Consultation on the Employment Relations Law

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY COMMITTEE

BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2004

Question

1. The Employment Forum has recently sent out a consultation documentonthecodesof practice tobecreated under the proposedEmployment Relations Law. Will the President publish the full list of consultees initially contacted?
2. Is theCommittee satisfied that the proposed Law complies with therequirementsof Article 3 of the ILO Convention Number87on Freedom of Association, andof Article 8(1)(d) of the International Covenanton Economic and Social Rightsof the United Nations, which states that parties to the Covenant undertake to ensure "the rightto strike, provided it is exercised in conformitywiththelawsof the particular country"?
3. Is the Committeeprepared to make a reference to the ILO Committee of Experts to seek the view of the ILO before the proposed Lawis introduced, andwhat assurance can the President give to employees and their representatives on the Island over the protection oftheir current rights?

Answer

1. The consultation database belongs to the EmploymentForum. It hasbeenbuiltupduringthe five yearsofthe Forum's existence and consists of organisations and individuals who have been in contact with the Forum abouttheemployment legislation. Respondents are allowed to remainanonymous in their replies and it would clearly be inappropriate for the Committee to publish names.

T h e Forum uses the database to communicate with key interest groups and people, and as new ones respond

or come into contact with the Forum they are added to the list. There are currently around 120 individuals and organisations on the list from wide ranging perspectives, including employer associations and trade unions. However, I would add that the Forum's consultation and recommendation papers are also published on the Department's website and promoted through the media so that all other interested parties and members of the public may contribute.

2. The Committee is confident that the draft Law complies with Article 3 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention Number 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise. The Committee is required to prepare regular reports to the ILO on measures taken to give effectto the provisions of the Convention.Themost recent report, preparedin July 2004,outlined the backgroundto the developmentof the EmploymentRelations Law and its main aims, and informed the Committeeof Experts that draft legislation was beingpreparedand would bewidely consulted on in due course.

T h e proposed Law was never intended to conflict with common law principles or the associated conventions,

including Human Rights, to which the Island is a signatory, but is intended to improve industrial relations. As the Committee's Report to the States on Employment Relations Legislation' (RC.28/2002) pointed out, the intent is to underpin and support a cultural shift to collective bargaining in good faith' and also provide and encourage a speedy and effective dispute management process' whereby collective employment disputes may be resolved in a structured and supportive way.

3. Following the Committee's most recentresponse to the ILO on the applicationofConvention87, a draftof the Employment Relations Law has become available which the Committee is referring to the ILO Committee of Experts before it is brought into force, as is standard practice when developing new employment legislation. TheDepartment will continue to provideresponsesregarding the application of this Convention, asrequested by theILO.

I w ould add that the intention of this stage of the consultation period, (ending on 1st November), is to receive

views on the perceived impact and practical effect of the draft Law from a wide cross-section of the public and relevant bodies, so that the Committee may consider the full picture and develop certain aspects of the Law before presenting a draft to the States.

T h e Committee would encourage anyone who wishes to comment to respond as soon as possible because it is

our intention to debate the Employment Relations Law in time for it to come into force at the same time as the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003, on 1st April 2005.