as junior or senior technical and professional staff. Informal
methods (personal contacts of existing staff and off-chance
inquiries) are also commonly used for recruiting to lower-level
occupations. Very little recruitment is done through the trade
164

REDUNDANCY

unions, although this has been the historical practice in some

traditionally well-organised craft sectors, particularly print, where
a pre-entry closed shop was in operation. Some employing
organisations who seek to be equal opportunity employers have
reviewed their procedures and policies in respect of recruitment
in order to eliminate discrimination, but research evidence
continues to show that some recruitment decisions are still based
on such considerations as the gender, family circumstances or
race of the applicant. Some informal methods of recruitment tend
to discriminate against certain groups in the labour market.
A range of selection methods are used to pick between those
recruited into the pool of applicants. The most frequently used
is the interview. For higher level jobs assessment centres may
be used at which applicants undergo a number of tests and group
exercises which are designed to have some predictive value in
terms of future job performance. The use of selection tests (not
only for skills but for attitudes) is increasing in the selection of
manual workers. Selection decisions often rest with line
management, advised and supported by the personnel function.
See also blacklisting, discrimination. See also union recruitment.
579. RED CIRCLING: After the reforming of a pay structure,
perhaps through a job evaluation exercise, the pay differentials
between jobs may change. The absolute (not relative) pay position
of some existing workers may be maintained by "red circling"
them. This means that they will continue to receive the "old"
rate of pay but any new entrants into those positions will receive
the rate determined by the pay review exercise. The term is also
used in connection with the protection of men's earnings after
a job evaluation exercise to remove sex bias. See equal value
amendment.
580. REDEPLOYMENT: Usually applied to the movement of
workers from one job or location to another, as for example in
work re-organisation or in attempts to avoid compulsory
redundancy. Managerial freedom to redeploy workers may be
limited by collectively negotiated rules.
581. REDUNDANCY: Loss of job for economic reasons of the firm.
A dismissal is for redundancy when it is due to the fact that (i)
an employer has ceased to carry on a business for the purpose
of which the employee was employed, or in the place where he
or she was employed, or (ii) the requirements of that business
for employees to carry out work of a particular kind have ceased
or diminished. This is the essence of the legal definition embodied
in EPCA 1978, which imposes legal obligations on employers
165

REDUNDANCY

to provide redundancy pay (see below) and to consult with

recognised trade unions (see recognition) over redundancies.
Redundancy Consultation: An employer who proposes to
dismiss an employee for redundancy must consult with a
recognised independent trade union. The consultation must
begin at the earliest opportunity, but if a hundred or more
employees are to be dismissed in a ninety-day period, the
consultation must begin ninety days before the first dismissal takes
effect. Complaints that an employer has failed to consult may
be referred to an Industrial Tribunal, which may make a
protective award. The legislation on redundancy consultation
and notification (EPA Part IV) implements the EEC Directive
on Collective Redundancies.
Redundancy Pay: Under the EPCA employees with a
minimum of two years' service since their eighteenth birthday
who are dismissed owing to redundancy are entitled to a lump
sum severance payment which varies with age, length of the
employee's service and weekly pay. Questions about an
employees's entitlement may be referred to an industrial tribunal.
Until the EA 1989 some small employers were entitled to a rebate
from the State Redundancy Fund in respect of statutory
payments. Many employers have negotiated redundancy
agreements with their trade unions that provide levels of
redundancy compensation in excess of the statutory minima and
sometimes with less stringent eligibility criteria.
Redundancy Payments Act 1965 (RPA): This Act introduced
the entitlement to redundancy pay. Its contents as amended are
now embodied in the EPCA.
582. REDUNDANCY PAY: See redundancy.
583. REDUNDANCY SEVERANCE: See redundancy: redundancy
pay.
584. RE-EMPLOYMENT: When an employee is found to have been
subject to unfair dismissal the Industrial Tribunal can order his
or her re-employment, that is, the worker has to be taken back
into employment by the employer. The tribunal may order
reinstatement or re-engagement. Reinstatement is where the
worker returns to the same job, on the same terms and conditions
of employment as if he or she had not been dismissed. Where
the worker returns to a different job with the same employer,
or to the same job on different terms and conditions, or where
he or she is not in the position as if there had been no dismissal,
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RELATIVITIES

then this is re-engagement. Where the employer objects to reemployment of the applicant the tribunal has to decide whether
it would be "practicable" for the employer to comply with the
order. Tribunals tend to adopt employer-centred criteria when
assessing practicability, that is, whether upon return the employee
will cause no managerial problems, rather than using employeecentred criteria and asking whether the applicant would benefit
from re-employment. Where an employer does not comply with
a tribunal order of re-employment an additional award of
compensation becomes payable to the worker. Except in cases
where dismissal is related to trade union reasons (where a "special
award" is payable), this additional amount is not large and
provides little real incentive to accept a re-employment order.
Although such orders are intended as the primary remedy for
being unfairly dismissed, in practice very few workers who win
their claims for unfair dismissal are re-employed on order of the
tribunal. Only around three per cent, of successful unfair
dismissal claimants obtain re-employment orders. This is around
one per cent, of all applicants whose claims are heard at a tribunal
hearing. The vast majority of successful unfair dismissal
applicants receive an award of compensation. This situation is
replicated among those applicants who settle their claims without
a tribunal hearing; the majority accept a monetary payment.
585. RE-ENGAGEMENT: See re-employment.
586. REGISTERED UNEMPLOYMENT: See unemployment.
587. REINSTATEMENT: See re-employment.
588. RELATIVITIES: Defined as "relationships between the pay
of jobs and grades of jobs in different negotiating units. They
may be external relativities between those in different plants,
companies, industries or services if these are self-contained
negotiating groups under different employers; or they may be
internal relativities between those in different negotiating units
within the same plant, part of plant, company or service under
a single employer". In either case they are distinguished from
a strict definition of differentials, which refer to pay differences
within a single negotiating group. Despite this clear definition,
the term differentials is often used instead of relativities. The
maintenance of relativities has been of particular importance in
public sector pay bargaining, where groups have long been
accustomed to comparing their pay with that of private sector
comparators.
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RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION

589. RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION: There is no explicit

provision relating to religious discrimination in the British
legislation but special provisions do apply in Northern Ireland
where the inequality of opportunity between Catholics and
Protestants has emerged as a key political issue. The Fair
Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 builds upon earlier
legislation which made religious or political discrimination
unlawful. The Act covers indirect as well as direct discrimination
and requires employers in Northern Ireland to monitor and report
upon the religious composition of their workforces. Employers
who fail to comply will normally be excluded from government
grants and business; a form of contract compliance. The Fair
Employment Commission has the power to investigate
employment patterns and practices and can issue legally
enforceable Directions specifying steps to be taken to promote
equality of opportunity in this area. It is also able to support
individual complaints of religious cUscrimination which are heard
by separate tribunals within the Industrial Tribunal system.
590. RELIGIOUS MONITORING: Monitoring is one of the central
provisions of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1989.
All firms with over 25 employees are required to register with
the Fair Employment Commission and to submit regular
monitoring returns giving information on their workforce by
religious classification.
591. REMUNERATION PACKAGE: Various elements, in addition
to actual pay in the form of wage or salary, may make up the
total remuneration package. These additional elements are
referred to sometimes as "employee benefits" or "fringe
benefits". There is no common agreement as to what might be
included under this heading and the nature of benefits varies.
Some additional elements in the remuneration package concern
deferred payment (for example pension schemes); others relate
to time (paid holidays, sick pay); others to payment in kind
(subsidised meals or transport) or items such as company cars
which may be provided as a reward and sign of status in the
organisational hierarchy rather than as tools for the performance
of the job. Benefits may be taxable.
Although some benefits may be subject to negotiation they
are often a matter of employer discretion and the reasons behind
the granting of particular benefits vary, as does their distribution
among the workforce. Generally the allocation of these additional
benefits follows and accentuates wage and salary differences, for
example between the high paid and low paid, between nonmanual and manual workers and between the core workforce
168

RESTRUCTURING

and peripheral workers. These additional elements often form

a very important part of the total remuneration packages of senior
staff. Moves towards the harmonization of terms and conditions
of manual and non-manual staff have removed some of the
inequalities in the distribution of fringe benefits as between these
groups.
592. RESIGNATION: Termination of the contract of employment
by the employee. Where such termination is in circumstances
where the employer's behaviour left the worker with little
alternative but to resign (in effect the employer repudiates the
contract) this can amount to constructive dismissal and a claim
for unfair dismissal may be presented to an Industrial Tribunal.
593. RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES: These were defined by the
Donovan Commission as "rules and customs which unduly
hinder the efficient use of labour". Despite this simple definition,
the existence and significance of restrictive practices have long
been among the most contentious issues in British industrial
relations. Many employers argued, during the 1960s and 1970s
in particular, that the efficient functioning of the economy was
being frustrated by worker-imposed restrictive practices,
including demarcation enforcement, time wasting, resistance to
modern machinery and management techniques, overmanning
and output restrictions. Unions and other commentators, for their
part, justify the need for a degree of worker control over the
performance of work in terms of protection against arbitrary
management behaviour (see rate cutting), and to protect job
security. They also point out that much restriction originates
within a managerially designed division of labour. In any case,
evidence of the economic impact of any such restrictive practices
as may exist is hard to come by and contentious. While according
to some commentators such restrictive practices form a significant
contribution to Britain's economic decline, for others their
significance is tiny compared to such factors as low levels of
investment in new equipment, and ineffective design and
marketing policies. A recent survey suggested that in the
mid-1980s worker-imposed restrictive practices were not seen by
management as constituting significant constraints on
management's ability to make effective use of equipment and
resources. See custom and practice.
594. RESTRUCTURING: Economic or industrial restructuring is
a concept that has grown from attempts to explain aspects of
economic change which do not seem adequately covered in the
literature of the business cycle. The concept has been developed
169

RESTRUCTURING

to denote the re-creation of the conditions for extended

accumulation following a crisis. Thus restructuring is the process
of transforming the organization of capital, the labour process,
product and labour markets. The term is also used, with less
precision, to refer to major shifts in the structure of the economy,
for example the shift from manufacturing to services.
595. RETAIL PRICES INDEX: See cost of living index.
596. RETIREMENT: Terminating employment, usually on reaching
the maximum age set by the employing organisation. The state
retirement age (that is, the age at which state pensions become
payable) is 60 for women and 65 for men. The practice of British
employing organisations dismissing women earlier than men
because they reach state pensionable age earlier was successfully
challenged before the European Court and resulted in legislative
change in SDA 1986, which makes it unlawful for an employer
to set different retirement ages for men and women.
Early Retirement: A device sometimes used by employers
wishing to reduce their labour force. Financial inducements are
offered to workers prepared to retire before the maximum age
set by the employing organisation. This may be one method of
seeking to avoid redundancy.
597. RETROSPECTIVE PAY: Some collective agreements allow
for a pay increase to be back-dated to a date earlier than that
on which the agreement was reached. Payment made under such
an agreement is retrospective pay. It is to be distinguished from
back pay (see pay).
598. REVIEW BODY: Since the early 1970s the government has
appointed standing committees to review the pay and terms and
conditions of groups of workers for whom it is thought that
collective bargaining and industrial action are not appropriate.
Groups currently covered include top salary earners in the public
sector (including senior judges and the heads of nationalised
industries), the armed forces, doctors and dentists, and nurses.
The government is not bound to pay the awards made by these
bodies; they have to be approved by Parliament. Other groups
of workers may have their pay reviewed from time to time by
bodies set up for more general purposes, such as the National
Board for Prices and Incomes and the Comparability Commission,
although neither of these currently exists.
599. RIGHT TO ASSOCIATE: See freedom of association.
170

RULE BOOK

600. RIGHT TO DISSOCIATE: See freedom of association.

601. RIGHT TO MANAGE: See managerial prerogative.
602. RIGHT TO STRIKE: In Britain the legal freedom to strike and
take other industrial action is based on statutory immunities from
common law habilities. There is no positive legal right to strike.
In so far as the immunities permit trade unions and others to
organise lawful industrial action in contemplation or furtherance
of a trade dispute, they fulfil the same function as the qualified
positive legal rights embodied in legislative or constitutional
provisions in other comparable countries. An important
implication of the absence of a positive legal right is the precarious
legal position of individual employees who participate in strikes
or other industrial action. Individual strikers are normally in
fundamental breach of their contracts of employment (see breach
of contract), which entitles their employers to dismiss them
without notice (summary dismissal). Individual strikers are also
severely restricted in their ability to claim unfair dismissal and
social security payments.
603. RPA (REDUNDANCY PAYMENTS ACT 1965): See
redundancy.
604. RRA: See Race Relations Act 1976.
605. RULE BOOK: Generally this refers to any document containing
a set of rules by which an organisation is governed. In industrial
relations it is generally taken as referring specifically to the rules
of trade unions. These cover all aspects of union decision-taking,
eligibility for membership, and rights and benefits of
membership. They constitute at law a contract between the union
and each member. Britain is a signatory to the ILO Convention
that stipulates the right of unions to draw up their rules free from
interference, although there are no positive rights to this effect
in British law. The law currently stipulates that rules must give
the right to resign, must deal with the appointment and removal
of auditors, and must prohibit race and sex discrimination. In
addition, since the Trade Union Act 1984, the rules for the
election of executive committees have to take the form of
individual secret ballots. See Independent Review Committee.

171

606. SAFETY COMMITTEE: See Health and Safety.

607. SAFETY REPRESENTATIVE: See Health and Safety.
608. SALARY: The pay of white-collar workers is usually described
as a salary (see wage) and is usually paid monthly rather than
weekly. But see also harmonization.
609. SCAB: Union term for strikebreaker.
610. SCOPE OF AGREEMENT: See bargaining structure.
611. SCOPE OF BARGAINING: See bargaining structure.
612. SDA 1975: See Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
613. SDA 1986: See Sex Discrimination Act, 1986.
614. SEASONAL UNEMPLOYMENT: See unemployment.
615. SEASONAL WORKER: Worker whose employment may vary
with regular seasonalfluctuationsin demand, especially in sectors
such as agriculture and tourism. See atypical worker, casual
worker.
616. SECONDARY ACTION: Under EA 1980 the scope of lawful
industrial action is generally restricted to employees in dispute
with their own employer about their own terms and conditions
of employment (see trade dispute). Thus action taken by other
employees acting in sympathy or solidarity, or action adversely
affecting other employers, risks being held to be unlawful
secondary action. The action against other employers (often
suppliers or customers to the employer in dispute) may be
designed to increase pressure on the employer in the dispute.
Where a close commercial relationship as customer/supplier exists
or where the two employers in practice are associated employers,
secondary action may be lawful. Most secondary action is
outlawed and the Employment Bill 1989 proposes to remove the
remaining immunity for this form of industrial action.
617. SECONDARY PICKETING: See picketing.
618. SECONDARY SECTOR: The production sector of
employment, mainly manufacturing industry. Manufacturing
industry in Britain has declined considerably and now accounts
172

SELF-FINANCING

only for around a fifth of total employment. A further six per

cent, of employment is in construction.
619. SELECTION: See recruitment and selection.
620. SELF-EMPLOYMENT: At law a distinction is drawn between
those under a contract for services (self-employed workers) and
those under a contract of service (employees). Thus a selfemployed person (as distinct from an employee) enjoys certain
tax advantages but may be excluded from certain statutory rights
(such as the right to claim unfair dismissal) and from other
benefits flowing from employee status, including occupational
pensions. A self-employed person is someone who by definition
does not work under a contract of employment. Individual
employment protectionrightsgenerally apply to "employees"
and the self-employed fall outside their protection. Common usage
may not always correspond with the legal definition and the
boundary between the two forms is often blurred (as for example
in dealing with various marginal or atypical workers who are
not entrepreneurs yet do not always fit comfortably into the
contract of service category). Some 2.7 million workers in Britain
(13 per cent.) are self-employed and the proportion is growing.
The government has introduced various incentives to encourage
people to consider self-employment, including the Enterprise
Allowance Scheme established in 1983. This scheme pays people
meeting the eligibility criteria (including being in receipt of
unemployment benefit or income support at the time of
application) a weekly sum of money for up to a year and provides
advice and guidance from experienced business counsellors.
Between 1981 and 1985 it is estimated that the number of people
working for themselves increased by almost half a million, the
greatest increase occurring after 1983. The proportion of women
in self-employment is also increasing, from 20 per cent, in 1981
to 25 per cent, in 1985. Certain industries, particularly
construction, have always had a higher proportion of selfemployed workers. The service sector accounts for two thirds
of self-employment, particularly in distribution, hotels and
catering and repair activities. See employee, atypical workers.
621. SELF-FINANCING: Applied to certain types of productivity
agreements, namely those where the savings made through
productivity improvements (e.g. reductions in the size of the
workforce, reductions in overtime) are equal to or greater than
the cost of the agreed wage increases.
173

SEMI-SKILLED WORKERS

622. SEMI-SKILLED WORKERS: A broad term denoting those

manual workers who require a degree of training or
familiarisation with work before being able to operate at maximum
efficiency, and who are therefore not unskilled workers. But the
training is not of the length or intensity required for designation
as a skilled or craft worker, being measured in weeks or days
rather than years. The majority of manual workers (process,
direct, production workers) are now classified as semi-skilled.
623. SENIORITY: The principle whereby benefits (promotion, pay,
favourable jobs) are granted on the basis of length of service rather
than on any other criterion. Where such systems apply, and they
are rare in Britain (see promotion ladder), they usually reflect
the outcome of successful union pressure. The best-known
seniority principle in Britain is that of last in first out in
redundancy situations.
624. SEQUESTRATION: See contempt of court.
625. SERVICE QUALIFICATION: See continuity of employment.
626. SERVICE SECTOR: The three main sectors of employment are
the primary sector (mining and other extractive industries and
agriculture), the secondary (manufacturing) and the tertiary
(service) sector. The service sector accounts for a large (60 per
cent.) and increasing proportion of the employed labour force
in Britain. Half of all working men and over three quarters of
working women are employed in the service sector. Public sector
services are fairly well organised but private sector services have
low union densities and unions are less likely to enjoy recognition.
With the contracting-out and privatization of public sector
provision this part of the service sector is declining with a
consequent increase in private sector services.
627. SEVERANCE PAY: See redundancy payment.
628. SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1975 (SDA 1975): Direct and
indirect discrimination against men or women or (in
employment) against married persons is covered by this Act. The
structure of the SDA is similar to that of the RRA which was
modelled on it. Certain exemptions apply, such as being a midwife
or where being a man or a woman is a genuine occupational
qualification for the job, for example modelling, acting, providing
personal welfare services or certain jobs in single sex institutions
or where decency or privacy is an issue. There are provisions
relating to positive action in the form of training or
174

SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1986 (SDA

1986)

encouragement to men or women to apply for jobs where that

gender has been under-represented in the past twelve months.
Trade unions are permitted to reserve seats on elected bodies
to be held by women members.
Someone who feels that he or she has been discriminated against
can seek redress from an Industrial Tribunal which, as under
the RRA, can make a declaration, award compensation and/or
recommend action. In 1986-1987 there were 612 claims to ITs
under the SDA. Tribunal applicants succeeded in 22 per cent,
of heard cases. Compensation of 750 or less was awarded to 57
per cent, of successful applicants and a quarter received 3,000
or more. The EOC has the same ability as the CRE to undertake
a formal investigation but it has chosen to use this power less
often.
Patterns of job segregation, whereby men and women do
different work and generally work only with members of the same
sex doing similar work, have remained intact despite the existence
of the legislation. Women are heavily concentrated in relatively
few occupations in Britain, frequently those with a large
employment of part-time workers. In 1986, 42 per cent, of fulltime women workers were in clerical and related occupations.
Part-time women are heavily concentrated in catering, cleaning,
hairdressing and other personal service occupations. Few women
are employed, for example, in general managerial occupations
(11 per cent.) or in processing, making, repairing and related
occupations in metal and electrical industries (five per cent.).
Although women are more evenly distributed by industry than
occupation the service sector is the largest employer of women,
whether working full-time or part-time. Women's work is often
of lower status and is lower paid than that of men. Research
demonstrates that discrimination against women, for example in
recruitment and selection, continues. The legislation has curbed
blatant direct discrimination (for example in advertisements for
jobs) and arguably has provided, along with the work of the two
equality commissions (EOC, CRE), a stimulus to voluntary action
in examining and reviewing employment practices and
procedures. The limitations of the legislation, however, including
the problems facing individuals in seeking redress and the nature
of the remedies, have probably reduced the potential of this
stimulus effect.
629. SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1986 (SDA 1986): This Act
was required in part to bring British legislation into line with
European requirements following adverse judgments by the
European Court of Justice. The government also used the
opportunity to repeal longstanding protective legislation which
175

SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT 1986 (SDA

1986)

restricted women's hours and times of work. The main changes

effected by this Act are:
it is unlawful for an employer to set different retirement ages
for men and women;
women will be able to complain of unfair dismissal up to the
same ages as men;
the exemption from the SDA 1975 which applied to employers
with five or fewer workers is removed;
the blanket exclusion for employment in private households
is replaced by a more limited exemption from the SDA;
the restriction on women's hours and times of work (e.g.
shiftwork, night work) are removed;
the need for an organisation to have special designation in order
to offer single-sex training is removed; and
any term of a collective agreement or employer's rules which
would result in a breach of the EqPA or SDA is declared void.
No additional enforcement machinery is provided in respect of
this last-mentioned provision and so it relies on trade unions and
employers voluntarily reviewing their agreements and rules to
remove any discriminatory terms.
630. SEXUAL HARASSMENT: The TUC definition of sexual
harassment is "repeated and unwanted verbal or sexual advances,
sexually explicit derogatory statements or sexually discriminating
remarks made by someone in the workplace which are offensive
to the worker involved, which cause the worker to feel threatened,
humiliated, patronised or harassed or which interfere with the
worker's job performance, undermine job security or create a
threatening or intimidating environment". Some individual
unions have shorter definitions, for example "any unwanted
sexual advance" or "sexual harassment is anything which a person
finds upsetting, offensive or embarassing sexually'. That the
unions have attempted to define the phenomenon is evidence of
a growing recognition of this problem in Britain and the beginning
of attempts to provide mechanisms for handling complaints and
providing help and redress for victims.
Sexual harassment is not directly covered by British legislation
but some incidents of sexual harassment have been found to be
unlawful sex discrimination under SDA. Most research finds
sexual harassment of women to be very prevalent (particularly
verbal harassment), with the main harassers reported to be men
in superior positions in the hierarchy. A few organisations have
instituted voluntary procedures to deal with sexual harassment
and in some organisations it is now treated as a disciplinary issue.
176

SHOP STEWARDS

631. SHIFTWORK: According to a survey undertaken in 1984,

nearly 40 per cent, of establishments employing 25 or more
employees reported some shiftworking, with a significant
correlation between shiftworking and size of plant. Shiftworking
is more prevalent in the nationalized industries than the private
manufacturing sector, with high rates in transport, posts and
telecommunications, the Health Service, electricity supply and
coal. The most common shift pattern was the double day shift.
Workers who work shifts normally receive a supplementary shift
premium payment on top of their basic pay.
632. SHOP FLOOR: Literally, the floor on which workers stand as
they work. It is taken to denote the lowest level of factory
organisation hierarchies, occupied by workers and by first-line
supervisors. Working "on the shop floor" thus means working
directly in the production of goods and services. Traditionally
applied more to manual workers than to non-manual.
633. SHOP FLOOR AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
634. SHOP FLOOR BARGAINING: See bargaining structure.
635. SHOP STEWARDS: Shop stewards are trade union
representatives, elected by the union members at the place of
work. They are simultaneously both lay officials of the union
and employees of the company concerned; they are not union
employees. The number of shop stewards testifies to their
importance in British industrial relations: in the mid-1980s there
were over 200,000, around one per cent, of whom were full-time
(i.e. were paid by the company to spend all their working time
on union activities). In the decentralized collective bargaining
system of the United Kingdom shop stewards handle a very large
volume of bargaining activity.
The historical origins of shop steward systems can be found
in the organisations of craft workers in the nineteenth century,
and for much of the period until the Second World War shop
stewards were found in those industries with a longstanding craft
tradition, most especially engineering. The modern growth of
shop stewards is associated with the Second World War and with
the post-war boom. It was argued that a combination of tight
labour and product markets, the proliferation of systems of
individual piecework payment and decentralised company
structures provided an environment in which local trade union
organisation was able to develop in several sectors. Despite this,
shop stewards remained formally unrecognised both by employers
and, in many cases, by their trade unions. In the late 1960s the
177

SHOP STEWARDS

Donovan Commission recommended that both employers and

unions should recognise and codify the role of shop stewards in
plant- and company-level collective bargaining. As a result of this
and other factors, the 1970s witnessed a dramatic growth in the
numbers and coverage of shop stewards; by the end of the 1970s
their presence was effectively universal in the unionized parts
of manufacturing and in many parts of the public sector (most
notably local government). In the latter the huge growth in shop
stewards reflected both a growing membership dissatisfaction with
established centralised collective bargaining and the increased use
of local incentive payment systems.
The growth in the number of stewards was accompanied by
the development of formal organisational structures, to the extent
that commentators began to speak of a "bureacratization" of the
rank and file. One indicator of this process was seen in the
increase in the number of shop stewards who spent all their time
on union activities, so-called full-time shop stewards. Their
number was estimated at around 5000 in the late 1970s; some
more recent evidence suggests that this number has fallen. The
1970s also witnessed an increase in the training provisions for
shop stewards; one estimate suggests that in 1979 44,000 shop
stewards went through training courses. The legislation of 1975
and 1978 allowed shop stewards the legaltimeoffrightsfor trade
union activities and also provided them with legal protection
against dismissal for trade union activities (see freedom of
association.) The 1970s also witnessed a change in the
relationship between shop stewards and their trade unions. From
being unofficial, often unrecognised, agents of the union, their
status was transformed into that of formal union lay officials (but
not union employees). In addition, the governing structures of
many trade unions were changed to incorporate leading shop
stewards into official union decision-making structures. This
process made stewards more accountable to the unions of which
they were members. The leading shop stewards in many
workplaces are often called convenors. The equivalent
representatives to shop stewards in most white-collar trade unions
are usually called staff representatives.
636. SHORT TERM CONTRACT: An employee may be employed
under a contract for a limited duration or short term. An employee
whose contract is for a specified fixed term of two years or more
may agree in writing to exclude any right to a redundancy
payment or to complain of unfair dismissal. Short term contract
workers are often known as temporary workers or casual workers.
See atypical workers.
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SINGLE EMPLOYER BARGAINING

637. SHORT TIME WORKING: During shortages of work

employers may require workers to work for less than the full
working week, as an alternative to redundancy. Such a situation
is not automatic; it may be the subject of local agreement. During
the 1980s a number of Temporary Working Schemes were
introduced by the government in an effort to persuade employers
to retain workers on short time working rather than to declare
redundancies.
638. SIC: See standard industrial classification.
639. SICK LEAVE: A period during which a worker is unable to work
for reasons of ill health.
640. SICK PAY SCHEMES: Such schemes, either provided by
management or through collective bargaining, are widespread in
Britain, and provide for the payment of all or a proportion of
normal pay to an employee during sickness absence. These
payments are in addition to statutory sick pay (see below)
entitlements.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP): Funded through employees' and
employers' National Insurance contributions, this is a benefit
available to employees under retirement age provided that the
illness did not begin while the employee was on strike. To claim
SSP an employee has to be ill for at least four consecutive days
and to have been absent for three "qualifying days', normally
all working days. To claim SSP the employee must also notify
the employer.
641. SICKNESS BENEFIT: Employees unable to work through
sickness may be entitled to benefit under a sick pay scheme,
from statutory sick pay (SSP) benefits or from compensation
where the illness is the fault of the employer.
642. SINGLE ARBITRATOR: See arbitration.
643. SINGLE CHANNEL: A situation where a trade union is used
as the only formal communications channel between employees
and management. The term was used particularly in connection
with the Bullock Report on industrial democracy, which argued
that there should be no route through which non-unionized
employees should have access to representation on boards of
directors.
644. SINGLE EMPLOYER BARGAINING: See bargaining
structure.
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SINGLE STATUS

645. SINGLE STATUS: See harmonization.

646. SINGLE TABLE BARGAINING: During the 1980s some
U.K. employers sought to overcome what they saw as the
problems of multiunionism by agreeing with all their recognised
unions that the unions act as a single bargaining agent (see
bargaining structure), meeting with the employer to negotiate
a common set of issues. In particular it refers to attempts to bring
together negotiations for blue- and white-collar groups into the
same process. Although by no means yet widespread, single-table
bargaining is being seen increasingly as the closest approach
possible in multi-union situations to single union agreements.
Such arrangements are frequently underpinned by a common set
of terms and conditions, including a common pay and grading
system for the employees covered (see harmonization).
647. SINGLE UNION AGREEMENT: An agreement to recognise
one union as the sole bargaining agent (see bargaining structure)
for all employees in the organisation. Occasionally an established
company has changed from multi-union recognition to single
union recognition, but single union deals are commonly associated
with new or greenfield site plants where management selects the
union it prefers and will only grant bargaining on this basis. A
single union deal offers managerial advantages in terms of a
simplified bargaining structure and lack of competitive
multiunionism, and avoids problems which might otherwise occur
through union demarcations conflicting with requirements for
functionalflexibility(seeflexibility).A number of unions have
signed single union deals although competitor unions are often
unhappy about loss of actual or potential negotiating rights. A
number of these deals are linked to so-called "strike free"
agreements.
648. SINGLE UNION DEAL: See single union agreement.
649. SIT-IN: A form of industrial action (also called occupation)
involving the occupation of a factory by workers in dispute and
their refusal to allow access to others. Although not widely used
in Britain, several celebrated sit-ins took place during the 1970s
as protests against proposed factory closures. During some sitins workers continue to produce goods and services as long as
they can, in an effort to show their ability to continue without
the employer. Such action is usually unofficial, and may involve
the use by employers of laws on trespass, as well as other
legislation affecting industrial action.
180

SMALL EMPLOYER

650. SKILL DIFFERENTIAL: A pay differential that reflects

certain workers' status as craft workers.
651. SKILLED LABOUR: The term is used to describe both those
workers who undertake work requiring training, knowledge or
expertise which distinguishes it from unskilled labour, and the
work itself.
652. SKILLED UNION: See trade union.
653. SLOW DOWN: A form of output restriction practised
collectively by workers, involving a general reduction in the pace
of working. See go-slow, work to rule.
654. SMALL EMPLOYER: There is no standard definition of what
constitutes a small employer. One commonly used definition (that
of the Bolton Report) is a firm with 200 employees or fewer, but
where labour legislation seeks to exempt small employers from
statutory provisions the definition is far more restrictive. Thus,
for example, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 exempts
any employer with fewer than five workers from the general
requirement to write and publicise a safety policy, and employers
with fewer than six employees are exempted from the full
obligation to permit a woman to return to work after maternity
leave, being able to argue that it is not reasonably practicable
to do so. The 1981 Census of Employment found 427,948 firms
employing fewer than five workers, covering more than one
million employees.
The special treatment for small firms in labour legislation, and
a range of other measures and incentives, reflect the Conservative
government's policy of encouraging the growth of the small firm
sector, which is seen to be an area of job creation. Research on
the job creation potential of small firms does not fully support
this belief, any more than it confirms the commonly held view
that employment relations in small firms are particularly
harmonious. Claims of unfair dismissal made to an Industrial
Tribunal, for example, come disproportionately from the small
firm sector. Trade union recognition is less likely in small firms
and the proportion of workers belonging to trade unions (trade
union density) is also lower. A survey of establishments with at
least 25 workers undertaken in 1984 found that in those in the
private sector with fewer than 100 employees union density
averaged 20 per cent, whereas in the largest, those employing
50,000 or more, density averaged about 60 per cent.
181

SOCIAL CONTRACT

655. SOCIAL CONTRACT: The period of Labour government in

the mid-1970s (from 1974) is sometimes described as a high point
of trade union influence, obtained through a bipartite
arrangement between the government and the trade union
movement known as the "social contract". Union opposition to
the policies of the previous Conservative government (particularly
in the area of industrial relations) had led to a Labour PartyTUC Liaison Committee developing a programme which became
the social contract. The package was an attempt to control
inflation through regulation of prices, provide growth of
employment through industrial strategy and improve the social
wage by redistributive fiscal policies and changes in patterns of
public expenditure, and was to include a programme of
employment law involving the repeal of the Industrial Relations
Act 1971, introduction of new statutory protections for employees
and rights for trade unions and legislation on industrial
democracy. The unions in return were to co-operate in restraining
wages.
In its early days the social contract appeared to succeed with
respect to a number of the items in the package. For example,
the Industrial Relations Act was repealed and the Employment
Protection Act 1975 introduced; improvements were made in
a range of welfare benefits and controls established for food prices
and housing rents, with subsidies in both areas. Price inflation
was not contained, however, and the voluntary policy of wage
restraint came increasingly under strain. The first two phases
were successful but by 1977 the TUC felt unable to maintain
restrictions on affiliated unions' pay claims. After 1975, in a
deepening economic crisis, the subsidies were phased out, calls
from the TUC for a reflation of the economy were rejected by
the government and the social contract came to be seen by many
in the unions as simply another form of wage restraint. The
government's call for unions to restrict wage claims to a maximum
offiveper cent, was rejected and a number of groups of workers
(particularly lower paid workers in the public sector) began to
take industrial action to secure pay increases above this level.
The period during which this occurred (1978-1979) is sometimes
referred to as the "winter of discontent'.
656. SOCIAL SECURITY: Britain and Northern Ireland have
independent social security systems but they are similar in all
essential respects. Three principles of entitlement underpin the
United Kingdom state social security system. The first is the
contributory (or insurance) principle which links benefit
entitlement to the past payment of contributions. Subject to one
or two exceptions, liability and entitlement to pay contributions
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SPEED-UP

is contingent upon employment. Benefits are triggered by an event

such as unemployment, sickness, disability or old age, which
leads to loss of employment on a temporary or pemanent basis.
Contributory benefits include unemployment benefit, sickness
benefit, state pension. Payment of contributions (through
national insurance) and membership of the social security scheme
is a necessary but not sufficient condition for benefit.
Contributions must also be sufficient, which may pose problems
for some atypical workers who are engaged in intermittent, low
paid work.
The second principle of entitlement is non-contributory, not
dependent on employment. Benefits include child benefit,
statutory sick pay, industrial injury benefits. The third principle
is means tested principle, so called because access to the relevant
benefits is conditional upon satisfying a test of means. Means
tested benefits include income support and housing benefit. The
administration of social security benefits in the United Kingdom
is largely the responsibility of two central departments, the
Department of Social Security and the Department of
Employment. There are two exceptions to this. First, local
authorities are charged with the responsibility of administering
housing benefit and the new community charge rebate. Secondly
employers are required to administer the statutory sick pay and
statutory maternity pay schemes. In both cases the schemes are
financed out of central government funds. See also selfemployed, strikers.
657. SOCIAL WAGE: The term used to denote social benefits
available to all individuals, funded wholly or partly by the state
through taxation and received free or at subsidised cost. The social
wage includes free education, National Health Service treatment,
etc. Trade unions have generally been concerned to support
activities that increase the social wage. During the Social
Contract agreement between the Labour government and the
unions in the mid-1970s, agreement to wage restriction was
sought by the government in exchange for measures to increase
the social wage through increased government expenditure on
health, education, etc.
658. SOLE BARGAINING AGENT: See bargaining structure.
659. SOLE BARGAINING RIGHTS: See bargaining structure.
660. SPEED-UP: A form of work intensification by management,
involving speeding up the operation time of machines in an effort
to make workers produce more in the same period. Unions
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SPEED-UP

attempt to prevent this through the operation of status quo

clauses in collective agreements.
661. SPLINTER UNION: See breakaway union.
662. SSP (STATUTORY SICK PAY): See sick pay schemes.
663. STAFF: A term usually used to denote the white-collar workers
as distinct from the blue-collar. Staff may enjoy wages and terms
and conditions better than those of manual workers (but see
harmonisation). More generally it may be used as a collective
term for all employees, irrespective of occupation. In the Civil
Service the employees' side of joint negotiation and consultation
machinery is often referred to as the staff side.
664. STAFF ASSOCIATION: Sometimes used instead of the word
"union" in the names of white-collar trade unions but more
usually refers to organisations which confine their recruitment
to the employees (often white-collar workers) of one particular
organisation. Many staff associations would not be regarded as
bona fide trade unions in that they lack independence from the
employer. A large number of staff associations were established
on employer initiative during the 1970s as a way of thwarting
the recruitment and recognition attempts of TUC trade unions.
A few staff associations develop into organisations which appear
to be as bona fide as their TUC union competitors, for example
some of the staff associations operating in the clearing banks,
but others (including many set up in the 1970s) prove unstable
when employer support is withdrawn or when their
representational ability and strength are tested, for example in
times of redundancy. Often these associations get taken over by
TUC trade unions in such circumstances. This has happened to
a number of manufacturing supervisory staff associations and
associations in the finance sector. A staff association may also
be described as a company union.
665. STAFF MANAGEMENT: See line management.
666.' STAFF REPRESENTATIVE: The non-manual equivalent of
shop steward. Systems of local union representation are both
more recent and less well-developed among non-manual than
manual workers, although they too developed rapidly in
manufacturing and the public sector during the 1970s. Staff
representatives tend to have less importance in collective
bargaining than their manual equivalents.
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STANDARD PERFORMANCE

667. STAFF STATUS: Manual workers traditionally have enjoyed

less favourable terms and conditions of employment than nonmanual (staff) employees in terms of payment for time not worked
(holidays, sick leave, etc.), hours of work, the basis of pay and
opportunities for pay progression, and in access to a range of
benefits such as pension schemes or other financial or fringe
benefits. Staff status brings with it these kinds of benefits. Giving
a worker or group of workers "staff status" can be a way of
rewarding them or of meeting particular recruitment or retention
problems. The distinction between staff and manual workers is
being eroded or removed in compames moving towards
harmonised or single status terms and conditions of employment.
See harmonization, remuneration package.
668. STAFFING LEVEL: The level of staff required to perform a
particular task or group of tasks. Sometimes referred to as
"manning level".
669. STAGED AGREEMENTS: This refers to the practice,
increasingly common, of awarding improvements in pay and
terms and conditions, agreed through collective bargaining, in
specified stages rather than all at once. Sometimes also referred
to as phased agreements or staging.
670. STAGING: See staged agreements.
671. STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC): A
basis for classifying industries in order to improve the quality
ofinformation and statistics. Currently there are 25 SIC "orders"
or divisions of industrial classification.
672. STANDARD PERFORMANCE: Defined by the British
Standards Institute as "the rate of output which qualified workers
will naturally achieve without over-exertion on the average over
the working day or shift, provided that they know and adhere
to the specified method, and provided they are motivated to apply
themselves to the work. This performance is denoted as 100 on
the standard rating and performance scales". Following the
application of work study techniques, 100 is the standard
performance which should qualify a worker for the average wage
under any system of payment by results. Under systems of
measured daywork, 100 is often the rate of working guaranteed
in exchange for the agreed rate of pay. Working significantly
below the standard performance may be a reason for disciplinary
action against a worker.
185

