Employees have a legal right to be informed and consulted about issues at work if the company or organisation has 50 or more employees.
Employees’ rights
Employees must:
be told about plans and decisions
be consulted, eg give their opinion on changes in working conditions
ask for a formal agreement that sets out the process
The request for a formal agreement must be made by at least 15 employees or 10% of employees, whichever number is greater.
What employers must do
If a formal agreement exists you must inform and consult employees about:
the economic situation of the business
job prospects
major changes in how work is organised
Even if there is not a formal agreement you must inform and consult employees about:
plans to sell the business or buy a new one
certain changes to an occupational or personal pension scheme
20 or more redundancies in any 90-day period at any single place of work
Set up a formal agreement
You must start negotiations no later than 3 months after a valid request has been made.
Negotiations can last for up to 6 months and can only be extended if both the employer and employee representatives agree.
The employer and employee representatives decide the issues to be covered by the agreement. But it must cover all the employees in the organisation.
Changing a pre-existing agreement
You must negotiate a new agreement if 40% or more of the workforce asks for an existing agreement to be changed.
You can hold a ballot to see if the employees support a request to change an agreement if more than 10% but less than 40% make the request.
Challenging a request
You must apply to the Central Arbitration Committee if you want to challenge a request.
After an agreement is in place you must make any complaints to the Central Arbitration Committee.
You also have the right to respond to complaints that you are:
not complying with an agreement
asking employees to keep information confidential without good reason
Please contact the Central Arbitration Committee: enquiries@cac.gov.uk for the necessary forms.
Find out more about the regulations
The full regulations are in the guide for employers and employees on the information and consultation of employees.
Contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) for further guidance.