Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulation 2004Good communication is essential for the psychological contract between employers and employees. It develops a sense of belonging in the organisation and employees can see what they are working towards, apart from the pay cheque at the end of the month. They can also understand how much they have contributed to the organisation. For your employees to be involved in your business, you have to involve them. Open communications between all levels of staff. Think how your business operates communications at the moment. Is it on a need-to-know basis? Is communication from top to bottom i.e. Management make decisions and inform lower levels of staff?  Communication is essentail The ICE (Information and Consultation of Employees) Regulations 2004, currently affect organisations with 150 employees or more since April 2005. As of April 2007, it affects organisations with 100 or more employees and those with 50 or more employees will be affected from April 2008. In a nut shell, this means that employees will have the right to know more information about the organisation that they are working for. Employers will be obligated to keep all members of staff informed about the businesses economic activities, strategies, structure, employment and contractual relations. This can be done in a number of ways depending on the nature and size of the business. The recommended method for the standard provision is through the use of elected employee representatives. The Standard Provision states that employers must inform and consult with their workforce in the following areas: - Information on recent and probable developments of the undertaking or establishment's activities and economic situation.
- Information and consultation on the situation, structure and probable development of employment, any anticipatory measures that are envisaged, especially where there is a threat to employment.
- Information and consultation on decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation or contractual relations.
For those of you who have already recognised the benefits in good communications, existing and negotiated agreements can allow for information and consultation arrangements to be either direct (between managers and employees) or indirect (through employee representatives) or a combination of the two. Topics that should be discussed under 'recent and probable developments of the undertaking or establishment' will include: * profit and loss accounts
* sales performance
* productivity
* structure
* market developments
* strategic plans
'Contractual relations' or decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation may cover: * working time and practices
* training and development
* equal opportunities
* health, safety and environment
* pension and welfare issues
* merger and acquisition
* employment plans
* collective redundancies
* restructuring
* reorganisations
* data protection issues
* outsourcing
* pay
It is likely that several of these issues will be discussed at each meeting. It is advised that employers ensure that their information and consultation agreements specify these issues as they are all likely to be addressed at some point. If employers are concerned about any aspect of disclosing sensitive information, they can impose a duty of confidentiality on the employee representatives. However, this is only allowed in extreme circumstances.
Simple Corporate Resource Solutions are happy to assist you further with ICE regulations. We can help to create and implement an Information and Consultation of Employees policy in your organisation. Please click here to contact us. All our staff are fully qualified members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and we are happy to find a simple solution to meet your organisational needs. Disclaimer:
While every care has been taken in compiling these guidelines, Simple Corporate Resource Solutions cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions; the notes are not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice.
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