STANDARD RATE

673. STANDARD RATE: The agreed rate of pay that can be

normally expected for a particular job or occupation. The
standard rate often consists of the basic rate (see pay) plus other
payments. See also going rate, rate for the job.
674. STANDARD TIME: The time it should take to complete a
particular job if working at standard performance.
675. STAND-BY: In some occupations, especially those where faults
may lead to danger to the public, certain grades of workers may
be required to be available for work in emergencies. Examples
would include maintenance or repair workers in gas and electricity
who would be needed immediately in the event of a problem.
Such workers have specified periods of stand-by duty, in addition
to their normal working hours, when they must be available to
respond to an emergency. They will receive a stand-by rate of
payment, whether or not they are called upon to work.
676. STATE PENSION: The 1975 Social Security Act provided the
basis for the present system. This ensured that all employees who
paid sufficient National Insurance contributions would be
entitled to receive a state-funded basic pension (this had existed
for many years) and an additional earnings-related pension (the
State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme SERPS), also provided
by the state. SERPS would not be paid to members of
occupational pension schemes contracted-out from SERPS.
The details of the scheme were significantly changed in the
Social Security Act 1986 by a government that argued that the
cost of SERPS in the future, with an ageing population, would
be too heavy for the state to bear. It therefore introduced the
right of individual employees to contract out of SERPS into an
individual personal pension scheme. It also introduced, on a
phased basis, a change from l/80th to l/100th of earnings to be
built up as contribution for each year, and changed the assessment
of earnings from the best twenty years' earnings to lifetime
earnings, thereby reducing the level of earnings on which to
calculate the earnings-related SERPS payment. Finally it reduces,
as from the year 2000, widows' and widowers' entitlements from
100 per cent, of their spouses' SERPS entitlement to 50 per cent,
entitlement.
Under the state pension scheme the retirement age is 60 for
women and 65 for men; people working beyond these ages get
additional benefits on retirement. In April 1988 the basic pension
rate for an insured man or woman was 41.15 per week, with
an additional 24.75 for a wife qualifying through her husband's
National Insurance contributions.
186

STOPPAGE OF WORK

In 1985 9.5 million people were in receipt of a state pension,

of whom 3.3 million were men. The state pension level is low
enough to ensure that many pensioners also qualify for other state
benefits.
The intention of recent legislation has been to transfer the
financial responsibility for pensions away from the state onto
individuals and private institutions and has been widely criticised
by pensioners' organisations and others. See also social security.
677. STATEMENT OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Within 13
weeks of the commencement of employment, the employer must
(by virtue of EPCA) provide the employee with a statement
containing particulars of the terms and conditions of
employment. The particulars must cover remuneration, hours,
holidays, sick pay, pension schemes, notice periods and job title,
though it is permissible to refer to other documents (collective
agreements, for example) containing the details. The statement
is not the contract of employment or conclusive evidence of the
terms of the contract, but it is nevertheless evidence of those
terms.
678. STATUS QUO CLAUSE: A clause in a collective agreement
that prevents management from unilaterally introducing change,
or workers and unions from taking industrial action, until all
the stages in the dispute procedure have been exhausted or
agreement has been reached. Seen by unions as a necessary
protection against arbitrary managerial action, and often resisted
by employers as an unacceptable constraint on their managerial
rights. Status quo clauses are thus associated with strong and
effective trade union organisation. As with all clauses in collective
agreements they are not legally enforceable.
679. STATUTE: A law approved by Parliament; the sovereign law
of the land. Also known as an Act of Parliament. Constitutionally
it is the job of Parliament to make statute law and of the judges
to interpret it. Areas not covered by statute law are the domain
of common law. In practice, the interaction between common
and statute law is much more complex.
680. STATUTORY RIGHT: A right granted under an Act of
Parliament. See employment protection rights.
681. STATUTORY SICK PAY: See sick pay scheme.
682. STOPPAGE OF WORK: A cessation of work, usually caused
by a strike or a lockout.
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STRIKE

683. STRIKE: A collective refusal by workers, usually but not always

organised in a trade union, to continue working, in order to put
pressure on employers or, in a political strike (see below), on
the government. In international terms, Britain has an average
strike record. During the 1960s there was increasing concern
expressed about the level of unofficial and unconstitutional
strikes (see below), associated in particular with the engineering
industry and the activities of shop stewards. In the 1970s large
national strikes reappeared for the first time since the Second
World War, especially in the public sector, where they were often
associated with the impact of incomes policy. Since 1980 strike
levels have fallen significantly, although major strikes in public
sector industries have continued. See immunities, trade dispute,
Employment Act 1980, 1982, 1988, Trade Union Act 1984,
Emergency Powers.
Constitutional Strike: A strike called after the exhaustion of
the appropriate grievance procedures, many of which exhort
employers and unions not to take any form of industrial action
before this stage has been reached. As collective agreements,
which include the grievance procedures, are not legally binding
in Britain, the constitutionality or otherwise of industrial action
has no bearing on its lawfulness. See strike free agreement.
Official Strike: A strike conducted in accordance with the rules
of a trade union and hence approved formally by that union.
Trade unions may pay strike pay, often a small sum, to workers
on official strike; it is never paid during unofficial strikes.
Political Strike: A political strike is a stoppage of work for
political ends. A political strike loses immunity from tortious
liabilities if (as is likely) it does not relate wholly or mainly to
one of the essentially industrial topics in the new statutory
definition of trade dispute. Because the statutory definition of
trade dispute has recently been narrowed some strikes,
particularly those involving public sector workers, which relate
to industrial objectives may nonetheless fall outside the protection
of the immunity and therefore be regarded as "political". See
industrial action, Employment Act 1982.
Unconstitutional Strike: A strike that takes place before all
the stages in a grievance procedure have been exhausted.
Unofficial Strike: A strike that is called without the approval
of the trade union(s) concerned in accordance with the provisions
of their rule books. Associated in the 1960s and since with the
188

STRIKE FREE AGREEMENT

activities of shop stewards, especially in industries such as

engineering. Workers on unofficial strike do not receive strike
pay. Union liability for actions is limited to official action although
the provisions of the Employment Act 1990 have changed this.
Increasingly called "wildcat" strike.
Wildcat Strike: An American term for unofficial strike (see
above), coming into increasing use in Britain.
684. STRIKE BALLOT: A ballot of trade union members to
determine whether or not a strike should be called. Traditionally
many unions allowed for strike ballots in their rules, but did not
always use them. Since the Trade Union Act 1984 all official
strikes must be ratified by majority vote in a secret ballot of all
affected members if the union is to continue to be protected by
the immunities. The Act stipulates the required wording on the
ballot and the period of time for which the decision is valid. It
covers all forms of official industrial action, not just strikes.
Between May 1984 and April 1987, 47 injunctions declaring
industrial action unlawful were granted against unions that had
failed to hold a pre-strike ballot or had handled a ballot
improperly, out of a total of 80 injunctions granted for all reasons
against industrial action in that period. All unions have now
changed their rules to require pre-strike ballots. Some unions
have shown that a large majority in favour of industrial action
in a ballot can itself be a powerful bargaining weapon, without
the need to proceed to action. Ballots are not required to end
strikes and other forms of industrial action. See trade union
liability.
685. STRIKEBREAKER: A worker who continues to work when
a strike or other form of industrial action has been called (also
called scab, blackleg). Under the terms of the Employment Act
1988 the ability of trade unions to take disciplinary action against
strikebreakers is reduced even though a strike may have been
called lawfully with majority support in a strike ballot.
686. STRIKEBREAKING: Employers' systematic efforts to defeat
strikes by methods seen by unions as illegitimate, including the
dismissal of strikers and the hiring of a replacement workforce.
Employers may also encourage strikers to return to work by
providing special transport and guarantees of protection or
favourable treatment. See lockout.
687. STRIKE FREE AGREEMENT: Also known as a "no-strike
agreement". The "single union, no-strike" agreement has been
189

STRIKE FREE AGREEMENT

the centre of a controversy in the British trade union movement

in the 1980s. Its leading trade union exponent is the EETPU
which argues that it represents a new, realistic approach to
industrial relations based on a non-adversarial, harmonious
approach.. In essence, however, it is a competitive
recruitment/recognition strategy designed to win trade union
bargaining rights from companies who might otherwise not grant
them. Some other unions have argued that it undermines
established trade union principles including upholding the right
to strike. A number of other unions, however, have themselves
concluded similar agreements. The "strike free" element of the
deal is based on the nature of the dispute procedure incorporated
within it, which has binding arbitration as afinalstage (sometimes
pendulum arbitration). Such deals are not legally enforceable
nor do they attempt to incorporate no-strike clauses into
individual contracts of employment. Thus they are not too
different from dispute procedures existing elsewhere in British
industry which provide for voluntary reference to arbitration as
a final stage in the dispute procedure, the parties agreeing
beforehand to accept the decision of the arbitrator. In fact the
distinguishing feature of the "single union/no-strike" deal is that
it combines together various elements into a package: sole
bargainingrightsfor one union; single status or harmonised terms
and conditions for workers; complete labour flexibility; systematic
employee communication and participation arrangements,
including company councils or advisory boards, not based on
union membership; and the binding arbitration provision. At least
one company with a strike free agreement has experienced
industrial action but it is generally argued that, in combination,
the communication system, the role of the advisory board in
agreeing to wage settlements and the arbitration provision makes
this most unlikely. At present, although heavily publicised, such
agreements cover only a tiny proportion of workers in Britain
(one estimate is 21 such agreements at the end of 1986, 18 with
the EETPU, covering around 9,000 employees). Compames such
as Nissan, Toshiba, Sanyo and Hitachi have such deals but they
are not confined to Japanese subsidiaries.
688. STRIKE PAY: Some trade unions make regular payments to
members taking official industrial action in order to offset loss
of earnings. Although there is variation, amounts paid are
typically much less than normal pay. There is no evidence that
they fund strike activity. The families of strikers may be entitled
to income support but since 1980 the amount has been reduced
on the grounds that strikers are now "deemed" by the
government to be in receipt of strike pay, whether they are or
190

SUB-CONTRACTOR

not. By 1990 strikers were deemed to be receiving 19.50 per

week, and this was deducted from income support payments made
to strikers' families.
689. STRIKER: A person engaged in strike action. Strikers may be
dismissed by their employer since such action constitutes breach
of contract and (if the employer fulfills certain requirements)
have no right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. The mass
dismissal of strikers, although uncommon, has been a feature
of some recent highly-publicised disputes. Dismissed strikers lose
any entitlement to redundancy pay. Strikers lose entitlement to
claim state benefits. Dependents of strikers do have an entitlement
to income support and housing benefit, but in calculating income
support it is assumed that the striker is in receipt of a certain
amount of union strike pay, whether or not this is actually being
paid. Those who are not on strike but are put out of work because
of strike action at their place of work also lose entitlement to
unemployment benefit unless they can prove they are not directly
interested in the dispute.
Where the industrial action being taken is action short of a
strike (for example a work to rule or overtime ban) participation
in it may be seen as a breach of contract and employers may
be entitled to summarily dismiss those involved.
690. STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT: See unemployment.
691. SUB-CONTRACTING: See sub-contractor.
692. SUB-CONTRACTOR: A sub-contractor is a party who contracts
with a main contractor to perform a particular task or service.
Sub-contracting is increasingly prevalent not only in construction,
where it is endemic, but also in manufacturing and service
industries at large. Government policies of privatization in the
public services have also extended the use of sub-contracting.
Parts of the public service sector (especially Labour-controlled
local government) have often insisted that sub-contractors must
satisfy certain conditions (e.g. union recognition, paying union
rates of pay, have an equal opportunity policy: see contract
compliance). Since EA 1982 it has been unlawful both for a
business to exert commercial pressure on sub-contractors to
recognise, negotiate with, or consult trade unions, and for unions
to take action to achieve the same result. See contractor.
Labour-only Sub-contracting: A system in which a main
contractor recruits workers either through a sub-contractor who
supplies labour only or through hiring self-employed labour.
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SUB-CONTRACTOR

Labour-only sub-contracting is particularly widespread in the

construction industry where it is commonly referred to as "the
lump". See self-employment.
693. SUBSIDIARY COMPANY: A subsidiary company is a company
controlled by another company. See holding company.
694. SUBSTANTIVE AGREEMENT: See collective agreement.
695. SUGGESTION SCHEME: A way of tapping workers'
knowledge or ideas by inviting suggestions on improvements in
work practices, organisation, etc. usually in return for a monetary
reward. This may be a small set sum or related in some way to
the benefit accruing to the company from the idea. Although
sometimes argued to be a way of encouraging employee
involvement and participation, management usually retains total
discretion over whether or not an idea will be implemented and
research indicates that most participants in suggestion schemes
areseeking the financial reward offered.
696. SUMMARY DISMISSAL: Dismissal of an employee without
giving notice. At common law the employer has the right to
dismiss an employee without notice for "gross misconduct". Most
discipline and dismissal procedures and rules provide that for
actions constituting "gross misconduct" (e.g. theft, violence,
gross negligence, wilful insubordination) the sanction can be
summary dismissal.
697. SUPERANNUATION: See occupational pension.
698. SUPERVISOR: The lowest two levels of the managerial
structures of the control and organisation of work are often
defined as the supervisory levels, and those who work in them
as supervisors. Supervisors will be responsible for the daily
management of defined groups of workers and/or areas of a
workplace. First-line supervisor is sometimes used to denote the
lowest managerial level, and is increasingly preferred as a nonsexist equivalent to the traditional term foreman. The distinction
between supervisor and manager is usually seen as one of status,
although in some cases there will be clear differences, so some
supervisors may be required to work shifts and may be entitled
to overtime payment. During the 1970s supervisors, worried at
their loss of authority and pay advantage over those they
supervised, increasingly started to join trade unions. Since the
1980s their role as communicators and managers has been reevaluated through the use of systems such as quality circles and
team briefing.
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SYNDICALISM

699. SUPERVISORY BOARD: See management board.

700. SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFIT: See income support.
701. SUSPENSION: If an employee is removed from work for
medical, disciplinary or other reasons he or she is said to be
suspended. Employees may be suspended with pay for up to 26
weeks on medical grounds if hazardous working conditions are
known or suspected. More usually suspension is used as a
disciplinary sanction where suspension without pay for an agreed
period may be used as a punishment short of dismissal for serious
misconduct. Under certain circumstances employees may be
suspended on pay; for example while an investigation is being
conducted into allegations of misconduct. Legally uncertain are
employers' rights to use suspension as a form of layoff without
pay not as a disciplinary act but in response to a temporary fall
in demand.
702. SWEATSHOP: An establishment using "sweated labour", that
is workers who receive very low pay and who have poor
employment conditions and prospects. The term historically was
used in the last century to describe establishments in certain
unorganised trades where wages and conditions were considered
exploitative and where Trade Boards (later Wages Councils) were
appointed with a minimum wage setting role. The term is often
associated with the clothing trades today.
703. SYNDICALISM: A revolutionary socialist theory, briefly
popular with some unionists in the first two decades of this
century, that rejected political and parliamentary action as
effective roads to socialism. Instead, revolutionary industrial
action, aimed at gaining control of industry by the workers, was
seen as the only route to the achievement of a socialist society.

193

704. ..: See Training Agency.

705. TAKE-HOME PAY: See pay.
706. TAPERING: A term to denote the practice of paying increases
in wages or salaries in such a way that the lower-paid receive the
highest increase. It thus represents a move towards greater pay
equalisation.
707. TASK FLEXIBILITY: See flexibility.
708. TAXATION: See Pay As You Earn.
709. TAYLORISM: The name given to the system of scientific
management associated with its inventor, F.W. Taylor. Based
on the division of labour between managers and workers, and
between different groups of workers. Work is analysed so that
design and planning can be separated from execution, and so that
the latter can in turn be fragmented into simple repetitive jobs
requiring only cheap, low-grade labour. It is based on the view
that workers are simple economic maximisers, that they respond
individually to individual incentives and can be treated in a
standard way. Never fully adopted in Britain, it has been the
subject of much criticism from academics, unionists and managers
alike.
710. T.C. (TRAINING COMMISSION): See Training Agency.
711. TEAM BRIEFING: A form of employee communication which
has been introduced into some 500 British companies. It involves
a top down information flow whereby senior management brief
their subordinates, who in turn brief those for whom they are
responsible, and so on, until first line supervisors brief groups
of workers. The brief consists of management information
provided by the higher level supplemented by information
relevant to the level at which the briefing is taking place. The
meetings of the briefing groups take place regularly (often once
a month) and are designed as one-way communication rather than
consultation sessions.
712. TECHNOLOGICAL
unemployment.

UNEMPLOYMENT:

See

713. TELEWORK: Also referred to as networking. Home-based

working whereby the worker is linked to a central office through
194

TERMS AND CONDITIONS (OF EMPLOYMENT)

a telecommunications network. In part because of the cost of the

telecommunications technology, teleworking in Britain is not
widespread and is limited to a relatively small number of workers
whose skills are in particularly short supply, such as certain
categories of computer specialists. It is expected that
developments in technology are likely to make this form of remote
working more common in the future. Although these "new
technology homeworkers" earn much more than the traditional
homeworkers (in industries such as clothing or toy manufacture),
research indicates that they are nonetheless paid less than
comparable on-site workers.
714. TEMPORARY WORKER: A worker employed for a short
duration which may or may not be a fixed term. Such workers
may be used to cover seasonal or cyclical demand or to meet
increased demand which is not expected to be permanent. There
are no legal restrictions on the employer's ability to use temporary
workers or on the number of times their contracts may be
renewed. Collective agreements, however, may restrict the
proportion of employees who can be employed on temporary
contracts and the duration of those contracts, and provide that
after a certain period they become "regular" employees. Such
agreements may also seek to ensure that the terms and conditions
of such workers are not inferior to those of comparable regular
workers. Where no such agreement exists temporary workers are
often disadvantaged compared to regular workers in terms of pay
and other benefits. The service sector is a large user of temporary
workers and labour force statistics show that the proportion of
temporary employees is increasing.
There are private employment agencies which provide
temporary workers, most often secretarial and office staff. These
constitute only some 50,000 of the 1.5 million temporary workers
in Britain. Agency workers may be employed by the supplying
agency or, more usually, be "self-employed". See also atypical
workers.
715. TERMINATION WITH NOTICE: See notice periods.
716. TERMS AND CONDITIONS (OF EMPLOYMENT): The
key substantive elements of the contract of employment are thus
described. They include pay and all other benefits, holidays,
special leave entitlements, as well as such matters as the nature
of the work to be performed, working hours, disciplinary
regulations, etc. EPCA requires that employers furnish employees
with a written statement of the main terms within thirteen weeks
(to include remuneration details; hours and holidays, holiday pay;
195

TERMS AND CONDITIONS (OF EMPLOYMENT)

sick pay arrangements; pensions; notice required to tenninate

the contract; the job title; and information on discipline/dismissal
rules and grievance procedures.
717. TERTIARY SECTOR: See service sector.
718. THIRD PARTY INTERVENTION: When two parties are in
dispute, unable to reach an agreement, the assistance of a third
party may be called for. The third party intervention may take
the form of conciliation, mediation or arbitration, or the
provision of advice or undertaking of an inquiry. The third party
is someone unconnected with the immediate dispute. Official,
voluntary third party intervention (that provided by the state and
its agencies) has a long history in Britain, dating back to the
Conciliation Act 1896. The function is currently provided free
by ACAS in Great Britain and the Labour Relations Agency
in Northern Ireland. The use of external third parties in dispute
settlement, particularly for arbitration, is not high in the United
Kingdom, where there appears to be a preference for keeping
matters within the control of the parties. ACAS conciliates some
1300 collective disputes a year and provides arbitrators or
mediators for around 180, while the LRA conciliates some 200
collective disputes and provides arbitration in less fewer than 20.
The most frequent subject in dispute is pay and other terms and
conditions of employment. Conciliation is also provided in certain
cases where an application has been made to an Industrial
Tribunal, for example for unfair dismissal.
Private arrangements for third party intervention to aid dispute
settlement also exist in both the public and private sectors.
Traditionally, standing arbitration bodies for dispute settlement
have been important in the public sector (for example in the Civil
Service, railways, education) but there has been a recent move
away from certain longstanding arbitration arrangements within
the public sector, reflecting government policy. In the private
sector, various dispute settlement procedures may include the
intervention of third parties, whether people at higher levels
within the union and management hierarchies or outsiders, who
may or may not be appointed through ACAS. A 1984 survey of
establishments with at least 25 workers found that almost 80 per
cent, of procedures for handling disputes over pay and conditions
had provision for referral outside the establishment. In the
majority of cases (51 per cent, of those with procedures) this was
referral to a higher level of management, but there was also
provision for referral to joint union-management bodies at higher
level. 27 per cent, provided for referral to ACAS and nine per
cent, to arbitration by some other body.
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TRADE DISPUTE

