The Employee Relations Act of 1999
The Employee Relations Act of 1999 is a legislative act of the United Kingdom's Parliament. It amended the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act and introduced new employment law provisions. The aim of the act was to support a flexible and fair labor market in the U.K. Many of the provisions in the Employment Relations Act relate to collective bargaining and trade union membership. Other provisions involve family and domestic leave and strengthen the rights of working parents. The act came into force on July 27, 1999.
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Trade Unions
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The Employee Relations Act introduced a new statutory procedure for the recognition of trade unions in the collective bargaining process. Schedule A1 of the act sets out the procedure whereby a trade union applies for recognition. The aim of the act was to balance the need for effective management against the rights of workers to have a union bargain collectively on their behalf. Section 16 of the act also created new protections against dismissal for employees engaged in official and lawful industrial action.
Family and Domestic Leave
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The Employee Relations Act extended existing maternity leave provisions to 18 weeks. It also introduced a period of 13 weeks' unpaid paternal leave, available to either the mother or the father of a child. One further new provision was time off for dependents. A dependent is a spouse, child, parent or another person who lives in the same house as the employee but is not a lodger. Section 57A entitled an employee to take time off in certain circumstances, including when a dependent falls ill or dies. The period of absence from work must be reasonable.
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Employment Outside Great Britain
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Before the Employment Relations Act of 1999, certain provisions of employment law did not apply to U.K. citizens who worked outside Great Britain. Section 32 of the act abolished this provision, and the application of employment rights became a matter of international private law. Broadly, international law states that in order to be protected by U.K. employment law, an employee must prove that there is a connection with Great Britain.
Review of the Act
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The government carried out a review of the Employment Relations Act in 2003. It concluded that the act was working well but recognized that various changes were required to bring the U.K. law into line with human rights laws. Many of the provisions of the 1999 act have since been amended by the Employment Act of 2002 and the Employment Relations Act of 2004.
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