The Employment Relations Act 2004 (c 24) 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 suprem ...

which amended UK law regarding

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 ...

membership and

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increa ...

. The Act also enabled the UK government to make funds available to trade unions and federations of trade unions to modernise their operations.

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is an agency of the European Union which focuses on managing research, gathering information, and communicating its findings. It was set up in May 1975 by t ...

Employment Relations Act 2004 begins to come into force
published 7 November 2004, accessed 4 January 2020

Part 1

Section 21

This section inserts section 210A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.For the meaning of "the 1992 Act" in this Act, see section 56 of this Act.

Section 24 - Inducement of members not accorded entitlement to vote

Section 24(2) was repealed by paragraph 21(c) of Schedule 4 to the Trade Union Act 2016.

Part 2

Section 28

Section 28(2) inserts section 238B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Part 3

Section 29

This section inserts sections 145A to 145F of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Section 40

Section 40(1) inserts section 43M of the

Employment Rights Act 1996 The Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament passed by the Conservative government to codify existing law on individual rights in UK labour law. History Previous statutes, dating from the Contracts of Employmen ...

. Section 40(3) inserts section 98B of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Section 41 - Flexible working

Sections 41(1) and (2) are prospectively repealed by section 148 of, and Part 1 of Schedule 11 to, the

Pensions Act 2008 The Pensions Act 2008c 30 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The principal change brought about by the Act is that all workers will have to opt out of an occupational pension plan of their employer, rather than opt in. A second ...

Section 42 - Information and consultation: Great Britain

The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004
(SI 2004/3426) were made under this section. Section 42(5) is repealed by paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Employment Rights (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/535).

Section 43 - Information and consultation: Northern Ireland

Section 43(5) was repealed by paragraph 4(2) of the Employment Rights (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/537).

Part 4

Section 44

This section inserts section 16A of the

National Minimum Wage Act 1998 The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 creates a minimum wage across the United Kingdom.. E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law'' (Hart 2019) ch 6(1) From 1 April 2022 this was £9.50 for people age 23 and over, £9.18 for 21- to 22-year-olds, £6 ...

Sections 45 and 46

These sections were repealed on 6 April 2009 by section 20 of, and Part 2 of the Schedule to, the Employment Act 2008. Section 46(1) inserted sections 22A to 22F of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

Section 47 - Enforcement officers for agricultural wages legislation

This section was repealed as to England on 1 October 2013 by section 72(4) of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 20 to, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Section 47(1) inserted section 11A of the

Agricultural Wages Act 1948 {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Agricultural Wages Act 1948c 47 was a UK Act of Parliament under which the Agricultural Wages Board regulated the amount that farm workers were paid, in order to guarantee a fair minimum wage scale, depending, ...

Part 5

Section 48

This section inserts section 256ZA of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Section 50

Section 50(2) inserts sections 101A and 101B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Part 6

Section 55

Section 55(1) inserts section 116A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Part 7

Section 57

Section 57(1) gives effect to Schedule 1. Section 57(2) gives effect to Schedule 2.

Section 58

The Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (SI 2004/3078) (NI 19) was made under paragraph 1(1) of the Schedule to

Northern Ireland Act 2000 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

as modified by section 58 of the Employment Relations Act 2004. The Order makes similar provision to the Employment Relations Act 2004, except sections 43 to 46, for Northern Ireland.SI 2004/3078 (NI 19)
/ref>

Section 59 - Citation, commencement and extent

The following orders have been made under this section:
The Employment Relations Act 2004 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2004
(S.I. 2004/2566 (C. 108))
The Employment Relations Act 2004 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2004
(S.I. 2004/3342 (C. 156))
The Employment Relations Act 2004 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/872 (C. 36))
The Employment Relations Act 2004 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/2419 (C. 100))

Schedule 1 -Minor and consequential amendments

Paragraph 1 was repealed by paragraph 2 of Schedule 20 to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. Paragraph 14 was repealed by paragraph 21(c) of Schedule 4 to the Trade Union Act 2016.

Reception

According to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC), the Act contains 'significant union victories'. The TUC's then general secretary,

Brendan Barber Sir Brendan Paul Barber (born 3 April 1951) is a British trade union official. He served as chair of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Council until 2020. He is a former general secretary of the United Kingdom's Trades Uni ...

welcomed the law, noting that "Staff will have to be given information and be consulted over major changes to the business, as they currently are in Britain’s best companies. Trade unions will be able to recruit members in an environment free of underhand, US-style

union-busting Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...

activities and will find it easier the exclude and expel far-right activists in breach of union rules. The union modernisation fund the ctestablishes will enable unions to modernise in the same way the government has helped businesses adapt to grow in the modern economy."

References

*"Employment Relations Act 2004". Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition Reissue. Volume 16. Title "Employment". *"Employment Relations Act 2004". Current Law Statutes 2004. Sweet & Maxwell. London. W Green. Edinburgh. 2004
Volume 2
Chapter 24. *Smith and Baker. Smith & Wood's Employment Law. Eleventh Edition. Oxford University Press. 2013. Page
10
11, 629, 639, 642, 644, 648, 667, 668, 671, 692, 699, 700, 708, 735, 739, 740, 744 and 748. *Upex, Benny and Hardy. Employment Law. (Core Text Series). Third Edition. Oxford University Press. 2009. Paragraphs 12.1 to 12.4, 12.36, 13.19, 13.24 and 14.23 at page
411
to 413, 423, 429, 435, 437, 451, and 460. *Honeyball & Bowers' Textbook on Employment Law. Thirteenth Edition. Oxford University Press. 2014. Page
11
122, 343, 404 and 441. *Emir (ed). Selwyn's Law of Employment. Seventeenth Edition. Oxford Unibersity Press. 2012. Paragraphs 21.49 and 23.48 at page
598
and 649. *Deborah Lockton. Employment Law. (Cavendish Q&A series). Fourth Edition. Cavendish Publishing. 2006. Page
16
177, 179, 221 and 229. *Galbraith's Building and Land Management Law for Students. Sixth Edition. Butterworth-Heinemann. 2011
Page 226

External links

The Employment Relations Act 2004
as amended from the National Archives.
The Employment Relations Act 2004
as originally enacted from the National Archives.
Explanatory notes
to the Employment Relations Act 2004. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2004 United Kingdom labour law British trade unions history Trade union legislation