719. THRESHOLD AGREEMENT: A term in a collective

agreement that stipulates that pay levels shall automatically rise
by an agreed amount in the event of the cost of living index rising
beyond a stipulated level. Rare in Britain, although it has been
a feature of certain incomes policies.
720. TIME-OFF RIGHTS: Under EPCA 1978 an employee who is
an official (including a shop steward) of an independent,
recognised trade union has a right to paid time off for industrial
relations duties as defined in the EA 1989, or to undergo relevant
training approved by the union or the TUC. An employee who
is a member of an independent, recognised trade union has a right
to unpaid time off to take part in trade union activities. Guidance
is provided by the ACAS Code of Practice, Time Off for Trade
Union Duties and Activities (1978) which has now been revised.
Also the safety representatives of trade unions which enjoy
recognition have a statutory right to paid time off to carry out
the statutory functions under the HSWA. Employees have further
statutory time-off rights in respect of public duties, looking for
work or making arrangements for training, and antenatal care
(EPCA 1978). See also freedom of association.
721. TIME SERVED: An apprentice who has served the necessary
number of years to qualify as an accredited craft worker is said
to be time served.
722. TOKEN STRIKE: A brief stoppage of work intended to carry
the threat of further, more serious, action if agreement is not
reached. In the case of groups of essential service workers, such
as nurses, the term may be used to mean a stoppage of such brief
duration that it causes no harm to vulnerable groups such as
patients, but nevertheless shows the strength of workers' feelings.
723. TOP SALARIES REVIEW BODY: See review bodies.
724. TRADE DISPUTE: A trade dispute was and is defined by
TULRA 1974 as a dispute between workers and employers which
is "connected with" one or more of the following: terms and
conditions of employment, engagement or non-engagement of
workers, allocation of work, discipline, membership or nonmembership of a union, union facilities, and management-union
procedures. The statutory immunities depend on a trade dispute
being contemplated or furthered by the action, the so-called
"golden formula", and constitute therightto strike in Britain.
This definition of trade dispute was narrowed by the
Employment Act 1982. This Act restricted the definition of a
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trade dispute to being a dispute between workers and their own

employers and it must now "wholly relate" to the above list.
These changes effectively excluded from the immunities disputes
between workers and workers; action in support of other workers;
and industrial action which might be "connected with" one of
the areas listed but which does not "relate wholly or mainly to
it". For example, a strike arising from a decision to privatise
part of the public sector may be connected with fears of job loss
but be held not to relate mainly to that but rather to be concerned
to affect government policy, and thus fall outside the definition
of trade dispute.
725. TRADE UNION: The classic definition is that of Sidney and
Beatrice Webb in their book A History of Trade Unions (1920).
They described trade unions as "a continuous association of wage
earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving the
conditions of their working Uves", which they may achieve either
through collective bargaining with employers or through the
provision of benefits to their members. In Britain the emergence
of craft unions (see below) is often traced to the early days of
the Industrial Revolution, while general workers had to wait until
the latter half of the nineteenth century. Within the broad
tradition of voluntarism trade unions have sought to resist
corporate status and this they have achieved, with the important
exception of the period of the Industrial Relations Act 1971, which
was repealed in 1974. The status of unions is now governed by
TULRA 1974, which defines a trade union and states that, with
exceptions, trade unions shall not be, or be treated as, corporate
bodies. Trade unions may apply to the Certification Officer to
be listed as certified trade unions, which brings certain
advantages, including tax benefits. Most of the larger British trade
unions are affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, although
most unions, the majority of them small, are not affiliated. In
1989 around nine million employees were in TUC-affiliated
unions. Many TUC-affiliated unions are also affiliated to the
Labour Party. See trade union liability, TUA 1984, EA 1988.
Blue-collar Union: Union of blue-collar workers; manual
union.
Closed Union: A general term for those unions which restrict
membership to certain defined categories of employees. The craft,
occupational and industrial unions are closed to employees outside
the particular craft, occupation or industry. In the 1980s processes
of deskilling and amalgamation and privatization have all, in
their different ways, reduced the degree of closure of many
unions.
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Craft Union: A union whose membership is restricted to a

particular group of craft or skilled workers, usually those who
have completed a recognised apprenticeship. There are very few
" p u r e " craft unions in Britain now, most having extended
membership eligibility to other groups of workers in order to
survive in the face of falling membership. Craft unions were often
associated with the practice of controlling entry to the trade,
through regulation of apprenticeships and the pre-entry closed
shop.
General Union: A trade union whose area of recruitment is
not limited to industrial or occupational categories. A union which
recruits members from a wide range of industries and occupations.
Although the classic British general unions are the Transport and
General Workers' Union (TGWU) and the General, Municipal
and Boilermakers' Union (GMB), whose predecessors were
established to provide unions for non-craft workers, an increasing
number of unions are breaking out of traditional industry or
occupational barriers in an effort to attract members. Thus, for
example, the EETPU, a traditional craft union (see above), is
increasingly seeking to recruit semi-skilled process workers in
the engineering and electronic and other industries.
Horizontal Union: Unions that recruit into membership
workers in similar occupational categories in whatever industrial
sector they appear are called horizontal unions They may be
contrasted with industrial (see below) or vertical unions. Craft
unions (see above) are the classic case, organising, for example,
electricians from all sectors of industry into one trade union. But
the term may also be used to describe occupational unions (see
below) with no claim to craft status, such as those unions
recruiting such white-collar workers as supervisors and technical
staff across industrial sectors.
Industrial Union: A union which recruits members within one
industry only and which aspires to recruit all grades of workers
in that industry, both manual and non-manual. It is therefore
a form of vertical unionism. In Britain there are no unions that
fall within the strict definition. The one that perhaps comes closest
is the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Other public
sector unions that might have claimed similar status, such as the
National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), have seen their
membership so fragmented and divided into different industrial
sectors by processes of privatization that they are becoming
increasingly horizontal in nature, recruiting across industrial
boundaries.
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Occupational Union: A trade union which organises workers

in a particular occupation or group of occupations but which
is closed to others. Most are in the white-collar area covering
groups such as clerical and secretarial staff, local government
officers and so on. The term may also be applied to manual craft
unions (see above).
Open Union: A union with few restrictions as to which sorts
of workers may join. Thus to be contrasted with closed,
occupational or craft unions (see above). The big general unions
(see above) are of this character, especially those unions that
started off as manual unions, such as the Transport and General
Workers' Union, and then developed a section for white-collar
workers. In the 1980s several previously closed unions have
opened themselves up to new categories of membership in an
effort to recruit new members.
Skilled Union: A trade union whose membership is restricted
to certain groups of craft workers.
White-collar Union: A union that represents primarily or
exclusively white-collar workers; a non-manual workers' union.
The largest such union in the private sector in Britain is the MSF;
in the public sector the teachers' unions, and N ALGO
representing white-collar staff in local government and elsewhere
are among the largest. The large general unions (see above) now
all have white-collar sections.
726. TRADE UNION ACT 1984 (TUA 84): This Act requires trade
unions to hold secret ballots in respect of the election of their
principal executive committees and on the continuance (as well
as establishment) of their political funds. It also withdraws the
immunities from official industrial action which has not been
the subject of a valid ballot. Most of its provisions do not apply
to Northern Ireland nor to trade unions with their head or main
offices in Northern Ireland.
727. TRADE UNION CONTRIBUTION: The payments made
weekly or monthly by union members to their unions as the cost
of membership. The levels of contributions or dues are fixed by
the sovereign body of the union and vary both in amount and
in type (single rate or related to pay level) from union to union.
By the standards of many European countries British union
contributions are low, reflecting in part unions' large dependence
on the services of unpaid shop stewards. Average contributions
are around 0.35 per cent, of gross pay. See also checkoff, political
levy
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TRADE UNION SUBSCRIPTION

728. TRADE UNION DUES: See trade union contribution.

729. TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS ACT 1974
(TULRA 1974): This Act repealed the Conservatives' Industrial
Relations Act 1971 and (together with the Employment
Protection Act 1975) formed the basis of the Labour Party's
employment law programme under the Social Contract. Its main
provisions, which are still in force, concern the legal status of
trade unions and employers' associations and the presumption
that collective agreements are not normally intended to create
contractual relations at the collective level. It also embodies the
immunities from common law liabilities, but these have been
greatly narrowed by the Employment Acts 1980,1982,1988 and
1990 and the Trade Union Act 1984.
730. TRADE UNION LIABILITY: A trade union may be subject
to several kinds of legal liability, even though the collective
agreement between a trade union and employer is generally not
legally enforceable. Under an important head of contractual
liability, a trade union may be liable to a trade union member
for breach of the contract contained in the union rule book.
Furthermore, by virtue of EA 1982, a trade union as such no
longer enjoys the complete immunity in respect of liabilities in
tort which was in place since the early years of this century; it
now has only the same limited immunities as individual persons
for torts committed during strikes. A trade union may therefore
be subject to injunctions and damages and ultimately to
contempt of court proceedings if it fails to comply with court
orders awarded to restrain unlawful industrial action. The Act
of 1982 sets upper limits on the amount of damages according
to union size and specifies criteria for determining whether the
union is legally responsible for acts of its officers. Essentially,
a union is liable if an act has been authorised or endorsed by a
responsible person in the union hierarchy, or not repudiated.
In addition, a union may be legally liable, by means of the
joinder provisions at an Industrial Tribunal, for inducing an
employer to infringe the individual employee's right to dissociate.
See collective agreement, trade dispute.
731. TRADE UNION RECOGNITION: See recognised trade
union.
732. TRADE UNION SUBSCRIPTION: See trade union
contribution.
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TRADES UNION CONGRESS (TUC)

733. TRADES UNION CONGRESS (TUC): Formed in 1868, the

TUC is the largest confederation of trade unions in Britain. In
1989, 74 trade unions with just under nine million members were
affiliated to the TUC. The sovereign body of the TUC is its
Annual Congress, held each year, usually in September, which
debates resolutions and amendments and considers the Annual
report of the General Council. The General Council is the
governing body between Annual Congresses and is composed of
delegates from unions with more than 100,000 members, who
have an automatic right to membership, with the number of
delegates varying according to the size of the union. The smaller
unions are entitled to about eight seats between them, and the
delegates for these unions are elected at Annual Congress. In
addition, to increase women's participation, Congress recently
agreed that unions with 200,000 members or more, of whom at
least 100,000 were women, would be required to ensure that at
least one of their nominees was a woman. The smaller unions
can, in addition to the eight seats above, also nominate for a
further four seats reserved for women. The General Council meets
monthly or more often and also works through a number of
specialist sub-committees. The TUC, based in London, is
financed by affiliation fees from its affiliated unions and is staffed
by full-time expert staff who service the main committees. Its
senior official, the General Secretary, is elected by the Annual
Congress and may then remain in office until retirement. The
General Secretary is the main public representative of the TUC
and is in consequence a well-known publicfigure.No body within
the TUC can override the autonomy of affiliated unions, and one
consequence is that, in most aspects of collective bargaining at
least, the TUC has at most a peripheral role, unlike the case with
some other European union confederations. Nevertheless it does
have formal disciplinary sanctions at its disposal in three major
areas of responsibility: industrial disputes, inter-union disputes
(see Bridlington Agreements, Disputes Committee) and disputes
over individual union membership (see Independent Review
Committee). The TUC also has regional machinery, with eight
Regional Committees in England, and the Wales TUC (Scotland
has its own TUC), and below that organisations at county and
town levels also exist. (Northern Ireland unions are affiliated to
the Irish Congress of Trade Unions). The TUC is not affiliated
to the Labour Party, but there exists a joint TUC/Labour Party
Liaison Committee set up in 1971 to discuss matters of common
interest and issue joint policy statements. The TUC is the body
through which the trade union movement is represented on a
number of national bodies (see tripartism) including ACAS, the
NEDC, the MSC (until recently) and the Health and Safety
202

TRAINING

Commission, although in recent years the TUC has come under

pressure from some unions to withdraw from these bodies in
protest at government policy. The TUC is also involved in
international affairs, being a founder member of the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the European Trade
Union Confederation. Through the Commonwealth Trade Union
Council it also has strong links with union movements in
Commonwealth countries.
734. TRAINEE: Someone undergoing training. Special (lower) rates
of pay are usually applicable to trainees.
735. TRAINING: Training provision in Britain is now generally
acknowledged to be poor, particularly in comparison with its
international partners and competitors, and results in such
problems as skill shortages. Companies traditionally have given
training a low priority and many have spent little on it, often
preferring to obtain skilled labour from the market or other
companies. Training has often been seen as a cost rather than
an investment and responsibility for it has been delegated to line
management, who often have short-term horizons. Training
provision, where it exists, is often cut in times of economic
difficulty.
Research for the MSC found a lack of knowledge among senior
British managers as to the resources invested in training by their
companies, or by their competitors, and detected a high level
of complacency. Other than in the service sector, training was
not seen as an important contributor to competitiveness.
A traditional form of training in Britain has been the
apprenticeship system, a form of on-the-job training in craft
skills. Most apprenticeships were taken by young men in areas
such as printing, engineering and motor vehicles. Few
apprenticeships were taken by young women other than in
hairdressing. The training, normally coupled with some vocational
education, lasted a number of years (four to seven) and, in
changing conditions, was criticised as resting on "serving time"
rather than the acquisition of relevant skills. The old
apprenticeship system has all but collapsed and is being replaced
by new training initiatives. See management development.
Off/on the Job Training: Off the job training is provided,
usually in company times, through employee attendance at
training colleges and other external training agencies; on the job
training is that which is acquired in the performance of the job
itself, at work.
203

TRAINING AGENCY (TA)

736. TRAINING AGENCY (TA): The Training Agency is the

governmental body responsible for the design and delivery of
national training programmes. It is the direct descendant of the
earlier Manpower Services Commission (MSC), and its
subsequent manifestation, the Training Commission (TC). A brief
history of these stages in the TA's development is given below.
The MSC was established in 1974 as a national tripartite body,
with representatives form the CBI and TUC, local education
authorities and other interest groups. The MSC was staffed by
civil servants and was responsible for national manpower
planning, job creation programmes and training policies.
In early 1988, the government decided to transfer the MSC's
responsibilities for job creation and "services to the unemployed"
to the direct control of the Department of Employment. At the
same time, the government increased the voting power of the
employer representatives on the Commission, and changed its
name from the MSC to the Training Commission to reflect its
new, narrower remit.
Later in the year, the government asked the Commission to
introduce a new training scheme for the long-term unemployed:
called Employment Training. Various features of these scheme
(particularly the perceived low quality of the training on offer
within it and the low levels of trainee allowance) were
unacceptable to the trade unions and, after much debate, the TUC
Congress decided to boycott the ET scheme. The government
responded by abolishing the Training Commission, thereby
removing the TUC from direct participation in the decision
making process, and destroying the most powerful remaining
tripartite structure in the United Kingdom.
In its place the government has announced the creation of an
entirely new set of structures to control training in Britain. The
civil servants who operated the MSC and Training Commission's
structures will form the new national training authority, called
the Training Agency. The Training Agency will be responsible
for overseeing government expenditure on training, and
monitoring the progress of the new Training and Enterprise
Councils (see below), as well as running a number of existing
initiatives within the education system that are aimed at improving
the supply of technical and vocational skills, and fosterijng the
creation of an "enterprise culture". Alongside the TA will operate
a twelve-person National Training Task Force, made up of senior
managers, with one invited trade union representative. The
National Training Task Force will oversee the strategic direction
of future training policy at national level.
The main feature of the new training system, however, will
be the devolution of responsibility for the planning and delivery
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TRIPARTISM

of training to local level, through the creation of a network of

about 80 Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) in England
and Wales, and 20 Local Enterprise Compames (LECs) in
Scotland. The organisation and funding of training provision in
Northern Ireland are very different from the rest of the United
Kingdom. These are to be employer-led, with at least two-thirds
of their membership made up of senior managers from the private
sector. Trade union representatives may be invited to participate
on an individual basis. The TECs will be responsible for the
delivery of existing training programmes, such as Employment
Training and the Youth Training scheme. They will also be
charged with planning and delivering training to meet local needs,
and with the encouragement of small businesses at the local level.
737. TRAINING COMMISSION (TC): See Training Agency.
738. TRANSFER OF ENGAGEMENT: A form of trade union
merger in which one union (the transferor) transfers its members
and property to another. Under these circumstances the Trade
Union (Amalgamations, etc.) Act 1964 requires only that there
be a ballot of the members of the transferor union. See
amalgamation.
739. TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKING: Under the Transfer of
Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981,
employees' rights under contracts of employment and collective
agreements may be transferred on the transfer of a commercial
venture from one owner to another. The Regulations also impose
a duty on employers to disclose information to and consult with
recognised trade unions. Questions arising under the Regulations
may be referred to an Industrial Tribunal. The Regulations are
the United Kingdom's attempt to comply with the EC Directive
on Acquired Rights (No. 77/187).
740. TRIPARTISM: A system of co-operation in economic and
industrial policy making between government and the peak
organisations representing both sides of industry: the TUC and
the CBI. A number of bodies established mainly in the 1960s
and 1970s have been seen as embodiments of tripartism. Most
important among them has been the National Economic
Development Council (NEDC) set up in 1962 and composed
of senior ministers, employer representatives and TUC nominees,
with similar structures at industry and sector level. At various
times one of the three groups has weakened its attachment to
tripartism and relations with government often have been more
205

TRIPARTISM

bipartite in nature, in part reflecting the absence of any underlying

consensus upon long term goals. There is a further problem in
that the TUC and CBI are unable to exercise the degree of control
over their constituents which is sometimes seen as necessary for
the efficient functioning of a tripartite system, or for corporatism.
In the 1970s bipartite arrangements between the Labour
government and the TUC took prominence. Since 1979
Conservative Governments have limited the opportunity for the
TUC to play any part in state policy making. Consequently the
government's commitment to, and the importance of, bodies such
as NEDC have been considerably reduced.
741. TUA 1984: See Trade Union Act 1984.
742. TUC: See Trades Union Congress.
743. TULRA 1974: See Trade Union and Labour Relations Act
1974.
744. TURNOVER: See labour turnover.
745. TWILIGHT SHIFT: An evening shift often worked by parttime workers.

