Consultation at Work

The practice of consultation between senior managers and employee representatives has a long history in British employment relations yet has often been overshadowed by discussions on collective bargaining. In the last few decades, the importance of consultation has been elevated by two main trends: the decline in trade union membership and the retreat from collective bargaining in the private sector on the one hand, with the result that consultation may be the only form of collective employee voice available; and the programme of legislative support for consultation by the European Union since the 1970s on the other. The book charts the meaning and development of consultation in the twentieth century and explores the justifications for the practice. It shows how EU intervention to promote consultation evolved and changed, paying particular attention to the adoption of the Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Regulations, which became fully operational in enterprises with 50 or more employees in 2008. Analysing the half-hearted response to EU consultation initiatives by the social partners in Britain, it provides a critical assessment of successive UK governments' handling of the issue. Drawing on the authors' empirical research in twenty-five organizations, the book closely examines the take-up and impact of consultation regulations, and explores the processes involved in effective consultation. Consultation at Work looks at the dynamics of consultation and draws a contrast between 'active' consultation of the type envisaged by the EU, and more limited consultation used as a means of communication. Discussing the UK experience in comparative perspectives, it asks what has to happen for the take-up of consultation to improve and suggests the changes that should be made to the EU Directive and UK ICE Regulations. In the book, [the authors] convincingly argue the case for government, employers, and trade unions ... taking a more positive attitude towards this institution. They situate consultation in its historical context in the UK ...; explain the drivers behind the European Community's desire to generalise the institution at the turn of the century; and examine the British government's tepid transposition of the EU rules. Above all, they present the results of their own research on the impact of the EU rules in the UK to date and make powerful suggestions for a reassessment of the value of consultation, on the part of both domestic government and trade unions. A book to be studied with close attention by those interested in the future of the collective representation of workers towards their employers in a time of declining union membership and shrinking collective bargaining coverage. Paul L. Davies QC (hon), FBA, Allen & Overy Professor of Corporate Law, University of Oxford Consultation at Work is a worthy successor to the long line of classic monographs produced by members of the Industrial Relations Research Unit at the University of Warwick. It is a definitive study that presents invaluable original research, sets it in a policy and intellectual context, and advances our understanding of the process and significance of employee voice in the contemporary workplace. The writing of books of this kind has become less common amongst Industrial Relations scholars but Consultation at Work demonstrates the continuing value of this form of academic output. It is a work of immense scholarship that provides an integrated analysis of its subject and of which its authors can be justly proud. Edmund Heery, Professor of Employment Relations, Cardiff Business School The publication of this exceptional work could not be better timed - especially with the added interest being shown in the whole concept of consultation at work and its crucial linkage to Employee Engagement. Written by two of the most talented academics working in the field of British Employment Relations, the book provides a crisp analysis, and sometimes sorry history of consultation in British workplaces. I would recommend this book as compulsory-reading for CEO's, Trade Union General Secretaries, policy makers and politicians alike. Mark Hall and John Purcell provide not only analysis and history but crucial and gentle prescription of how consultation at work could be improved. Ed Sweeney, Chair, ACAS As the country struggles to escape from the current financial crisis, caused at least in part by rising inequality and poor boardroom behaviour, this illuminating and authoritative book on consultation shows there are better ways to run a firm and the UK economy. This is a must read for ministers, managers and trade unionists. Lord John Monks, Former General Secretary, TUC and European TUC1. Consultation at Work: Competing Agendas, Differing Expectations ; 2. Justifications for Consultation ; 3. Legislating for Employee Consultation: the Significance of EU-level Regulation ; 4. Half-hearted Regulation in the UK ; 5. The Take-up and Impact of Statutory Consultation ; 6. The Practice of Consultation ; 7. The Dynamics of Consultation ; 8. The Future of Consultation ; Appendix