The Employment Act 1980 (c 42) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
, passed under the first term of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
's premiership and mainly relating to
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
s.
Overview
It restricted the definition of lawful
picketing
Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pick ...
'strictly to those who were themselves party to the dispute and who were picketing at the premises of their own employer'.
It also introduced ballots on the existence of
closed shops
A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fro ...
, and at least 80% of the workers in a particular industry need to support them for their maintenance.
See also
*
UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...
Notes
References
*B A Hepple, Paul O'Higgins and Lord Wedderburn of Charlton. Sweet & Maxwell's Labour Relations Statutes and Materials. Second Edition. Sweet & Maxwell. London. 1983. . pp 446–457.
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United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1980
United Kingdom labour law
Trade union legislation
1980 in labor relations