206


746. UMA (UNION MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT): See closed
shop.
747. UNCONSTITUTIONAL STRIKE: See strike.
748. UNEMPLOYMENT: A situation in which some of the working
population is without work. The proportion is rarely defined with
precision, but it is often argued that figures of less than one per
cent, unemployment are consistent with full employment, since
there will always be a proportion of the workforce temporarily
out of work, usually looking for better work. In Britain
unemployment has risen sharply since the mid-1970s, and rose
to well over three million, or 14 per cent, of the workforce, by
1986, according to official figures. Since then it declined slowly
but rose again from 1990. The figures have been hotly disputed,
since the basis for calculation has been changed many times in
the 1980s. The TUC claim that the true figure is around one
million more than the official one, reflecting those who are
excluded from the calculations, primarily married women who
do not qualify for unemployment benefit (see below) and
workers, mostly young people, on temporary job creation
schemes. In Britain the worst-hit areas have been those most
associated with traditional manufacturing and extractive
industries. This has meant that Scotland, Wales and much of
the north of England and Northern Ireland have been particularly
badly affected by unemployment. Certain groups are particularly
affected by high unemployment: ethnic minorities, young schoolleavers, older workers and unskilled manual workers. Workers
who have been members of trade unions may in some cases
remain members after they lose their jobs, but people who have
never belonged to a union may find it very difficult to join a union
as unemployed persons.
Unemployment Benefit: A contributory state benefit, funded
through employers' and employees' National Insurance
contributions, available for a fixed period to people who
involuntarily lose their jobs. It is therefore not payable to strikers
(who are seen as voluntarily unemployed) nor to other workers
who have to stop work as an indirect result of a trade dispute,
unless it can be demonstrated that they have no material interest
in the outcome of the dispute. Self employed earners, who pay
contributions under a different structure to employees, are not
entitled to unemployment benefit.
Frictional Unemployment: That type of unemployment in
which people are out of work on a temporary, short-term basis,
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UNEMPLOYMENT

usually while between jobs. It is widely argued that a degree of

frictional unemployment is an inevitable corollary of any society
with labour mobility, and hence not incompatible with the notion
of full employment.
Registered Unemployment: The number of people who
demonstrate their unemployment by registering ("signing-on")
at a government office. Since it is no longer compulsory to sign
on before claiming unemployment benefit, the number of
registered unemployed is argued by the unions and the opposition
parties to be a serious underestimate of the " t r u e " level of
unemployment.
Seasonal Unemployment: Unemployment that may be directly
attributed to seasonal fluctuation in the level of demand for goods
and services. Official unemployment statistics are often corrected
for seasonal trends, since these may obscure the underlying
trends.
Structural Unemployment: Unemployment that results from
changes in the structure of industry and a consequent fall in the
demand for labour. Thus if, for example, the demand for coal
falls as other fuels become available, and pits shut, or if a company
closes because of the pressure of overseas competition, the workers
who lose their jobs are unemployed for structural reasons.
Technological Unemployment: Unemployment that results
from the direct replacement of a human worker with a machine
that performs the same task or tasks (e.g. an industrial robot).
One study estimated that between 1981 and 1983 there was a
net loss of 34,000 jobs associated with the use of microelectronics
technology in British manufacturing industry, and the same study
estimated that this would rise by 1990 to 400,000. Problems in
measurement are compounded by problems of estimating any
direct or indirect increase in jobs as a result of technological
change.
749. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT: See unemployment.
750. UNFAIR DISMISSAL: The right to complain of unfair
dismissal to an Industrial Tribunal was introduced under the
Industrial Relations Act 1971 and was retained when that Act
was repealed in 1974. The major provisions are now found in
the EPCA 1978, as amended. The statutory right marks a
departure from common law in restricting the employer's freedom
to dismiss without any reason by lawful notice (see wrongful
208

UNFAIR DISMISSAL

dismissal) and in providing for re-employment as a remedy.

Various qualifying conditions apply to workers before they are
protected from unfair dismissal. These mainly relate to length
of continuous service and number of hours worked (see
employment protection rights).
The employer has to show a reason for dismissal which falls
within the statute, namely a reason relating to the conduct or
capability of the worker, redundancy, or that the worker could
not continue to be employed without breaching some statutory
requirement, or that there was "some other substantial reason"
of a kind to justify the dismissal of the worker. Some reasons
for dismissal are automatically unfair (e.g. those relating to trade
union membership or non-membership) but in other cases the
tribunal must determine whether the dismissal was fair in the
circumstances, having regard to the reason shown by the employer
and "in accordance with equity and the substantial merits of the
case".
An Industrial Tribunal considers both substantive and procedural fairness so, as well as having a reason warranting dismissal
in the circumstances, the employer must also have acted reasonably in carrying out the dismissal. This usually depends on having
issued warnings and having followed the rules of natural justice
(for example allowing the worker to put his or her case).
Some 35,000 workers a year make applications to Industrial
Tribunals complaining of unfair dismissal. They come
disproportionately from non-unionists dismissed from small firms
(see small employer). A high proportion of claims do not reach
a tribunal hearing, being abandoned by the applicant or settled
through ACAS or individual conciliation. Of the third of claims
which reach a hearing, the employer's decision is upheld in two
out of every three cases. Where the applicant is found to have
been unfairly dismissed the remedy awarded by the tribunal is
normally compensation rather than re-employment.
Research has found that applicants bringing claims of unfair
dismissal are disadvantaged via--vis the respondent employers
in case preparation and presentation (for example in access to
representation and witnesses) and that a major factor accounting
for the low applicant success rate at tribunals is the interpretation
which has been given to the standard of fairness in the legislation.
The expert tribunals are not allowed to determine their own view
as to whether they would have dismissed in the same
circumstances, but are required to apply the standards of the
"reasonable employer", and to see whether dismissal falls within
the range of responses which reasonable employers might adopt.
In determining whether there was a reason for dismissal it is
sufficient for an employer to show a subjective, reasonable belief
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UNFAIR DISMISSAL

in the existence of a reason; the reason (e.g. incompetence,

misconduct) does not have to be proved. Further, in practice the
"some other substantial reason" has been given a very wide
interpretation.
The courts and tribunals have interpreted the statute as resting
on the foundation of the common law through the contract of
employment, with its emphasis on managerial authority flowing
from property rights, and the influence of common law can be
seen, too, in the determination of remedies where the applicant
does succeed. Compensation awards may be reduced where the
applicant is considered to have contributed to his or her own
dismissal or where he or she has not taken adequate steps to
mitigate loss arising from the dismissal. The method of calculating
compensation (based on demonstrable financial loss) and the
ability to reduce the award resulted in an average (median)
payment to successful unfair dismissal claimants of 1800 in
1986-1987.
The introduction of unfair dismissal legislation has led to an
increase in the existence of discipline and dismissal procedures
devised and operated by management and it is likely to
havereduced the likelihood of arbitrary dismissal. Its impact on
employee job security is difficult to determine, however.
Although there is some research evidence suggesting that the rates
of dismissal for reasons other than redundancy have fallen since
the introduction of the statutory protection, surveys of employers
report that they do not find it harder to dismiss. There is no
independent research evidence to support the view that the
introduction of protection against unfair dismissal has made
employers reluctant to recruit new workers. The greater use of
the provisions by non-union workers, and the inadequacies of
the statutory protection, limit its impact on the unionised sector
in terms of reducing the likelihood of industrial action over
dismissal. The unionised sector may, however, be indirectly
affected by the norms of fairness developed in the tribunals and
courts; employers generally are aware that tribunals uphold their
dismissal decisions. This may in turn strengthen employers'
position when unions seek to challenge their cUsciplinary/dismissal
decisions. See also constructive dismissal and interim relief.
751. UNILATERAL REGULATION: Situation where conditions
of work are unilaterally controlled by employers, workers or
unions without the agreement of the other. Hence unilateral
regulation may be contrasted with joint regulation. There is some
evidence that employers are making greater use of unilateral
regulation in the 1980s than in earlier years, as part of a drive
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UNION GOVERNMENT

to restore to management its "right to manage". See status quo

clause, managerial prerogative.
752. UNION AFFILIATION: Trade unions may associate
themselves with, or join, organisations at local, national or
international levels. To take just a few examples, many trade
unions in Britain are affiliated to the TUC and the Labour Party,
the latter both locally and nationally. Internationally, many unions
are affiliated to the appropriate international union confederation.
The TUC may refuse to accept into affiliation a trade union that
has failed to obtain a certificate of independence. It also has
problems from time to time with breakaway unions which apply
for affiliation. The phrase is also sometimes used of individuals
to denote their union membership.
753. UNION CERTIFICATION: See certificate of independence,
certification officer.
754. UNION DENSITY: The proportion of potential union members
who are actually in a trade union. In 1987 the figlia was estimated
at 39.8 per cent, of the economically active workforce (about 46
per cent, of those actually in work). There is widespread variation
across the economy. In 1987 over 47 per cent, of male workers
and 33 per cent, of female were unionized; for manual workers
the figure was 46 per cent, compared with 37 per cent, for nonmanual. At the same time it should be noted that female and nonmanual workers accounted for most of the growth in union density
that took place in the 1970s. The public sector is traditionally
very highly unionized, the private sector less so, especially the
private service sector.
755. UNION DUES: See trade union contribution.
756. UNION GOVERNMENT: The means of decision-taking,
representation and accountability within trade unions. In British
trade unions the sovereign body is a meeting of elected delegates,
often called a conference, and usually held annually. Within large
unions sectional conferences may also be held. Delegates are
elected by and from branches or groups of branches, and their
meetings set union policy. Between such meetings union affairs
are usually in the hands of elected executive committees, who
must, since the TUA 1984, be elected by secret membership
ballot. Since the EA 1988 virtually all unions elect a chief officer,
usually called the general secretary, a full-time official of the
union, to act as its leading official and advocate. Many general
secretaries are powerful and influential persons within their own
211

UNION GOVERNMENT

unions and elsewhere. Unions also often elect a president, usually

for a limited period, who presides over the executive committee
and conference. Under the EA 1988 such persons must also be
regularly elected by the members. During the 1960s the growing
shop steward movement was seen by some as contributing a new
and more participative form of democracy to traditional structures
of government, by others it was seen as reducing democracy by
creating structures of decision-taking independent of the unions'
national agreed procedures. To some extent the problem was
resolved by incorporating shop stewards increasingly into the
governing bodies of trade unions. The conduct or internal union
affairs are normally governed by the union rule book.
757. UNION MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT (UMA): See closed
shop.
758. UNION OFFICER: See lay official, full-time official.
759. UNION OFFICIAL: See lay official, full-time official.
760. UNION-ONLY CLAUSES: Also referred to as union-only
practices or recognition-only clauses and practices. The EA 1982
prohibits clauses in contracts for the supply of goods and services
which require work to be done either by union members only
(union-only) or by a company that recognises or consults with
a trade union (recognition-only). See sub-contractor, labour
clauses, recognition. Such union-only or recognition-only
practices (by no means always reflected in formal agreements)
had been quite widespread, indicating both union/worker
concerns with extending union organisation, protecting wage
rates, etc. and employers' interests in preventing under-cutting
and in maintaining quality and safety standards.
761. UNION-ONLY PRACTICES: See union-only clauses.
762. UNION RATE: A rate of pay for a particular category of work
which is considered by the union concerned to be the minimum
or standard rate of pay for that work. Thus many unions will
resist attempts by employers to pay below what they define as
the union rate. The union rate is also sometimes a rate) of pay
that unions will seek to enforce on employers paying below that
level.
763. UNION RECRUITMENT: Trade union recruitment (getting
workers to join a union) has been undertaken traditionally at the
place of work or at the entrance to the workplace. Where a union
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UNSKILLED LABOUR

is recognised by the employer it may be given help in recruitment,

for example details of new employees, and an opportunity to
address new employees or distribute literature. In recent years
trade unions have been attempting to counter membership losses
occasioned by employment changes with national recruitment
campaigns often directed at groups of workers, such as part-time
workers and young workers, who are not highly unionised. Other
recruitment campaigns often aimed at non-manual workers have
emphasised individual financial and other benefits which
membership of a union can provide. Trade union recruitment
activity is governed to some extent by the TUC's Bridlington
Agreement.
764. UNION RIGHTS: In Britain there are few codified positive
union rights. Employees and union activists are protected against
dismissal for joining a union or for union activities (see freedom
of association), and union lay officials enjoy certain statutory
time-offrights.In addition, unions have rights to consultation
before redundancy and may claim certain information (see
disclosure of information). Most industrial action provisions
(apart from picketing) are in the form of immunities rather than
a positive right.
765. UNION RULE BOOK: See rule book.
766. UNION STRUCTURE: This term usually refers to the nature
of the union rather than its internal organisation (see union
government) and refers to the categories of workers who may
belong to particular trade unions. Thus trade unions may have
an occupational structure (see occupational union) or an
industrial structure (see industrial union), or be open to all (see
general union). More generally, unions are sometimes divided
into vertical and horizontal unions. Expansion and mergers have
resulted in no clear or predominant union structure in Britain.
767. UNION SUBSCRIPTION: See trade union contribution.
768. UNOFFICIAL ACTION: See industrial action, strike.
769. UNOFFICIAL STRIKE: See strike.
770. UNSKILLED LABOUR: Strictly speaking this refers to
workers who perform work that requires neither previous training
or experience, nor any form of training at work. Many jobs
performed by women may be classified as unskilled despite their
requiring particular knowledge or experience, or skills acquired
213

UNSKILLED LABOUR

in the domestic sphere which go unrecognised by employers and

(often) trade unions. Such skills are referred to as "tacit skills".
Almost always a category of manual labour. A term no longer
widely used.
771. UNSOCIAL HOURS: See premium pay.

214

772. VACANCY: An unfilled post or job. Statistics of vacancies are

published by the Department of Employment. As with
unemployment, vacancies vary on a regional basis, with high
levels currently in the south-east of the country, in particular for
skilled workers both manual and non-manual.
773. VERTICAL UNION: See trade union: horizontal union,
industrial union.
774. VICTIMIZATION: The word is sometimes used to describe
employers' discriminatory practices against workers who are
members of trade unions or engaged in trade union activity. Such
practices are often unlawful but are still widespread. See freedom
of association. It is unlawful discrimination under the RRA and
SDA to victimise (treat less favourably) someone because they
have assisted, initiated, or given evidence or information in
connection with, any proceedings under those Acts.
775. VOLUNTARISM: The British system of industrial relations
has frequently been described as voluntarist, by which is usually
meant the abstention of the state from direct intervention in the
handling of industrial relations. This principle of abstention can
be seen most clearly in the traditionally small volume of law
affecting industrial relations; indeed, voluntarism has also been
described as legal abstentionism. But it is more than that, for
in addition to legal abstention, voluntarism also rests on the
principle of the primacy of voluntary action in industrial relations.
Voluntarism has never been absolute and, in the 1980s in
particular, there are good reasons for asking if it is still an
appropriate characterisation of the British system of industrial
relations. But until the 1970s it was defended by unions,
employers and the state, not least on the grounds that agreements
reached through voluntary means were likely to be more stable
and long-lasting than those imposed through state intervention.
There have for many decades been laws affecting aspects of
industrial relations, in particular legislation dealing with issues
of health and safety, the protection of particular groups of
workers, such as young persons, and the whole area of social
security legislation, but key aspects of industrial relations were
unaffected by law. Most important, collective agreements were,
and remain, unenforceable at law; they are, in the time-honoured
phrase, "binding in honour only", despite occasional efforts to
change this. In addition, the law kept distant from regulating
trade union behaviour and activity, most especially with respect
to strikes and other forms of industrial action (see immunities).
215

VOLUNTARISM

At least as important a feature of voluntarism was the insistence

by its advocates on the primacy of voluntary collective bargaining
as the preferred method of industrial regulation. The emphasis
of industrial relations policy under such a model is on the
development of the institutions of collective bargaining by means
other than direct state intervention. One clear example of the
way in which the state sets a lead in this is its own encouragement
of union recognition and of extending collective bargaining within
publicly owned industries (see public sector). Not that there was
no legal regulation of terms and conditions of employment; the
establishment of Trade Boards, later renamed Wages Councils,
to fix minimum terms and conditions of employment in industrial
sectors where workers were unable to develop collective
protections and were being heavily exploited is the clearest
example of intervention. Even here, however, the eventual
intention was always their replacement with free collective
bargaining.
Finally, even within the voluntarist model, the state has for
many decades provided access to independent means of dispute
resolution, through its provision of conciliation and arbitration
services, most recently through ACAS. Criticism of the voluntary
system developed through the 1960s, partly in response to what
was perceived as a growing wave of forms of disruptive industrial
action. The Donovan Commission provided a qualified defence
of voluntarism, defending the primacy of voluntary collective
bargaining. Since then government policies on incomes control
and, more specifically, the growing volume of industrial relations
legislation have called the voluntarist system into question. Even
the unions, the staunchest defenders of the system, have started
to discuss the need for a framework of positive legal rights for
trade unions and their members.
776. VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION: See arbitration.
777. VOTE BY SHOW OF HANDS: One traditional method of
taking decisions in trade unions. Participants in a meeting
indicate their preference on an issue publicly by raising their
hands for or against a recommendation. Preferred by some as
a public and participative form of decision-making appropriate
to collective organisations such as trade unions. Opposed by those
who fear both the sometimes unrepresentative nature of meetings
and the possibility that they may be open to manipulation. See
ballots.

216

w
778. WAGE (WAGES): The earnings or take home pay of a manual
worker, as distinct from the salary of a non-manual worker.
Wages usually denote weekly payment, but see harmonization.
Manual workers are sometimes referred to as wage earners to
differentiate them from white-collar or professional salary earners.
Wage Drift: A term, very common in the 1960s, used to denote
the rate of change in the wage gap between workers' actual
earnings and their rates of pay as shown in collective agreements,
usually national. The difference was often largely made up of
locally negotiated payment by results (PBR) bonuses; hence wage
drift was a feature of such payment systems within frameworks
of industry-wide collective bargaining. The existence of wage
drift was of concern to those who advocated incomes policies
since it is easier to control national rates of pay than local PBR
bonuses. In addition, wage drift was often perceived as an index
of pay increases that did not reflect increases in output or
productivity, of payment systems that had lost their ability to
control the relationship of pay and effort. The term is less used
in the 1970s and 1980s, since the reduction of industry-wide
bargaining and the move away from payment by results have both
acted to eliminate the very existence of a wage gap.
Wage Restraint: A concept involved in some forms of incomes
policy: those that depend heavily on unions' voluntary
commitment to restricting their pay claims. See social contract.
Wage Round: The notion of a wage or pay round implies a
cyclical process of wage claims and settlements, usually at the
level of the national economy. Often seen as an annual process
by those who argue that such cycles can be perceived, it is
characterised as being led by groups of workers (so-called "wage
leaders") who set a rate of increase to be aspired to by groups
who settle later on in the round. Some authors dispute the very
existence of a wage round, especially given the increased
importance of single employer bargaining (see bargaining
structure). The present government has recently criticised the
concept. The development of fixed term agreements setting pay
for two years also runs counter to the notion of a wage round.
Wage Structure: There are three primary but related meanings
for this term, all connected with the operation of systems of wage
payment. First, it may mean the way the total wage of a worker
or group of workers is composed; for example including such
elements as a basic rate, a piecework bonus and other forms of
217

WAGE (WAGES)

bonus, overtime, etc. Second, it may mean the established system

of pay differentials between groups of workers by occupation;
or third, the pattern of differentials on the basis of grade or status.
The widespread use of job evaluation in British industry means
that many company wage structures are based on the application
of this technique.
779. WAGES ACT 1986: This Act (a) removed restrictions on
employers connected with the payment of wages, making it easier
for them to impose fines and make deductions from employees'
pay; (b) considerably reduced the scope of existing Wages
Councils and prevented any new ones from being established.
The Act's removal of minimum wage protection from young
workers under 21 sets Britain apart from many other countries,
as does the removal of statutory holiday entitlement; (c) restricted
rebates to employers making statutory redundancy payments to
those employing fewer than ten employees.
780. WAGES COUNCIL: The Wages Councils are independent
tripartite bodies made up of representatives of both sides of
industry, together with independent members whose function
is to conciliate between the two sides and, where agreement cannot
be reached, to vote in favour of one side or the other. The Orders
of Wages Councils have the force of law. The Wages Councils
are thus the basis for the selective minimum wage regulation
which operates in Britain. They have their origin in the Trade
Boards Act 1909, which provided for the fixing of minimum
wages where "the rate of wages prevailing in any branch of the
trade was exceptionally low, compared with that in other
employments". Subsequent legislation allowed the Boards to fix
overtime rates and, importantly, holiday entitlement and then
other terms and conditions of employment. This legislation was
consolidated in the Wages Councils Act 1979.
The scope of the Wages Councils, however, has been reduced
recently by the Wages Act 1986, which removed workers under
21 from regulation and restricted the Councils to setting a single
minimum hourly rate, a single overtime rate and a limit for
accommodation charges. Also the procedure for abolition of
Wages Councils was simplified. The Conservative government
regards Wages Councils as unnecessary and an interference with
employers' freedom to set wages, and favours their abolition. In
order to introduce the changes made by the Wages Act 1986 the
government notified the ILO of its intention to withdraw from
Convention No. 26, which requires the creation and maintenance
of wage fixing machinery.
There are currently 26 Wages Councils operating in Britain
218

