Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations extend to small businesses

Because no two organisations are the same, the legislation deliberately allows flexibility when it comes to choosing how individual organisations inform and consult their employees.

For example, it provides scope for employees to be informed and consulted directly, or through employee representatives, or via a combination of both methods.

Why inform and consult your employees?

By sitting down with employees and their representatives, to keep them informed and hear what they have to say on issues that affect them, you're making your organisation a more inclusive place to work, where your employees feel valued.

Under what circumstances does the law apply?

The legislation will apply if at least 15 of your employees (for an organisation with between 50 and 99 employees) make a written request for Information and Consultation arrangements or you, as the employer, start negotiations for an I&C agreement. If this happens, you will need to make arrangements to allow the workforce to elect negotiating representatives and then negotiate an I&C agreement with those representatives.

What are the penalties for breach of an agreement?

Under the Regulations, a failure to inform and consult under either a negotiated agreement or the standard provisions can result in a complaint being taken to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC will take the steps it thinks are needed to put any breach right and on application, the Employment Appeal Tribunal can impose a financial penalty of up to £75,000. Pre-existing agreements are different. It is for the parties to the agreement to decide what should happen if there is any breach of the agreement.

There are five key points to be aware of if these Regulations apply to you:

• The Regulations set procedures which, if triggered, can lead to new arrangements to inform and consult your employees on key business issues.
  
  
• To trigger the procedures a valid employee request must be made by at least 10% of your employees (with a minimum of 15 employees). Alternatively you can start the process yourself.
  
  
• If you already have an information and consultation (I&C) agreement, there are provisions that enable it to continue as a pre-existing agreement (PEA), if it meets certain criteria.
  
  
• If an employee request is received and there is no valid PEA in place or the employees vote for new arrangements, then the employer and employee representatives must negotiate an I&C agreement.
  
  
• If negotiations do not take place when required to, or if you fail to reach an agreement on I&C arrangements, a fallback set of standard I&C provisions apply.

Download the Government's leaflet about implementing these new regulations in the workplace.