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ARTICLE · 26 JUNE 2019

Unionised Workforces & Varying Contractual Terms

Gowling WLG
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Employers with unionised workforces will welcome the Court of Appeal's judgment in Kostal UK Ltd v Mr D Dunkley and Others in which it held that laws on unlawful inducement

United KingdomEmployment and HR
Connie Cliff
Connie Cliff
Jane Fielding
Jane Fielding
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Employers with unionised workforces will welcome the Court of Appeal's judgment in Kostal UK Ltd v Mr D Dunkley and Others in which it held that laws on unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining do not give trade unions a veto over any changes being agreed directly with the workforce.

Here we consider the first Court of Appeal judgment on just what is and is not within the scope of the unlawful inducement statutory provisions and what this means for employers with unionised workforces.

Lawful variation or unlawful inducement?

If the source of a contractual employment term is a collective agreement with a trade union, then the obvious mechanism for change will be to seek the trade union's agreement to that change. Where the trade union's agreement to the proposed change cannot be reached, is it possible to seek agreement directly from the employees?

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