WARNING

(a similar system operates in Northern Ireland), covering over

two million employees, the vast majority of whom are employed
in retailing, miscellaneous services (especially hairdressing) and
clothing. The minimum rates set by the Wages Councils are low
compared to the rates of pay in other sectors and research finds
that there is a serious problem of underpayment. Over 15,000
workers were found to have been underpaid in 1986 and in 1987
over 4,000 establishments were found to be underpaying workers.
Workers who are underpaid have a claim for breach of contract.
In addition to the civil remedy, criminal sanctions apply. An
employer who fails to comply with an Order is hable, on
conviction before magistrates, to pay up to two years' arrears of
remuneration to the relevant employees and to a fine of up to
200. These provisions are policed by the Wages Inspectorate
but sanctions are little used in practice. In the twelve months
ending January 1988 only nine employers were prosecuted.
781. WAGES INSPECTORATE: The Wages Inspectorate is
responsible for monitoring compliance with the Orders of Wages
Councils. Employers found to be underpaying are not usually
prosecuted on first offence. There were only three prosecutions
in 1986 and none in 1987. The number of Wages Inspectors (civil
servants employed by the Department of Employment) has been
reduced since 1979 and it is estimated that, on average, an
establishment covered by a Wages Council Order can expect an
inspection visit only once in 12 to 14 years.
782. WAGES POLICY: See incomes policy.
783. TIME: See down time.
784. WALKOUT: A strike that begins by workers leaving their places
of work. Often refers to a short stoppage.
785. WARNING: Most discipline and dismissal procedures provide
that an employee be warned before disciplinary action is taken.
It is common for there to be various stages of warning prior to
dismissal. The first stage is a verbal warning, given by the
immediate superior. If there is no improvement in behaviour or
performance, this is followed by a written warning and then, if
necessary, a final warning indicating that dismissal is
contemplated. Warnings are not required by law but are
recommended in the ACAS Code of Practice and may be
pertinent in demonstrating that a dismissal has been undertaken
with regard to procedural fairness.
219

WELFARE

786. WELFARE: Generally relates to the physical working conditions

and psychological wellbeing of workers. The term encompasses
areas of health and safety; terms and conditions of employment
concerned with benefits such as pension and sick pay provision;
employee communications and counselling. Some personnel
departments will include a Welfare Officer although the post is
not as common today as in the past. An explicit emphasis on
employee welfare is often associated with a paternalistic
management style.
The state welfare system in the United Kingdom embraces the
social security system of benefits as well as a national health
service.
787. WHITE-COLLAR UNION: See trade union.
788. WHITE-COLLAR WORKER: Attempts to define this term
with precision (in the sense of showing the distinction from
manual or blue-collar workers) are difficult. Contemporary
authors identify several possible ways. First, that white-collar
workers work with their brains rather than their hands: whitecollar work requires little direct physical exertion. The second
approach is a functional one: white-collar workers are those
involved in administration; design, analysis and planning;
supervisory and managerial; and commercial functions. The third
approach is by identifying the objects on which workers operate:
material objects in the case of manual workers, and other people
(the shaping of human conduct) as the object of white-collar work.
It may be suggested that all these are flawed and that they all
derive from a common feature, the possession of, or proximity
to, authority. Popular usage of the term (and it is widespread)
identifies white-collar workers "with that part of the productive
process where authority is exercised and decisions taken". The
lack of precision is not important since the term carries no legal
connotation in Britain.
789. WHITLEYISM: The name given to the system of industrial
relations first propounded in the recommendations of the Whitley
Committee (1916-1918). The principles included the recognition
of trade unions and an extensive system of consultation and
negotiation. They led to the establishment of systems of industrywide bargaining around Joint Industrial Councils which were
the dominant form of collective bargaining until the
recommendations of the Donovan Commission in 1968, since
when they have declined in significance. The term is sometimes
more specifically used to describe the extended system of national
and local consultation in much of the public sector, first
220

WORKER

introduced into the Civil Service in 1919 and then spread more
widely in the public sector. In parts of the public sector some
joint committees are still referred to as Whitley Committees or
Councils.
790. WITHOUT PREJUDICE: An offer by an employer to trade
unions or vice versa "without prejudice" means that it is offered
on the basis that it may be withdrawn in favour of another solution
or offer. A without prejudice offer may also be one that is made
on the basis that it may not be used in evidence if no agreement
is reached and the dispute has to be referred to arbitration.
791. WOMEN'S WORK: See job segregation.
792. WORK STUDY: Techniques used to investigate the methods
by which work is performed (work measurement) and the time
that should be taken to perform a particular task. A study in 1979
showed that work study was used in 50 per cent, of manufacturing
establishments, and was most common in large establishments,
and with single employer bargaining (see bargaining structure).
Work study is especially associated with systems of payment by
results, most notably measured daywork.
793. WORK TO RULE: A form of collective industrial action in
which workers collectively slow down the pace of working through
scrupulous and detailed observation of orders, works rules or
health and safety regulations. This form of action is most
frequently used in the public service sector, where large and
detailed sets of working rules are often found. Despite the fact
that such action involves conforming to rules it may be held by
the courts to constitute a breach of contract by the employees
concerned. See also go-slow.
794. WORKER: Usually taken to mean a person who performs
manual as opposed to non-manual paid work, although the term
"non-manual worker" is found. In 1981 manual workers
constituted 47.7 per cent, of the total workforce. TULRA 1974
defines workers as those under a contract of employment or a
contract to perform personally any work or services (other than
for a "professional client"), plus government and National Health
Service employment (except the armed services and the police).
Unlike the term "employee" it thus includes as "workers" those
who are self-employed. Workers are frequently categorised on
the basis of skill levels, hence skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled
workers. Most workers work in workplaces away from their
homes, although there are also homeworkers and other home221

WORKER

based workers (see telework). More rarely, the term is used to

distinguish workers of all kinds from employers and proprietors.
795. WORKERS' CONTROL: A form of industrial democracy,
advocated by some unionists and socialists, in which control of
the enterprise is no longer in the hands of employers but is
undertaken through structures representing all employees.
796. WORKERS ' CO-OPERATIVES : The most important form of
co-operative from an industrial relations standpoint, these are
enterprises which conform to the following criteria: first, that
the establishment is autonomous; second, that employees are able
to become members of the enterprise through nominal holdings
of share capital; third, that the principle of "one member one
vote" prevails; fourth, that formal provision exists at all levels
for direct employee participation; and fifth, that employees share
in the profits. Under the 1976 Common Ownership Act loans
are available for co-operatives, but despite a flurry of activity in
the late 1970s they have never become a widespread form of
industrial democracy in Britain. It was estimated that 500 cooperatives existed in 1982, of which almost one third were in
retail, distribution, catering and food processing.
797. WORKERS' INVOLVEMENT: See employee involvement,
industrial democracy.
798. WORKERS' PARTICIPATION: A widely used term that may
be applied to all forms of workers' involvement in managerial
decision-taking at any level that fall short of outright workers'
control. Thus it may be used synonymously with forms of
industrial democracy such as those advocated in the Bullock
Report, involving workers' representation on the board of
directors; with various forms of joint consultation; and indeed
with collective bargaining itself. It is usually held to mean
workers' participation either in pre-existing managerial structures
or in structures that operate within an overall context of
managerial control. See also quality circles, employee
involvement.
799. WORK-IN: A form of collective action in which workers occupy
the workplace and continue to work to produce goods or services
under their own control. See sit-in, occupation.
800. WORKING HOURS: There is in Britain no general legislation
specifying the length of the working day or week, or the number
of rest days and holidays. The limited regulation on holidays
222

WORKS COUNCIL

which existed in sectors covered by Wages Councils has been

removed. Special statutory provisions limiting the hours of work
of women in factories have recently been removed by the Sex
Discrimination Act 1986. Most of the statutory restrictions
dealing with the hours which may be worked by young workers
were removed by the Employment Act 1989.
The United Kingdom government has declined to accept the
obligations of ILO Recommendation No. 116 and Article 2(1)
of the European Social Charter concerning reduction in the hours
of work, on the grounds that these are not consistent with the
methods by which terms and conditions of employment are
normally determined in the United Kingdom. It is largely through
collective agreement or unilateral employer action that hours
of work are regulated and they are usually stated in the contract
of employment. Improvements in the length of the working week
and in holiday entitlement have been gained for employees in
recent years through negotiation (for example in the engineering
industry). Average basic hours of work in Britain generally
declined from 40 hours a week in 1979 to 39 in 1984 and by the
end of 1984, 95 per cent, of manual workers subject to national
collective agreements had a minimum entitlement to four weeks'
or more paid holidays (in addition to public or customary
holidays) and nearly a fifth had a minimum entitlement of five
weeks or more. The average was 22 days. Additional holiday
entitlement often accrues with seniority in employment, as
governed by collective agreement. See also part-time work,
annualised hours.
801. WORKING PATTERNS: See annualized hours, shiftwork,
part-time work, temporary worker, Sex Discrimination Act
1986, working hours.
802. WORKING TIME: See annualized hours, shiftwork, part-time
work, temporary worker, Sex Discrimination Act 1986, working
hours.
803. WORKPLACE BARGAINING: Collective bargaining at or
within an individual factory. It is thus a form of single employer
bargaining (see bargaining structure) covering a single workplace
or one or more groups within. Workplace bargaining is usually
carried out between local managers and shop stewards or staff
representatives.
804. WORKS COUNCIL: This term does not have the same specific
meaning as in, for example, the West German context. In the
United Kingdom it covers a wide range of committees at
223

WORKS COUNCIL

workplace level, possibly involving only trade unionists, joint

committees of unionists and managers, and non-union committees
of managers and employee representatives. In a unionised context
works councils are sometimes seen as the bodies dealing with noncollective bargaining issues, such as recreational and canteen
facilities.
805. WORKS RULES: Rules drawn up by employers to govern the
behaviour of employees at their place of work. In law they are
seen as express terms of employees' contracts of employment,
even without the employees' express agreement to them. See
disciplinary rules.
806. WORKSHOP BARGAINING: Usually synonymous with
workplace bargaining except that "workshops" are sometimes
seen as more narrowly identified with manufacturing industry,
most especially engineering. See also shop floor bargaining.
807. WRONGFUL DISMISSAL: A dismissal in breach of contract,
for example where the employer failed to give the period of notice
required by law in circumstances where he or she was not entitled
at common law to terminate the contract summarily (summary
dismissal). The remedy open to the employee in such a case is
a court action to recover damages, normally equivalent to the
loss occasioned by notice not having been given (that is, the
equivalent number of weeks' pay to the notice which should have
been given). Often pay is given in lieu of notice when a contract
is terminated. It is not usually worthwhile for an employee to
sue for wrongful dismissal, but recently there have been some
interesting cases involving both public and private sector
employees who have successfully sought injunctions and
declarations to protect their procedural rights. See unfair
dismissal.

224

808. YOUNG WORKERS: The government's response to high levels

of youth unemployment has been to sponsor a range of job
creation schemes for school leavers (see Employment Training).
Both through such schemes and through other means they have
also sought to encourage youth employment by removing controls
on youth wage rates where possible. Thus the Wages Act 1986
abolished remaining minimum wage guarantees for workers under
21 in the Wages Councils industries. Further deregulation was
introduced in the Employment Act 1989 which removed a
substantial number of restrictions on the employment of young
people between school leaving age and 18, particularly as regards
hours and holidays. The 1987 Labour Force Survey indicated
that, of some 900,000 young people in the labour force, 608,000
would be affected by these repeals. The removal of restrictions
on young people working at night required the United Kingdom
government to denounce Article 7(8) of the European Social
Charter. Statutory restrictions on employing people under the
age of 16 remain although there is some scope for children aged
13 to 16 to be employed on a casual or part-time basis in such
sectors as retailing. Local government authorities can require
information concerning children's employment and have the
power to stop it. See also apprenticeship.
809. YOUTH TRAINING (YT): Traditionally, British employers
have made little provision for the training of the vast mass of
young employees. What training was provided tended to be
concentrated on the relatively small numbers of young people
entering apprenticeship schemes. As United Kingdom
participation rates in full-time education beyond the age of
compulsory schooling (16 years) are well below those in many
other developed countries, this meant that there was no systematic
vocational education or training provision for the majority of
young workers. In the late 1970s and early 1980s rising levels
of youth unemployment and increased international competition
made this position increasingly untenable.
In 1981 the Manpower Services Commission (see Training
Agency), after extensive consultation, announced the creation
of a new one-year Youth Training Scheme (YTS) which was to
cover both the young employed and unemployed. YTS replaced
a number of earlier work experience schemes, including the Youth
Opportunities Programme (YOP).
YTS came into operation in September 1983. It offered a
structured programme of work experience, coupled with a
minimum period of 13 weeks' off-the-job training and all
unemployed 16 year olds were guaranteed a place on the scheme.
225

YOUTH TRAINING (YT)

The government offered support to employers taking YTS

trainees amounting to about 1.1 billion. This was to cover the
cost of training and the trainee's allowance. In September 1986
YTS was extended into a two-year traineeship, with provision
for 20 weeks' off-the-job training. Some idea of the scale of YTS
can be gathered from the fact that in the year 1987-1988 there
were 327,600 entrants to the two-year YTS scheme.
In early 1989 it was announced that in future employers could
vary the length of the scheme, so that it could be shorter than
two years, and the 20 week minimum of off-the-job training was
also abolished. The Training Agency is currently attempting to
encourage employers to extend YTS to cover more of their
employed youngsters, and the government has announced its
desire to shift an increasing proportion of the cost of the scheme
onto employers. Since early 1990 the scheme has simply been
known by the title Youth Training (YT).
810. YOUTH TRAINING SCHEME (YTS): See Youth Training.
811. YT: See Youth Training.
812. YTS (YOUTH TRAINING SCHEME): See Youth Training.

226

LIST OF ADDRESSES
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service
27 Wilton Street
London SW1X 7AZ
Central Arbitration Committee
15-17 Ormond Yard
Duke of York Street
London SW1V 6JT
Certification Officer for Trade Unions and Employer's Associations
15-17 Ormond Yard
Duke of York Street
London SW1V 6JT
Commission for Racial Equality
Elliot House
10-12 Allington Street
London SW1E 5EH
Confederation of British Industry
Centre Point
103 New Oxford Street
London WC1A 1DU
Department of Employment
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London SW1H 9NF
Employment Appeal Tribunal
4 St. James's Square
London SW1Y 4JB
Equal Opportunities Commission
Overseas House
Quay Street
Manchester M3 3HN
Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland
Chamber of Commerce House
22 Great Victoria Street
Belfast BT2 2BA
227

Fair Employment Commission for Northern Ireland

Andras House
60 Great Victoria Street
Belfast BT2 7BB
Institute of Personnel Management
Central House
Camp Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 4UW
Labour Relations Agency
Windsor House
9-15 Bedford Street
Belfast BT2 7NU
National Economic Development Council
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QX

228

TABLES

TABLE 1

EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE

UNITED KINGDOM, 1948-1995
Year

Employment
Number
(mlns)

1948-68
1968-79
1968-70
1970-73
1973-79
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987-90
1990-92
1992-95

23.6
24.5
24.4
24.3
24.6
25.3
24.3
23.9
23.6
24.0
24.5
24.6
25.6
26.3
26.6

Annual Average
Compound Growth
Rate
(%)
0.6
0.2
-0.1
0.3
0.3
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
1.5
0.6
0.4

Registered Unemployment3
Number

Rateb

(mins)

(%)

0.3
0.9
0.5
0.7
1.1
1.7
2.4
2.8
3.0
3.0
3.2
3.2
2.6
2.3
2.2

1.4
3.5
2.2
2.7
4.2
6.9
9.9
11.4
12.4
12.5
12.9
11.1
10.3
9.1
8.7

Source: Data for the period 1981-95 are from the Institute for
Employment Research, Review of the Economy and Employment
(Coventry: 1ER, University of Warwick, 1987), tables Al and
A2 and Review of the Economy and Employment: Occupational
Assessment 1988/89 (Coventry : 1ER, University of Warwick,
1989) table 1; data for the year 1980 are from the Institute for
Employment Research, Review of the Economy and Employment
(Coventry: 1ER, University of Warwick, Summer 1983), table
2.3; data for the period 1949-79 are unpublished, and were
supplied by the 1ER on a comparable basis to those for later
years.
Notes:

a. The estimates for years up to 1979 are based on the Department

of Employment's definition of registered unemployed;
subsequently, they are the number of claimants to benefit. In 1982
the number of registered unemployed was 3.1 million compared
with 2.8 million claimants.
b. Percentage of employees in employment plus the unemployed.
c. Not applicable.
231

TABLE 2

EMPLOYMENT BY SECTOR IN THE UNITED

KINGDOM, 1954-1995
(Share of Total Employment, %)
Sector
2

Primary and Utilities

Manufacturing
Construction
Distribution, Transport &
Communications
Business and Miscellaneous
Services
Non-marketed Services0
Whole Economy
Public Sector

1954

1975

1980

1987

1992

1995

10.6
34.7
6.1

5.5
30.6
6.5

5.3
28.0
6.4

4.2
21.5
6.3

3.8
19.7
6.8

3.6
19.2
6.6

24.7

24.9

26.1

27.1

27.3

27.0

9.1
14.9
100.0
24.3

12.8
19.6
100.0
29.0

14.7
19.6
100.0
29.2

20.2
20.7
100.0
25.6

22.3
20.1
100.0

23.5
20.1
100.0

Sources: Data from Institute for Employment Research, Review of the Economy and
Employment (Coventry: 1ER, University of Warwick, 1989), table 2. Data
for the "public sector" category for 1954 and 1975 are from A.W.J. Thomson
and P.B. Beaumont, Public Sector Bargaining (Farnborough, Hants. : Saxon
House, 1978), 115; the data for 1980 and 1987 are from Economic Trends,
no. 410 (December 1987), 98-107.
Notes:

a. Agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining and quarrying; and gas,

electricity and water,
b. Medical and dental services; religious organisations; private domestic
services; and national and local government

232

TABLE 3

MALE AND FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN THE UNITED

KINGDOM, 1951-1995

Males (mlns)
Females (mlns)
Total (mlns)a
Male (% of total)b
Female (% of total)b

1951

1961

1971

1981

1987

1992

1995

13.7
6.8
20.6
66.5
33.0

14.6
7.9
22.6
64.6
35.0

13.7
8.4
22.1
62.0
38.0

12.5
9.3
21.9
57.1
42.5

11.9
9.9
21.8
54.6
45.4

12.3
10.6
22.8
53.9
46.1

12.2
10.8
23.0
53.0
47.0

Source:

Data for 1987, 1992 and 1995 are from the Institute for Employment
Research, Review of the Economy and Employment: Occupational Assessment
1988/9 (Coventry: 1ER University of Warwick, 1988), table 4. Data for 1951,
1961, and 1971 are unpublished and were supplied by the 1ER on a
comparable basis to those for later years.

Notes:

a. Excluding those in HM Forces and those in private domestic services,

b . Percentages may not add to 100 because of roundings.

