4. Right to time off
An employer must allow some employee representatives reasonable paid time off from their usual work. This is so they can carry out certain duties.
This advice is about non-union employee representatives. You can also read about trade union representatives' time off for duties.
Who has this right
This right applies to most non-union employee representatives. It applies to:
- TUPE representatives
- collective redundancy representatives
- pension representatives
- employee representatives involved in European consultative bodies
- information and consultation representatives – only for consultation groups set up under the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (ICE)
The legal right to time off does not apply to:
- workforce agreement representatives
- employee representatives in workplace forums set up outside the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (ICE)
However, an employer should consider allowing all representatives paid time to carry out their duties. Without this, they cannot do their role effectively.
What 'reasonable' time off means
It's not possible to say exactly how much time a representative needs for their duties. It varies between representatives.
It can depend on:
- the size of the organisation
- the organisation's work processes
- the need to maintain a service to customers
- the safety and security of workers and customers
- the representative's role
- the amount of consultation they need to do
- the complexity of the work
- the amount of training and meeting preparation a representative needs to do
Some employee representatives need to work on consultation for a single period of time. It can be many months of intense consultation. This particularly applies to TUPE transfers and collective redundancy.
Other representatives might have a more steady flow of duties over a longer period of time.
Representatives with more than one role
Some employee representatives may have more than one role. The employer and the representative should agree together how this will work.
The employer should make sure a representative is not overloaded.
Time off agreements
When representatives have the legal right, their employer must allow reasonable time off for certain duties. This time must be paid.
The employer and representative should work together to agree what's reasonable.
The legal right to time off applies during someone's usual working hours. This is unless a duty needs to be done at a different time.
For example, Ren works part-time. They need to go to a collective redundancy consultation meeting on a day they do not work. Ren's employer pays them for this time.
It's good practice to have a formal agreement with clear guidelines on handling time off requests. This can help to avoid confusion and reduce problems.
Find out about creating an agreement for representatives
Asking for paid time off
When requesting time off, representatives should give their employer as much notice as possible. They should also be as flexible as possible. This helps the employer to cover the representative's usual work.
A representative should agree with their employer:
- what the time off is for – for example to prepare for and attend a consultation meeting
- the intended location
- the dates and times they need
They should keep certain information confidential. This particularly applies to any personal information.
The representative should keep their employer up to date. For example, if they need to change or cancel their time off.
Dealing with requests
Employers and managers should consider requests for time off on a case-by-case basis. If a formal agreement is in place, they should follow that.
They should consider if a request is reasonable. This includes looking at:
- how much time the representative has already taken or has planned
- further time off likely to be requested in future
By law, an employer must agree to a request if:
- the representative has the legal right to time off
- the request is reasonable
Associated employers and joint arrangements
The responsibility to allow time off for duties lies with the representative's employer. An associated employer does not have this legal duty, unless it's been agreed.
Sometimes there might be joint consultation arrangements. This could be across a group of employers or across different sites. Employers and representatives should make special arrangements for this. This should be part of any formal agreement on time off.
An example of this could be representatives needing to attend consultation meetings at a regional or national level.
Pay
An employer must pay an employee representative for time they spend on certain duties.
This must be either:
- the representative's usual pay
- an amount calculated using the representative's average hourly earnings – this applies where someone's pay varies with the work done
An employer should include different types of payments that a representative receives. For example, shift premiums, performance-related pay, bonuses and commission.