Britain: An official handbook > 1977

EMPLOYMENT
339
Wages Councils
Legal
Framework
in industry and human efficiency. Such research is sponsored or conducted by
the Social Science Research Council (see p. 391) and the Medical Research
Council (see p. 388). In addition, the Department of Employment’s Work
Research Unit provides information on how particular jobs can be redesigned
to create greater satisfaction, helps industry and others in initiating and
evaluating changes in the content of work, and administers a research pro¬
gramme. Voluntary organisations include bodies which deal with management
problems and provide a service to subscribing firms; professional associations,
linking individuals with a common interest in particular functions of manage¬
ment; and bodies providing specialist services, usually on a fee-paying basis.
In a number of industries and trades where the organisation of employers or
employees or both is not strong enough to provide a basis for successful
voluntary arrangements, there are statutory wage-regulating bodies, known as
wages councils. These are composed of equal numbers of representatives of
employers and employees in the respective sectors of industry, with three
independent members. Wages councils publish proposals for minimum
remuneration and holidays with pay and after considering any representations
make orders giving statutory force to such proposals. The Department of
Employment’s Wages Inspectorate helps employers and workers to interpret
the provisions of wage regulation orders and sees that they are complied with.
About 3 million workers are covered by such arrangements.
Agricultural wages boards (there are boards for England and Wales and for
Scotland) perform similar functions in relation to employment in agriculture.
On 1 st January 1976 important changes in the role, operation and pro¬
cedure of wages councils were made, designed to encourage the transition from
statutory regulation to voluntary collective bargaining and giving the councils a
greater measure of independence from the Government such as making their
own wages orders and having representative members appointed directly by
employers’ associations and trade unions. The scope of the councils was
widened to enable them to regulate any terms and conditions of employment
in addition to remuneration and holidays, and the Government has power to
convert a wages council into a statutory joint industrial council (SJIC), as a
half-way stage towards full voluntary collective bargaining, where conditions
are thought to be suitable. SJICs function in the same way as wages councils,
except that they have no independent members.
The Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 (see p. 334) defines the status
of trade unions and employers’ associations and sets out certain legal require¬
ments which they must observe. The Act confers immunities on them in respect
of actions taken in support of a trade dispute, for example, peaceful picketing,
and also provides that collective agreements shall not be legally enforceable
unless they specifically provide for this.
The Employment Protection Act 1975 extends the rights of employees in a
number of respects and strengthens voluntary collective bargaining. The Act
placed the ACAS (see p. 342) on a statutory basis, provided for the appointment
of a Certification Officer (see p. 341) and for the setting up of the Central Arbi¬
tration Committee (see p. 343); and established an Employment Appeal Tri¬
bunal to hear appeals concerning decisions of the Certification Officer and of
industrial tribunals (see p. 101). (Industrial tribunals deal, in general, with
complaints from employees on infringements of individual rights under a
number of Acts concerning, for example, redundancy payments, contracts of
employment, equal pay, unfair dismissals and sex discrimination.)