233

TABLE 4

CIVILIAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATES BY AGE

AND SEX IN GREAT BRITAIN 1951-1995
(%)
1951

1961

1971

1981

1988

1995

Males
Under 20
20-24
25-44
45-64
65 +
All Ages

83.8
94.9
98.3
95.2
31.1
87.6

74.6
91.9
98.2
97.6
24.4
86.0

69.4
87.7
95.4
93.2
17.6
80.5

72.4
85.1
95.7
85.6
9.2
76.5

77.1
86.1
94.4
80.1
8.0
74.2

77.6
85.7
93.5
81.3
5.6
73.7

Females
Under 20
20-24
25-44
45-64
65 +
All Ages

78.9
65.4
36.1
28.7
5.3
34.7

71.1
62.0
40.8
37.1
5.4
37.4

65.0
60.2
50.6
50.2
6.3
43.9

70.4
68.8
61.4
52.5
3.7
47.6

72.9
71.5
70.9
53.6
2.8
51.1

75.3
73.6
76.7
56.4
2.4
53.6

Males and Females

All Ages

59.6

60.5

61.9

61.7

62.2

63.3

Source: P. Elias, Labour Supply and Employment Opportunities for Women,

R.M. Lindley (ed.), Economic Change and Employment Policy
(London: Macmillan, 1980), table 6.1, updated by Peter Elias on
a comparable basis from data published in Employment Gazette (April
1989).
Note:

Before 1971 the age group "under 20" consists of 15-19 year olds,
except for married women for whom it is 16-19 years. From 1981
the age group consists of 16-19 year olds.
Activity rates for 1988 and the projection for 1995 are based upon
the ILO/OECD definition of unemployment, which includes persons
who have no paid work and had looked for work at some stage in
the preceding month. This redefinition has the effect of raising
activity rates for all age groups by about half a percentage point above
the previous definition (used for 1951-81 in above table), which used
a one week reference period for job search activity.

234

TABLE 5

SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND PART-TIME EMPLOYEES3

IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1951-1995

Self-Employment (mlns)
Part-Time Employees (mlns)
Total Employees (mlns)
Self-Employment (% of total
employment)
Part-Time Employees (% of
total employees)

1951

1961

1971

1981

1987

1992

1995

1.64
0.73
:o.55

1.63
1.94
22.57

1.84
3.39
22.12

2.1
4.6
21.9

2.9
5.3
21.8

3.3
5.9
22.8

3.4
6.3
23.0

8.0

7.2

8.3

9.6

11.7

12.6

12.9

3.5

8.6

15.3

21.0

24.3

25.9

27.4

Source: For 1951-71 unpublished data supplied by the Institute for Employment
Research. For 1981, 1987, 1992, and 1995 data are from Institute for
Employment Research, Review of the Economy and Employment: Occupational
Assessment 1988/9 (Coventry: 1ER, University of Warwick, 1988), table 4.
Note:

a. Those working 30 or less hours per week (excluding meal breaks and
overtime).

235

TABLE 6

AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS WORKED FOR ALL

EMPLOYEES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1951-1990
Sector

1951

1961

1971

1980

1990

Manufacturing
Financial and Professional
Services
Miscellaneous Services
All Industries and Services3

43.6

42.4

39.3

38.3

36.8

41.4
40.8
44.4

38.8
39.9
43.0

34.8
35.4
39.0

34.4
33.5
37.4

32.4
31.5
35.4

Source: For 1951-1980 the data are from R.A. Wilson, "Average Weekly
Hours 1948-81", an unpublished paper presented at a conference
on "Hours of Work and Employment", University of Warwick,
16-17 September 1982. The projections for 1990 are from Institute
for Employment Research, Review of the Economy and Employment
(Coventry: 1ER, University of Warwick, Summer 1983), 51-2.
Note:

a. Excluding central and local government.

236

TABLE 7

PRODUCTIVITY (OUTPUT PER PERSON) IN THE

UNITED KINGDOM, 1954-1995
(% per annum)
Year
1954-75
1975-80
1980-86
1987-95

Total

Manufacturing

2.2
0.3
2.4
2.8

2.5
1.0
5.5
4.8

Market Servicesb
1.8

-0.1

0.9
1.7

Source: Institute for Employment Research, Review of the Economy

and Employment: Occupational Update 1988 (Coventry: 1ER,
University of Warwick, 1988).
Notes: a. Excludes North Sea oil and gas and non-market services
(i.e. social services and public administration),
b. Market services are transport & communication, distribution, financial and professional services, and miscellaneous services.

237

TABLE 8

ESTABLISHMENT SIZE IN MANUFACTURING

INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1951-1986

% of employees working in
establishments with:
500 and more employees
1000 and more employees
1500 and more employees

1951

1979

1986

44.3
30.8
23.6

54.1
40.9
32.9

42.8
29.7
23.2

Source: For 1951 the data are from Census of Production for 1951:
Summary Tables (London: HMSO, 1956) pt. 1, table 4; for
1979 the data are from Business Statistics Office, Business
Monitor: Report on the Census of Production, 1979: Summary
Tables, PA1002 (London: HMSO, 1982), table 6, and for 1986
from ibid. 1986 (London: HMSO, 1988)

238

TABLE 9

ENTERPRISE SIZE IN MANUFACTURING

INDUSTRIES, 1958-1986
Enterprise Size
(Number of Employees)

2,000
and over

5,000
and over

10,000
and over

20,000
and over

50,000
and over

Number of
enterprises

1958
1979
1986

469
406
276

180
174
114

74
83
52

32
34
20

8
9
4

Number of
establishments
owned

1958
1979
1986

5805
7911
5985

3788
5242
3810

2224
3446
2269

1398
1995
1313

467
720
295

Proportion of employees working

from these
enterprises

1958
1979
1986

45.8
55.6
45.1

34.3
44.7
34.9

24.8
34.9
25.4

17.3
24.4
16.1

7.3
12.7
5.9

Source: For 1958, Business Statistics Office, Historical Record of the Census of Production 1907-1970
(London: HMSO, 1978), table 10; for 1979 the data are from Business Statistics Office,
Business Monitor: Report on the Census of Production 1979: Summary Tables, PA1002
(London: HMSO, 1982), table 13, and for 1986 from ibid. 1986 (London: HMSO, 1988),
table 12.

239

TABLE 10

UNION DENSITY IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE

UNITED KINGDOM, 1948-1988
1948

1968

1979

1988

Aggregate Union Density UK

Aggregate Union Density GB

45.2
45.0

44.0
42.7

54.4
53.2

41.4a

Male Union Density GB

Female Union Density GB

55.4
24.3

51.4
27.5

63.1
39.0

Manual Union Density GB

White-Collar Union Density GB

50.3
33.0

49.8
32.6

62.5
43.6

Source: G.S. Bain and R.J. Price, "Union Growth", G.S. Bain (ed.),
Industrial Relations in Britain (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983), tables
1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.
Note:

a. The union membershipfigurefor 1988 is a rough estimate.

Total membership as a proportion of the TUC's
membership (9,126,911) was 114.77 in 1987. Hence the
TUC's membership figure for 1988 (8,982,318) was
increased by 14.77% to give a total union membership
figure of 10,309,006.

240

TABLE 11

WHITE-COLLAR/MANUAL AND FEMALE/MALE

UNION MEMBERSHIP AS A PROPORTION OF
TOTAL UNION MEMBERSHIP IN GREAT BRITAIN,
1948-1985
(%)

White-Collar
Manual
Female
Male

1948

1968

1979

1985

22.6
77.4
18.1
81.9

31.5
68.5
23.4
76.6

40.3
59.7
30.2
69.8

N.A.
N.A.
30.4
69.6

Source: Derived from G.S. Bain and R.J. Price, "Union Growth",
G.S. Bain (ed.), Industrial Relations in Britain (Oxford:
Blackwell, 1983), tables 1.2 and 1.3, updated from Department
of Employment and TUC data.

241

Ss
*

4^

All
manufacturing
establishments

M etals
M ineral
Products

Chemicals
manufact.
fibres

M etal
Elee. &
Goods, Instrument
mech.eng. Engineering

Vehicles,
Food,
Transport
Drink
equipment & Tobacco

Any trade union or staff association members

Manual members but not nonmanual
Nonmanual members but not manual
Manual and nonmanual members

67
32
3
32

69
39
3
27

56
19
6
32

65
36
3
26

71
14
4
53

85
23

54
21
2
31

69
29
2
38

64
33
10
21

48
2
34

Average density all workers

Average density manual workers
Average density nonmanual workers
Average number of employees
Proportion of establishments in public sector

58
72
35
147
1

68
79
43
140
3

58
78
37
211

55
66
33
101

51
69
31
239
1

81
93
58
674
19

50
63
26
183

53
60

48
63
20
116

59
76
35
97

Source: N. Millward and M. Stevens, British Workplace Industrial Relations 1980-1984, (Aldershot: Gower,1986), table 3.2

Textiles

108

Leather Timber and

footwear
furniture
clothing
paper &
printing
84

>

o*

P
K

"

NN

H
>
w
f

*
ho

HH

AU

Average density all workers

Average density manual
workers
Average density nonmanual
workers
Average number of employees
per establishment
Proportion of establishments in
the public sector

and

Construc
tion

Wholesale
Retail
Distribu
Distribu
tion Idon Repairs

Hotels,
Catering

Transport

Posts &
Telecom
municatioo

Banking,
Finance &
Insurance

53

39

93

100

83

29

20

47

2
19

3
40

3
16

5
42

3
96

59
23

13
9

56
40

Service
Establish

Water

75

96

71

49

11

31

48

17
47

3
89

3
20

Business
Services

27

Public
Admiras
tion

Education

Medical
Services

Other
Services

99

97

91

Percentage
74

10
87

20
72

13
55

58

88

36

32

34

21

85

95

43

21

78

69

67

Means
49

63

93

42

47

50

25

96

98

34

63

73

57

68

49

55

82

25

19

21

13

58

91

45

14

80

75

65

50

98

180

84

55

97

56

105

132

73

79

134

87

295

78

46

78

16

23

100

100

90

75

60

Source: M illward and Stevens, loc. cit., table 3.3

2
*J

MEMBERS
VICE INDU

t>J

Any trade union or staff

association members
Manual members but non
manual
Nonmanual members but
nonmanual
Manual & nonmanual members

Energy

OSO

v>X
Ha
*>

S
4t

M
25
C/3
HM

H
!

H
>
w
r
tu

TABLE 14

TUC UNIONS WITH 100,000 AND MORE MEMBERS

AT 31 DECEMBER 1988.

Transport and General Workers' Union

General, Municipal, Boilermakers & Allied
Trades Union (GMB)
Amalgamated Engineering Union
National & Local Government Officers'
Association
Manufacturing, Science, Finance (MSF)
National Union of Public Employees
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied
Workers
Union of Construction, Allied Trades &
Technicians
Confederation of Health Service Employees
The Union of Communication Workers
Society of Graphical and Allied Trades '82
National Union of Teachers
The Banking, Insurance & Finance Union
The National Communications Union
The Civil and Public Services Association
National Graphical Association (1982)
National Union of Civil & Public Servants
National Association of Schoolmasters/Union
of Women Teachers
National Union of Railwaymen

1979

Membership
1988

2,231,216

1,312,853

1,149,664
1,299,224

864,021
793,610

753,226
849,673
691,770

754,701
653,000
635,070

470,017

396,724

347,777
212,930
203,452
260,248
248,896
131,774
125,723
223,884
136,462
154,161

250,042
218,321
197,616
183,213
171,990
168,408
154,410
143,062
125,016
118,394

122,058
180,000

117,610
110,256

Source: Various issues of TUC Report.

Notes: 1. At the Trades Union Congress early in September 1988 the
Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union
(EETPU), with a membership of 329,914, was expelled from the
TUC

244

TABLE 15

STRIKES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, 1950-1988

All Industries
Year
1950
1955
1960
1965
1967
1970
1971
1974
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988

S
1339
2419
2832
2354
2116
3906
2228
2922
2080
1330
1338
1528
1352
1206
903a
1074a
1016a
781a

W
303
659
819
874
734
1801
1178
162
4608

834

1513
2103

574

1464

791
720
887
790

D
1389
3781
3024
3295
2787
10980
13551
14750
29474
11964
4266
5313
3754
27135
6402
1920
3546
3702

DAV
4.6
5.7
3.7
3.3
3.8
6.1
11.5

9.1
6.4

14.3

2.8
2.5
6.5

18.5

8.1
2.7
4.0
4.7

% Strikes
lasting less
than 3 days
76.5
81.1
76.7
68.8
65.6
54.9
50.7
42.8
42.0
51.4
55.5
60.1
55.6
51.7
56.9
67.6
66.7
64.8

Excluding Coal Mining

S
479
636
1166
1614
1722
3746
2093
2736
1782
1028
1036
1125

997

W
161
305
582
756
693
1683
1155
1319
4555

748

1415
1878

441

1128 1183
743a 624
723a 634
720a 790
627a 698

D/W

958

6.0
8.8
4.3
3.3
3.9
5.9

2669
2530
2513
2682
9890
13488
9125
29361
11812
4031
4939
3270
4652
2260
1777
3329
3480

11.7

6.9
6.4

15.8

2.8
2.6
7.4
3.9
3.6
2.8
4.2
5.0

Sources: P.K. Edwards, "The Pattern of Collective Industrial Action", G.S. Bain
(ed) Industrial Relations in Great Britain (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983), table 9.1,
with data derived for 1950 and 1982 onwards by Paul Edwards from the
Employment Gazette.
Note:

S is the number of strikes beginning in each year. W and D are the number
of workers involved and days lost (in thousands) in strikes in progress during
that year. D/W is the number of days lost per worker involved.
From 1985, some classifications of strikes beginning in year are no longer
produced. For figures marked (a) numbers of strikes are numbers in progress.

245

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

1. A number of organisations produce regular publications that present
data on developments in industrial relations, labour law, and related
subjects. These include:
()

(ii)

The Department of Employment Gazette, published monthly,

available through the Department of Employment, Caxton
House, Tothill Street, London SW1H 9NF. This presents regular
data on employment and unemployment, other labour market
data, labour force changes, wages, prices, strikes, etc. The
Department's New Earnings Survey is a very comprehensive
annual survey of all aspects of pay, working time, etc. The
Department also produces a wide range of Research Papers.
Industrial Relations Services, 18-20 Highbury Place, London N5
1PQ, produce a bi-monthly Industrial Relations Review and
Report, which includes bulletins on pay and benefits, the law,
and health and safety matters.

(iii) Incomes Data Services, 193 St. John Street, London EC IV 4LS,
produces IDS Report, which looks at collective agreements, IDS
Brief, which deals with the law, and IDS Study, which produces
reports on a range of topics. It also produces, among other things,
an annual report of developments in the public sector.
(iv) The Labour Research Department, funded largely by trade
unions, produces a monthly publication Labour Research, which
covers many topics of interest to industrial relations practitioners,
and a Bargaining Report, which deals specifically with collective
agreements. It also produces many handbooks providing
information on recent developments to trade union activists and
others.
(v) Personnel Management, published by the Institute of Personnel
Management, covers many topics of interest to personnel
managers and others.
(vi)

The Trades Union Congress produces a range of publications

including an Annual Report which contains a wealth ofinformation
about the trade union movement.
(vii) The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), the
Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Equal
Opportunities Commission (EOC) all produce pamphlets and
guides dealing with many aspects of employment practice. The
ACAS Annual Report is especially useful, as is the Annual Report
of the Certification Officer which provides useful information
on trade unions.
(viii) The Institute for Employment Research at the University of
249

Warwick produces an annual Review of the Economy and

Employment, which combines historical trends and future
projections of a wide range of economic variables. Several of the
Tables in this Glossary are taken from this publication.
2. Journals
The two major academic journals on industrial relations are the British
Journal of Industrial Relations and the Industrial Relations Journal. Both
the Human Resource Management Journal and Work, Employment and
Society are useful recent additions.
3. Books
()

The Industrial Relations Research Unit (IRRU) at the University

of Warwick produces a series called "Industrial Relations in
Context" providing comprehensive subject overviews. Texts so
far published are Industrial Relations in Britain, edited by G. Bain;
Labour Law in Britain, edited by Roy Lewis; Personnel
Management in Britain edited by Keith Sisson; and Employment
in Britain, edited by Duncan Gallic All are published by
Blackwell of Oxford, as is the series "Warwick Studies in
Industrial Relations", the major vehicle for the IRRU's research
output. Information on all IRRU publications from the
Administrative Officer, IRRU, University of Warwick, Coventry
CV4 7AL.

(ii)

Recent books that provide a useful coverage of recent events

include:

J. Maclnnes (1987), Thatcherism at Work: Industrial Relations and

Economic Change.
P. Bassett (1987), Strike Free: The New Industrial Relations in
Britain.
K. Coates and T. Topham (1988), Trade Unions in Britain (3rd
ed.).
J. Mcllroy (1988), Trade Unions in Britain Today.
(Hi) The most comprehensive single treatment of the British industrial
relations system probably remains Hugh Clegg's The Changing
System of Industrial Relations in Great Britain (1979) although parts
of it are obviously out of date. Other general texts include M.
Salamon (1987) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, and G.
Palmer (1983) British Industrial Relations.
(iv)

Lord Wedderburn's classic The Worker and the Law, (3rd ed.,
1986) provides the most thorough single text on British labour
law. In addition, the annotated Encyclopedia of Labour Relations
Law, edited by Robert Apex, is a constantly up-dated guide to
labour legislation and to important cases and judgements.
250

3.

Other works of reference

There are several of these that have been referred to on occasions in

compiling the present Glossary. Among the most useful are:
J. Jones and M. Morris (1982), A-Z of Trade Unionism and Industrial
Relations.
A. Marsh (1979), Concise Encyclopedia of Industrial Relations.
N. Selwyn (1985), Dictionary of Employment Law.
E.R. Hardy (1985), Dictionary of Company Law (2nd edition).
D.M. Walker (1981) The Scottish Legal System: An Introduction to the
Study of Scots Law. 5th ed. Edinburgh: W. Green and Sons.
Flanders, A. Industrial Relations: What Is Wrong With The System?,
(Faber, 1965).
Gospel, H. "Managerial Structures and Strategies" in H. Gospel and
C. Littler (eds) Managerial Strategies and Industrial Relations.
(Heinemann).
Hyman, R. Industrial Relations: A Marxist Introduction. (Macmillan,
1975).
Webb, S. and B. Webb. A History of Trade Unions, (2nd ed. 1920,
Longmans).

