Working with trade unions: employers
Collective bargaining
You鈥檒l need to work with unions to discuss changes to your employees鈥� terms and conditions. This is called 鈥榗ollective bargaining鈥�.
Collective bargaining covers the terms and conditions of workers in a defined 鈥榖argaining unit鈥�. This can include all employees in a workplace or just certain groups of workers, for example technicians.
It鈥檚 up to you and the union to agree on which terms and conditions are covered, but it鈥檚 usually things like pay, holiday, and working hours.
Running collective bargaining
Employers and unions need to work out how to run collective bargaining, for example:
- who鈥檒l represent the workers
- who鈥檚 included in a bargaining unit
- when and how often meetings will happen
- what to do if more than one union is recognised
- what will be discussed
- what to do if the union and employer cannot come to an agreement
Information to help with collective bargaining
Employers must give certain information to the union to help it with the bargaining process, for example the company鈥檚 pay and benefits structure or information about its profits, assets and liabilities.
Read the .
Collective agreements
If collective bargaining leads to an agreement, for example about a pay increase or change in working conditions, it鈥檚 called a 鈥榗ollective agreement鈥�.