Trade union facility time and facilities are the time and resources (such as computers, telephones, photocopiers, access to meeting and/or office rooms) that trade unions negotiate from employers so that they are able to properly represent members, individually and collectively, at work. Some of this time is covered by ACAS Codes of Practice and other Regulations - particularly in the area of Health and Safety - and is an enforceable right. Much of a representatives ‘facility time’ however is a result of collective agreements reached between the union and employers.
There are 6.5million trade union members and around 200,000 carry out representative duties at a workplace level. They carry out a wide range of often complex and demanding activities including; providing informal advice to their colleagues; formally representing members in grievance and disciplinary hearings; negotiating with managers. Many also carry out specialist roles in respect of improving health and safety at work, increasing access to learning and skills, improving equality and diversity in the workplace and making workplaces more environmentally friendly.
Despite the portrayal in sections of the media, there is a relatively tightly drawn set of duties for which union representatives receive paid time off for. These include; negotiating with employers, representing members, performing accredited Health and Safety representative duties and accredited Union Learning Representative (ULR) duties.
While there is no obligation for employers to provide paid time off for union representatives to take part in union business it is not uncommon for this to happen across both the public and private sectors. These activities support the role of the workplace union rep and include; taking part in the union’s democratic and decision making structures, attending workplace meetings to discuss union negotiations with employers, meeting with union officers to discuss workplace issues.
Many union reps, despite receiving some paid time off, find this is often insufficient to carry out all of their trade union duties and contribute their own unpaid time.
• The TUC and the then Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, now BIS) have collected a great deal of information about how trade union representatives time does break down. A BERR review found that the average amount of time taken by a senior union representative was just over 10 hours a week.
While there is no obligation for employers to provide paid time off for union representatives to take part in union business it is not uncommon for this to happen across both the public and private sectors. These activities support the role of the workplace union rep and include; taking part in the union’s democratic and decision making structures, attending workplace meetings to discuss union negotiations with employers, meeting with union officers to discuss workplace issues.
Many union reps, despite receiving some paid time off, find this is often insufficient to carry out all of their trade union duties and contribute their own unpaid time.
• The TUC and the then Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, now BIS) have collected a great deal of information about how trade union representatives time does break down. A BERR review found that the average amount of time taken by a senior union representative was just over 10 hours a week.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary, at the 2011 Tory party conference in Manchester Francis Maude argued that “the support [trade unions] get from the taxpayer has got way out of hand. Just in the Civil Service alone this so-called facility time is costing no less than £30 million a year... We can’t go on like this. That’s why I’m announcing today that we’re consulting on limiting the time civil servants can spend on trade union work and on ending the employment of full time union officials at the taxpayer's expense”.
His speech drew on a report from the right wing Taxpayers Alliance and ignored evidence published by BERR that trade union facility time is a business benefit.
That BERR report, in 2007, found that trade union reps facilities and facility time resulted in;
That BERR report, in 2007, found that trade union reps facilities and facility time resulted in;
- £22m-£43m savings for employers and the Treasury from reducing the number of Employment Tribunal cases;
- £136m-£371m benefits to society through reducing working days lost due to workplace injury;
- £45m-£207m benefits to society as a result of reducing work related illness.
The TUC have updated this information, using the same formulae as the original report but with updated figures. This found that it could reasonably be estimated that the work of trade union reps also results in;
- Overall productivity gains worth between £4bn to £12bn to the UK economy;
- Savings of at least £19m from reduced dismissals;
- Savings to employers of between £82m-£143m in recruitment costs as a result of reducing early exits.
Despite the rhetoric from Cameron and his cabinet of multimillionaires, the overwhelming majority of good employers view trade union representatives as a positive influence on their businesses.