251

INDEX
As the glossary is arranged in strict alphabetical order, this index
complements such an arrangement and should be used in conjunction
with the main entries in the text. As a result it does not include all main
entry terms as indexing terms. This is to avoid wasteful and unnecessary
duplication.
Absenteeism, 2
clocking, 86
rate, 2
Accident at Work see Health and
Safety
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration
Service, 10
Affiliation, 11
see also Trade Union (union
affiliation)
Agreements
see Collective Agreement
Allowances, 13
London weighting, 407
Apprentice, 19
time served, 721
training, 735
Apprenticeship see Apprentice; Young
Workers
Arbitration, 21
see also Third Party Intervention
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration
Service, 10
award, 28
board of arbitration, 21
Central Arbitration Committee, 73
grievance arbitration, 279
Awards see also Compensation
protective, 55
Ballot, 30
Code of Practice, 90
postal, 529
strike, 684
voting by hand, 777
Bargaining Structure, 36
see also Collective Agreement;
Collective Bargaining
fragmented bargaining, 253
single table bargaining, 646
Benefits, 40
see also Fringe Benefits; Social
Security
unemployment, 725
Blue Collar Union, 725
Bonus, 52
attendance bonus, 24
Breakdown, 58

down time, 170

Bridlington Agreement, 59
demarcation dispute, 141
disputes committee, 164
inter-union disputes, 340
jurisdiction dispute, 370
poaching, 522
union recruitment, 763
Bullock Report, 62
industrial democracy, 326
role of board of directors, 50
single channel, 643

Closed Shop, 87
Agreements, 90
union membership agreement, 87
Closed Union, 725
Co-Determination, 91
see also Industrial Democracy
Code of Practice, 90
see also Guidelines
ballots, 90
closed shop agreements, 90
disciplinary practice and procedure,
90
disclosure of information, 90
picketing, 515
time-off rights, 720
Collective Agreement, 92
see also Bargaining Structure;
Collective Bargaining
blanket agreement, 45
breach of contract, 55
cash limits, 67
clause, 82
efficiency agreement, 180
expiry of agreement, 224
fixed term agreement, 243
guaranteed week, 286
maternity leave, 424
mobility clause, 433
mutuality, 445
new technology agreements, 459
no-strike agreement see strike free
agreement 687
no-strike clause, 466
open-ended agreement, 479

253

package deal, 486

party to an agreement, 492
paternity leave, 494
penalty clause, 508
productivity agreements, 545
retrospective pay, 597
single union agreement, 647
single union deal see single union
agreement 647
staff representative, 666
status quo clause, 678
strike free agreement, 687
threshold agreement, 719
transfer of undertaking, 739
Collective Bargaining, 93
see aho Bargaining Structure;
Collective Agreement
de-recognition, 144
formalization, 252
good faith, 272
in the public sector, 557
industrial relations manager, 330
joint committee, 360
joint regulation, 365
joint representation, 366
multiunionism, 444
negotiable issue, 453
productivity bargaining see
productivity agreements 545
recognition, 575
shop stewards, 635
staged agreements, 669
staging see staged agreements 669
workplace bargaining, 803
workshop bargaining, 806
Collective Conciliation see
Conciliation
Collective Dismissal, 94
see aho Redundancy, Dismissal
Common Law, 98
case law, 98
judiciary, 368
Company, 101
agreement, 92
bargaining, 36
board of directors, 50
corporate status, 126
disciplinary rules, 155
divisionalisation, 167
federated company, 237
financial participation, 239
holding company, 293
industrial relations manager, 330
limited liability see public limited
company 555
management board, 415
multinational corporation, 440

profit centre, 547

public corporation, 554
public limited company, 555
staff association, 664
subsidiary company, 693
transfer of undertaking, 73
Compensation, 106
see also Legal Sanctions
awards, 136
damages, wrongful dismissal, 807
joinder, 359
Conciliation, 109
see also Third Party Intervention
Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration
Service, 10
Constructive Dismissal, 113
see also Dismissal
Consultation, 114
over health and safety, 114
over occupational pensions, 575
over redundancy, 581
over transfer of undertaking, 114
with recognized trade union, 575
Contempt of Court see Legal
Sanctions
Contract for Services see SelfEmployment
Contract of Employment, 118
annual hours contract see annualised
hours 16
breach of contract, 55
common law concept, 98
damages for breach of, 136
duties under the employment
contract, 175
express term, 225
fixed term contract, 244
implied terms, 305
job sharing, 356
mobility clause, 433
no-strike clause, 466
notice periods, 467
party to an agreement, 492
probationary period, 540
short term contract, 636
termination with notice see notice
periods 467
terms and conditions see Terms and
Conditions (of Employment)
worker defined under, 794
works rules, 805
Contractor, 122
see also Sub-Contractor
Corporation see Company
Craft union, 725
dilution, 149

254

Damages see also Legal Sanctions

wrongful dismissal, 807
Demarcation, 140
dispute, 141
Denationalization, 142
see also Privatization
Discharge for Cause see FanDismissal
Discipline Procedure, 156
appeals procedure, 17
dismissal, 156
practice and procedure, 90
warning, 785
Discrimination, 158
see also Equal Opportunity; Race
Discrimination; Religious
Discrimination and Sex
Discrimination
compensation for, 106
contract compliance, 117
genuine occupational qualification,
267
recruitment and selection, 578
victimization, 774
Dismissal, 159 see also Collective
Dismissal; Constructive Dismissal;
Fair Dismissal; Redundancy;
Summary Dismissal; Unfair
Dismissal; Wrongful Dismissal
breach of contract, 55
compensation, 106
discipline procedure, 156
firing, 241
interim relief, 337
warning, 785
Dispute, 161
procedure, 162
resolution, 163
Donovan Commission, 169
bargaining structure, 36
formalization, 252
fragmented bargaining, 253
inter-union disputes, 340
joint regulation, 365
productivity agreements, 545
restrictive practices, 593
shop stewards, 635
voluntarism, 775
Whitleyism, 789
Earnings, 178
see also Pay; Wage
real, 495
Employee Communications, 184
open door policy, 478
team briefing, 711
Employee Involvement, 185

see also Workers' Participation

quality circles, 563
suggestion scheme, 695
Employers' Associations, 188
federated company, 237
indemnity fund, 312
Employment Agency, 194
temporary worker, 714
Employment Contract see Contract of
Employment
Employment Law see Labour Law
Employment Protection Rights, 201
and individual conciliation, 109
Employment Relationship see Contract
of Employment
Employment Training, 204
see also Training Agency
Equal Opportunity,
see also Discrimination
employer, 213
ethnic monitoring, 221
policy, 214
Establishment, 219
non union, 464
Factory Inspectorate, 291
Fine see Legal Sanctions
Firing, 241 see also Dismissal; Unfair
Dismissal
Flexibility,
see also Labour Mobility
annualised hours, 16
demarcation, 140
distancing, 165
functional flexibility, 246
greenfield site companies, 246
harmonization, 288
numerical flexibility, 246
Fringe Benefits, 259
harmonization, 288
payment in kind, 506
remuneration package, 591
General Union, 725
Greenfield Site, 277
flexibility, 246
just-in-time system, 371
single union agreement, 647
Grievance, 278
appeals procedure, 17
arbitration, 279
procedure, 280
Guidelines, 287
see also Code of Practice
Health and Safety, 291
Commission, 291

255

consultation over, 114

Executive, 291
Factory Inspectorate, 291
for contract compliance, 117
improvement notice, 306
industrial injury, 328
occupational illness, 291
prohibition notice, 550
safety committee, 291
safety representative, 291
Health Schemes see Private Health
Schemes
Holiday, 294
lieu days, 398
Homeworker, 296 see also Telework
homework, 285
Horizonal Union, 725
Human Resource Management, 301
see also Personnel Management
Immunities, 304
secondary action, 616
Incentive Payment System, 307 see
also Earnings, Pay, Wage
group incentive system, 283
merit pay, 430
payment by results, 505
performance related pay, 512
piecework, 516
profit-related pay, 239
Incomes Policy, 309
ceiling, 72
Independent Union, 315
Indexation, 316
cost-of-living index, 129
Indirect Workers, 320
Individual Rights see Employment
Protection Rights
Industrial Action, 322
see also Trade Dispute; Strike
blacking, 42
go-slow, 274
golden formula, 269
immunities, 304
occupation, 469
primary boycott, 53
secondary action, 616
secondary boycott, 53
sit-in, 649
slow down, 653
work to rule, 793
work-in, 799
Industrial Arbitration see Arbitration
Industrial Democracy, 326
Bullock Report, 62
workers' control, 795
workers' participation, 798

Industrial Dispute see Trade Dispute

Industrial Relations, 329
informality, 334
Industrial Tribunal, 331
and employment protection rights,
201
appeals from, 195
burden of proof, 63
compensation awards, 136
independent expert, 313
interim relief, 337
joinder, 359
protective award, 55
unfair dismissal, 750
Industrial Union, 725
Industry-Wide Agreement see
Collective Agreement
Information see Disclosure of
Information
Injunction see Legal Sanctions

Job

analysis, 349
banding, 31
centre see Employment Service
creation, 349
description, 349
deskilling, 146
dual job holding, 172
enrichment, 349
moonlighting see dual job holding
172
regulation, 353
segregation, 355
standard time, 674
Job Evaluation, 352
downgrading, 171
equal value amendment, 217
generic job titles, 266
grade creep, 275
Job Security, 354
core workforce, 125
new technology agreements, 459
Job Sharing, 356
part-time workers, 356
Labour Dispute see Trade Dispute
Labour Law, 378
see also Legal Sanctions
Labour Market
dual, 173
internal, 338
Labour Mobility, 379
see also Flexibility
mobility clause, 433
Lateness, 387
clocking, 86

256

National Insurance, 447

see also Social Security
National Training Task Force, 736
Nationalized Industry, 450
privatization, 539
shiftwork, 631
Negotiation, 454
breakdown f, 58
failure to agree, 229
negotiating machinery, 455
Networking see Telework
New Technology
agreements, 459
downgrading, 171
efficiency agreement, 180
job security, 354
technological unemployment, 748
telework, 713
Northern beland
appeals from Industrial Tribunals,
195
conciliation, 109
contract compliance, 117
Fair Employment Commission, 231
Industrial Court, 325
Labour Relations Agency, 382
political levy, 525
positive action, 528
religious discrimination, 589
religious monitoring, 590
social security, 656
third party intervention, 382
trade union recognition, 575
training, 736

Leave
maternity, 424
of absence, 393
paternity, 494
sick, 639
Legal Enactment, 395
Act of Parliament, 6
clause, 82
statute, 679
statutory right, 680
Legal Sanctions,
see also Labour Law
compensation, 106
contempt of court, 115
damages, 136
fine, 240
injunction, 336
sequestration, 115
Local Government, 404
collective bargaining, 404
contract compliance, 117
contracting out, 121
part time workers, 404
Local Enterprise Companies, 736
Lockout, 406
see also Strikebreaking
stoppage of work, 682
Lump see Sub-Contractor
Management see also Personnel
Management, 414
board, 415
development, 416
foreman (forewoman), 250
golden handshake, 270
industrial relations manager, 330
line management, 402
macho management, 413
managerial prerogative, 417
speed-up, 660
supervisor, 698
unilateral regulation, 751
Manual Worker, 422
multiunionism, 444
Marginal Workers see Atypical
Workers
Measured Daywork, 427
mutuality, 445
standard performance, 672
Mediation, 428
see also Third Party Intervention
Membership
Union, 487
Agreement see Closed Shop
Merger see Amalgamation

Occupational Illness see Health and

Safety
Occupational Pension, 471 see also
Retirement; State Pension
index-linked, 316
schemes as fringe benefit, 259
Occupational Union, 725
Open Union, 725
Outwork see Homework; SubContractor; Telework
Parental Leave see Maternity Leave;
Paternity Leave
Participation Rate see Activity Rate
Pay, 495
see also Earnings; Incentive Payment
System; Notice Periods; Salary;
Wage
ability to, 1
added value, 9
back pay, 29
banding, 31

257

basic, 495
catch-up increase, 70
ceiling, 72
claim, 81
comparability, 105
consolidation, 111
day, 467
differentials, 148
Equal Pay Act, 215
for measured daywork, 427
going rate, 268
grade creep, 275
gross pay, 495
guarantee pay, 495
incremental payment, 310
layoff pay, 388
lieu rate, 399
low pay, 408
maternity pay, 425
net pay, 495
overtime premium, 485
packet, 500
plussage, 521
premium pay, 495
rate for the job, 571
real earnings, 495
red circling, 579
relativities, 588
retrospective pay, 597
review body, 598
skill differential, 650
standard rate, 673
statement, 346
statutory sick pay, 640
strike pay, 688
take-home, 495
union rate, 762
Pay As You Earn, 496
Payment by Results, 505 see also
Incentive Payment System
ceiling, 72
piecework, 516
rate fixing, 570
standard performance, 672
work study, 792
Payment in Kind, 506
fringe benefits, 259
remuneration package, 591
Pension see Occupational Pension;
State Pension
Performance
appraisal, 18
learning curve, 393
standard, 672
standard time, 674
Peripheral Workers see Atypical
Workers

Personnel Management, 514

see also Human Resource
Management
Picketing, 515
Code of Practice, 90
secondary, 515
Piecework, 516
group, 284
rate cutting, 569
Plant, 517
bargaining, 36
Price Index see Cost-of-Living Index
Prices and Incomes Policy see
Incomes Policy
Private Sector, 538
see also Privatization
third party intervention, 718
Privatization, 539
see also Denationalization; Private
Sector
of nationalized industries, 450
Procedures, 542
appeals procedure, 17
Production
distancing, 165
just-in-time, 371
Productivity
added value, 9
agreements, 545
self-financing agreements, 621
Profit Sharing see Financial
Participation
Public Sector, 557
ability to pay, 1
appraisal, 18
borrowing requirement, 558
check-off, 78
civil servant, 80
collective bargaining, 557
comparability, 105
incomes policy, 309
incremental payment, 310
industrial action, 309
nationalized industry, 450
privatization, 539
productivity agreements, 557
public services, 559
public utility, 560
relativities, 588
review body, 598
shop stewards, 635
third party intervention, 718
union density, 754
Public Services, 559
cash limits, 67

258

Qualification, 562
genuine occupational qualification,
267
of service, 116
Race Discrimination, 566
Commission for Racial Equality, 96
ethnic monitoring, 221
non-discrimination notice, 567
Recognition, 575
de-recognition, 144
Recruitment and Selection, 578
blacklist, 44
employment agency, 194
union recruitment, 763
Redundancy, 581 see also Dismissal
consultation, 581
golden handshake, 270
last in first out, 385
pay, 581
protective award, 552
Registered Unemployment, 748
Reinstatement see Re-Employment
Religious Discrimination, 589
religious monitoring, 590
Remuneration Package, 591 see also
Payment in Kind
fringe benefits, 259
private health schemes, 537
Restrictive Practices, 593
demarcation, 140
featherbedding, 235
overmanning, 483
rate cutting, 569
Retail Prices Index see Cost-of-Living
Index
Retirement, 596 see also Occupational
Pension; State Pension
lump sum, 412
Right to Associate/Disassociate see
Freedom of Association
Right to Strike, 602
immunities, 304
Safety see Health and Safety
Salary, 608
see also Pay; Wage
review body, 598
Seasonal Unemployment, 748
Seasonal Worker, 615
casual work, 68
Self-Employment, 620
atypical workers, 26
contract for services, 620
contractor, 122
franchising, 254
freelance worker, 257

Seniority, 623
last in first out, 385
promotion ladder, 551
Sequestration see Legal Sanctions
Severance Pay see Redundancy
Service Sector, 626
labour intensive industry, 377
part-time worker, 491
public services, 559
self-employment, 620
temporary worker, 714
training, 735
Sex Discrimination, 158
Shiftwork, 631
twilight shift, 745
Shop Floor, 632
agreement, 92
bargaining, 36
Shop Stewards, 635
combine committee, 95
convenor, 124
time-off rights, 720
Sickness,
benefit, 641
private health schemes, 537
sick leave, 639
sick pay schemes, 640
statutory sick pay, 640
Skilled Union, 725
Social Security, 656
see also National Insurance; Welfare
benefits, 40
child benefit, 656
income support, 308
industrial injury benefit, 328
sickness benefit, 641
state pension, 676
statutory sick pay, 640
supplementary benefit, 308
unemployment benefit, 748
Staff, 663
association, 664
management, 402
manning level, 668
representative, 666
status, 667
State Pension, 676
retirement, 596
Strike, 683
see also Industrial Action; Right to
Strike; Summary Dismissal;
Trade Dispute
ballot, 684
blackleg, 43
constitutional strike, 683
industrial action, 322
injunction, 336

259

official strike, 683

pay, 688
picketing, 515
political strike, 683
scab, 609
stoppage of work, 682
token strike, 722
unconstitutional strike, 683
unofficial strike, 683
walkout, 784
wildcat strike, 683
Strikebreaking, 686
see also Lockout
Structural Unemployment, 748
Sub-Contractor, 692
see also Contractor
contract compliance, 117
contracting out, 121
distancing, 165
labour-only subcontracting, 692
lump see labour-only sub-contracting
692
numerical flexibility, 246
union-only clauses, 760
Summary Dismissal, 696
disciplinary rules, 155
gross misconduct, 696
of striker, 689
Superannuation see Occupational
Pension
Supervisor, 698
first-line supervisor, 250
Taxation see Pay As You Earn
Technological Unemployment, 748
Telework, 713 see also Homeworker
Temporary Worker, 714
short term contract, 636
Terms and Conditions (of
Employment), 716
bargaining scope, 36
harmonization, 288
statement of, 677
Tertiary Sector see Service Sector
Third Party Intervention, 718
see aho Arbitration; Conciliation;
Mediation
bilateral reference, 41
Trade Dispute, 724
see also Industrial Action; Strike
golden formula, 269
immunities, 304
inter-union disputes, 340
lockout, 406
picketing, 515
secondary action, 616
without prejudice offer, 790

Trade Union, 725

see also Union Government; Union
Structure; Staff Association
affiliation, 756
amalgamation, 14
and corporate status, 126
bona fide union, 51
check-off, 78
claim, 81
closed shop, 87
contempt of court, 115
contracting out, 121
contribution, 727
damages, 136
density, 754
de-recognition, 144
dilution, 149
dues, 727
facilities (for trade union
representatives), 226
fine, 240
freedom of association, 256
independent union, 315
injunction, 336
inter-union disputes, 340
joinder, 359
jurisdiction dispute, 370
liability, 730
membership agreement, 87
merger, 14
paid-up member, 487
poaching, 522
political fund, 525
rank and file, 568
rate, 762
recognition, 575
recognition-only clauses, 760
recognized union, 575
recruitment, 763
rights, 764
sequestration, 115
single channel, 643
splinter union, 57
subscription, 727
transfer of engagement, 738
union-only clauses, 760
Trade Union Congress, 733
see also Bridlington Agreement
Disputes Committee, 164
General Secretary, 263
Independent Review Committee, 314
Training, 735
see also Employment Training;
Training Agency; Youth Training
apprenticeship, 735
core workforce, 125
off/on the job training, 735

260

Training Agency, 736

see also Employment Training;
Training; Youth Training
Transfer of Undertaking, 739
consultation over, 114
Turnover see Labour Turnover
Unfair Dismissal, 750 see also
Dismissal, Wrongful Dismissal
compensation, 106
discipline procedure, 156
jurisdiction of Industrial Tribunal,
750
re-employment for, 584
service qualification, 116
Union Government, 756
see also Trade Union
ballot, 30
block vote, 46
branch, 54
certification, 74
chapel, 76
disputes committee, 164
executive committee, 223
father (or mother) of the chapel, 234
full-time official, 260
general secretary, 263
lay official, 390
rule book, 605
shop stewards, 635
vote by show of hands, 777
Union Structure, 766
see also Trade Union
Vertical Union, 773
Voting see Ballot
Wage, 778
see also Pay; Salary
across-the-board increase, 5

leap-frogging, 391
minimum, 431
tapering, 706
Wages Council, 780
Agricultural Wages Board, 12
Wages Inspectorate, 781
Wages Policy see Incomes Policy
Walkout see Strike
Welfare, 786
see also Social Security
White Collar Union, 725
Women
employed in local government, 404
equal value amendment, 217
in the service sector, 626
job segregation, 355
maternity leave, 424
occupational pension, 471
part-time workers, 355
retirement, 596
self-employment, 620
Youth Training Schemes, 355
Workers' Participation, 798
see also Employee Involvement
Working Hours, 800
annualised hours, 16
flexible, 247
overtime, 485
premium pay, 495
unsocial hours, 495
Wrongful Dismissal, 807 see also
Dismissal, Unfair Dismissal
damages for, 807
in breach of contract, 55
Young Workers, 808
see also Apprenticeship; Youth
Training
youth unemployment, 748

261

General Editor: Tiziano Treu, Professor of Labour Law, Catholic

University of Milan
Coordinating Editor for the English language volumes: Michael
Terry, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations, U niversity of Warwick
The introduction of the Single European Market and the moves
toward full economic and political integration in the European
Community demand that issues of employment law, industrial rela
tions and the labour markets of the 12 member States are under
stood by all involved at national and international levels.
This series of Glossaries has been developed by the European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
Each volume is devoted to a single member State, and provides
clear explanations of the various specialist terms and the context in
which they are used. The individual volumes provide a commen
tary and guide to key issues and concepts. Each volume includes
an introductory background to the main aspects of the relevant
national system. The glossary entries are crossreferenced through
out and the texts are supplemented by selected statistical tables and
bibliographies.
Both employers and employees and their representatives, practi
tioners and advisers will need to consult these Glossaries, espe
cially in the context of transnational operations and the free move
ment of workers within the European Community. In addition,
academics and students of law, economics, sociology and politics
will find the series an invaluable aid to their studies in this impor
tant subject, as will translators and journalists.

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