United Kingdom
Key Facts
| Population | 62,008,000 |
|---|---|
| Collective Bargaining Coverage | 33% |
| Proportion of Employees in Unions | 28% |
| Principal Level of Collective Bargaining |
company |
| Workplace Representation |
union |
| Board-level Representation |
no |
| Company Board Structure |
monistic |
Trade Union
At present something over a quarter (27%) of UK employees are union members, although union density is much higher in the public sector (57%) than the private sector (15 %). There is only one union confederation in the UK, the TUC, and individual unions are fully independent. Around 60% of all UK trade unionists in the TUC are in the three largest unions, which have grown through mergers.
more ...Collective Bargaining
Only a third (33%) of employees in the UK are covered by collective bargaining. In the private sector coverage is lower at just under a fifth and the key bargaining level is the company or the workplace. In the public sector, where two-thirds of employees are covered, industry level bargaining is more important.
more ...Workplace Representation
There is no common structure for employee representation in the UK and in many workplaces it does not exist. Unions are the most common way that employees are represented and they can now legally compel the employer to deal with them, but only if they have sufficient support. Most non-union workplaces have no employee representation, and the regulations implementing the EU directive on information and consultation have not changed this.
more ...Board-level Representation
UK employees have no statutory right to representation at board level and, with a tiny handful of exceptions, this has also been the case in practice.
more ...European-level Representation
UK representatives on most of the bodies linked to European Works Council and the European Company are to be elected by the whole workforce, unless there is an existing body which has already been elected by the whole workforce, which then has appointment rights. But the UK government has chosen not to draw up specific rules on the choice of UK members of some of the European Company structures, leaving the choice to lower level representative bodies.
more ...Health and Safety
The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations, adopted in 1977, provide that if the employer recognises a trade union and if that union has appointed or plans to appoint safety reps, the employer must consult those safety reps on issues affecting the group or groups of workers they represent, which may include non-unionised workers.
more ...Financial Participation
The first employee financial participation schemes were not introduced into Great Britain until the end of the 1970’s, even though the debate on profit-sharing and employee share ownership had started long before (though not always in focus). The Labour Party, employer associates and trade unions were united in their opposition to any form of employee financial participation up till the end of the 1970’s. By contrast, the Liberal Party, later followed by the Conservatives, lobbied for profit-sharing and employee share ownership in companies and were finally successful in winning over their erstwhile opponents. The importance, especially of employee share ownership, grew from the start of the Thatcher era, initially in connection with the privatisation of state-owned industries and companies. Since then a number of different employee financial participation schemes have developed.
more ...