Service Level Agreement 2024-2025 –Southampton Schools – Trade Unions

Introduction

This Service Specification covers the statutory provision for trade union facilities time and time off for trade union duties. The budget relating to Trade Union (TU) facilities time was previously held centrally and is now given to schools and by buying into this service, the cost of releasing staff and backfilling teachers that are TU reps, including Health and Safety (H&S), casework and training will be covered. The aim is that this is a cost-effective way for all schools to share the cost and gain the benefit of having access to TU reps for your staff.

This service has been established to fund trade union duties per annum as detailed within the Trade Union Facilities Agreement (Teaching). This service is offered to all Southampton schools to provide a pool of local Southampton Union Officers and to fund School Representatives and Health & Safety Representative’s release and training, as set out in the facilities agreement

Statutory duties

Rights to Paid Time Off: The statutory provisions on time off for trade union representatives are contained in sections 168-170 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A), section 10 Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977.

In summary the statutory rights provide for:

• Paid time off for union representatives to accompany a worker to a disciplinary or grievance hearing
• Paid time off for union representatives to carry out trade union duties
• Paid time off for union representatives to attend union training
• Paid time off for union ‘learning reps’ to carry out relevant learning activities
• Paid time off for health and safety representatives to perform their functions.

Time off to accompany – A union representative who has been certified by the Union as having experience of, or as having received training in, acting as a worker’s companion at disciplinary of grievance hearings, has a right to take reasonable time off to accompany a worker to a disciplinary or grievance hearing.

Time off for other trade union duties - Legislation does not specify precisely how much time off should be provided, only that it should be ‘reasonable’.

Under the TULR(C)A, an accredited trade union representative is an employee who has been elected, or appointed, in accordance with the rules of the union, to be a representative of all, or some, of the union’s members who work for that employer.

Section 169 of the TULR(C)A 1992 states that an employer who permits representatives time off for trade union duties must pay them for the time taken.

In addition to the right to time off to accompany to hearings, Section 168 allows time off for duties concerned with negotiations with the employer on collective issues relating to the following matters:

• Terms and conditions of employment, or physical working conditions
• Engagement or non-engagement, or termination or suspension of employment or the duties of employment, of one or more workers
• Matters of discipline
• Facilities for officials of trade unions
• Negotiations under TUPE

S168(2) TULR(C)A provides that union representatives are to be permitted reasonable time off during working hours to undergo training.

S168 (A) TULR(C)A provides that an employer must allow reasonable (paid) time off for a union learning representative to carry out activities.

In addition to the provisions in TULR(C)A, the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 regulation 4(2)(a) requires that employers allow union health and safety representatives paid time, as is necessary, during working hours, to perform their functions, including:

• Investigation of potential hazards and dangerous occurrences/accidents at work
• Investigate members complaints regarding health, safety or welfare at work
• Making representations to the employer on the above
• Carry out health and safety inspections
• Representing members in workplace consultations with the enforcing authorities including HSE inspectors
• Receiving information from HSE inspectors
• Attend safety committee meeting in their capacity as safety representative

Pricing

The full year cost of the service for 2024-2025 is £3.84 per pupil.

Service Contact

Schools should make application to the SCC HR Team to seek a transfer of funding to the school of a named representative who would then be covered for time off. All queries should be addressed to:

Katia Pothecary
HR Operations Lead, Southampton City Council
katia.pothecary@southampton.gov.uk