Written by Admin | 24 Sep 2024
What is facility time?
In 1975 the Employment Protection Act was introduced, including a statutory right to paid time off for trade union representatives to undertake training and “duties”. The Act also gave Acas the responsibility for publishing Codes of Practice containing practical guidance to promote positive industrial relations. The statutory right to paid off and various editions of the Code of Practice have been in place ever since. In addition to guidance around the provision of facility time, the Acas Code of Practice contains guidance around the provision of certain other facilities intended to assist trade union representatives in discharging their duties. These might include accommodation, access to a telephone, secure storage, confidential space to speak with members and access to members working at another location. Generally, the details of all facilities (including facility time) are contained within a “Facilities Agreement” or a “Trade Union Recognition Agreement”.
Who must provide facilities time?
All employers are under a statutory obligation to provide facility time for all trade union representatives from recognised trade unions with reasonable paid time off for undertaking trade union duties. Trade union representatives and members also have a statutory right to reasonable unpaid time off for undertaking trade union activities.
What are trade union duties?
Trade union duties are undertaken by accredited trade union representatives and are defined in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) Section 168. Acas also publish a statutory Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities. Examples of trade union duties include:
- negotiating (subject to the trade union recognition or other agreement)
- supporting union members in relation to disciplinary or grievance proceedings including attending meetings
- supporting union members with the process and attendance at meetings for formal sickness absence/capability
- supporting union members with flexible working requests and attending formal meetings
- involved in discussion such as TUPE and redundancy/restructure which will affect union members.
What are trade union activities?
An employee who is a member of an independent trade union recognised by the employer is permitted to reasonable time off during working hours to take part in any trade union activity. An employee who is a member of an independent and recognised trade union is also permitted to take reasonable time off during working hours for the purposes of accessing the services of a Union Learning Representative (provided those services are services for which the Union Learning Representative is entitled to time off). Examples of trade union activities of a trade union member include:
- attending workplace meetings to discuss and vote on the outcome of negotiations with the employer. Where relevant, and with the employer's agreement, this can include attending such workplace meetings at the employer's neighbouring locations
- meeting full-time officers to discuss issues relevant to the workplace
- voting in union elections
- having access to services provided by a Union Learning Representative.
What is reasonable time off?
Reasonable time off is not defined in the legislation nor the Acas Code. The DfE guidance
DfE advice template (publishing.service.gov.uk) suggests:
‘trade union representatives should be grounded in classroom practice, and should spend more than 50% of their time in the classroom. Most school union representatives, who represent members in a single school, do not request any time off for trade union duties during their teaching time.’ Consideration should also be given to non-teaching support staff union representatives receiving time off on the same basis. What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances and are advised to consider treating the case for each individual trade union representative case on its own merits.
Is the DfE document “Advice on trade facility time” a statutory document?
This document is non-statutory advice, and therefore, employers and school leaders are not required to follow it but should have regard to it, specifically in relation to the recommendation to ensure that facility time arrangements are recorded in writing and regularly reviewed.
What are “Pooled Facility Time Arrangements”?
Funding for facility time is delegated to schools (maintained, academies and free schools). Within a maintained school the local authority can propose to hold a portion of funding centrally (de-delegate) which are referred to as “Pooled Facility Time Arrangements”. Local authorities cannot de-delegate funds from academies, but several will allow academies to contribute to pooled arrangements if they choose to.
How is facility time within pooled arrangements distributed between trade unions?
It should outline in a pooled arrangement how much facility time each recognised trade union is entitled to or how facility time will be calculated and allocated. Each recognised trade union will be entitled to nominate a trade union representative from any contributing employer, and the employer should be able to claim the cost of the representative’s release back from the pooled arrangements. The arrangements for a pooled arrangement would normally be formed within a local agreement outlining the terms of reclaiming costs. Employers have a statutory obligation to provide facility time; they do not have a statutory right to recover the full costs necessarily, and this will depend on the local agreement.
Do employers have to provide “Pooled Facility Time Arrangements”?
All employers must provide facility time, whether a pooled arrangement is in operation or not. Where the local authority does not operate any pooled arrangements, schools should negotiate appropriate written agreements locally to ensure they meet their statutory obligations. Where the employer does not contribute to pooled arrangement the requirement remains to outlined how the employer will meet its statutory obligations.
What are the advantages of paying into “Pooled Facility Time Arrangements”?
Pooled arrangements mean that multiple schools can share the cost of trade union representatives between themselves. Without such arrangements, each employer must allow paid time off for representatives from every teaching and support staff union, including training time which can be costly for employers and escalate rapidly. Consideration would need to be given in relation to the cost-effectiveness of pooled arrangements against any internal agreement concerning facilities time to meet the statutory requirement. Schools will also generally find access to a more experienced local trade union representative within a pooled arrangement, which may help resolve issues at an early stage, often informally.