SocPolUKEurope020315.TUfE EUROPEANSOCIAL POLICY LEGISLATION

UK GOVERNMENT RECORD SINCE 1997

Legislation	Date	Legal Base	UK position in EU negotiations	UK transposition of EU legislation
Social Chapter (Agreement on Social Policy)	Dec. 1991 UK signed May 1997	Social Protocol of Maastricht Treaty Amsterdam Treaty 1997	Conservative Government opted out	Adopted commitment to principle of process. Included implementing existing agreements made under process (see below)
Working Time Directive	Nov. 1993	Article 118A - Health & Safety	Conservative Government opposed legislation, and after agreement by qualified majority, challenged treaty base in European Court - lost Nov. 1996.	Implemented November 1998 as the Working Time Regulations. Kept derogation on 4th week of paid leave until November 1999. Counted public holidays in with leave entitlement, adopted 20 minute work breaks, kept individual opt out of 48 hour week, introduced 13 week uninterrupted employment qualifying period. In June 2001 the ECJ supported BECTU case finding the UK Government in breach of EU law for trying to restrict application of what they saw was a direct and immediate right. UK has amended the Regulations. Future of individual opt-out under consideration.
Working Time Excluded Sectors	April 2000	Article 137 98/0318	UK Government tried to negotiate excessive transition periods for junior doctors (15 years), final agreement was between 9 and 12 years (with special request). Road transport working time was rubber stamped at EU level in February 2002, after strong UK opposition to inclusion of self-employed drivers	Member states have till August 2003 to comply with the EU Directive by ending the exclusion of non-mobile transport workers (like aviation security staff at airports). GMB and TUC are pressing the UK Government to bring forward the date in respect of aviation security workers. Extension to road transport drivers under consideration.

European Works Council Directive	Sept. 1994	Social Policy Agreement	UK opt- out in place at time of negotiations	Adopted in UK Jan. 2000 (Transnational information and consultation of employees Regulation). Restricted scope for nomination of trade union representatives, failed to give legal status to Article 13 agreements, failed to cover 50/50 joint ventures, excluded seafarers over 48hrs at sea). Counted part time workers as half a worker for thresholds. Failed to strengthen definition of consultation (timely, meaningful). Did not include paid time off for training
Protection of Young People at Work	1994	Article 118A (94/33/EC)	Conservative Government had opt out on provisions for weekly working hours and nightwork.	Implemented as part of Working Time Regulations. Opt out for young workers was kept by UK until June 2000. Government consulted on amending law to remove opt out deadline March 2001. Further consultation was expected autumn 2001; now expected to begin by Easter 2002.

Parental Leave	June 1996	Social Policy Agreement (by social partners)	Accepted as agreed Social Chapter agreement. UK Implementation Directive 1997.	Implemented under the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. Introduced cut-off date of 15 Dec.1999, preventing parents of children born before that date to any rights under the legislation. Challenged by TUC under judicial review. Referred to European Court of Justice in May 2000. UK Government climbed down days before ECJ Hearing on 3^rd May 2001. Cut off date abolished by amending regulation. Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001 effective from 10 January 2002.
Part-time Workers Agreement/ Directive	July 1997	Social Policy Agreement (Social Partner Agreement)	Directives to be implemented following signing social chapter. Dir 98/23/EC	Implemented July 2000. The scope for comparator is very narrow (work of equal value not defined). Provisions for movement between part- and full-time work not effectively addressed. Draft Regulations to amend the Part Time Workers Regulations, to remove the incompatability with the Fixed Term Workers Directive, were published February 2002. Also amending provisions in respect of backdating claims for part time workers equal access to occupational pension schemes, to remove the two year limit.

Fixed Term Work

June 1999

1999/70/EC Social Policy Agreement (Social Partners)

Part of social chapter. Social partner agreement, adopted by Council.

Initial consultations and draft regulations from Government in March 2001. DTI draft did not include pay and pensions in equal treatment protection, though didnt rule out in consultation. Text referred to employees only, comparators were limited and not effective. Agency workers excluded, despite no progress on legislation to cover them at EU level. Wide exclusions on initial training relationships and other forms of training. Implementation due on 10 July 2001 but not met. Govt argued that the high level of part & fixed term contracts in the UK labour market meant they needed longer to assess the implications. Govt announced on 8 November 2001 that the Employment Bill would be used to prevent pay and pensions discrimination and to transpose Directive. Revised draft regulations issued in February 2002 include pay and pensions. Consultation ends April 2002 for implementation by July 2002. Draft EU legislation imminent on agency workers. Media reports 19 February 2002 that UK Government is resisting.

Burden of Proof in discrimination on base of sex	December 1997	97/80/EC	UK implementation deadline due to UK signing social chapter late.	Consultation contained within that of the equal pay legislation, sex discrimination act. Consultation deadline 19 February 2001. Finally implemented 12 October 2001.
Equal Treatment of people regardless of racial or ethnic origin	June 2000	Article 13 2000/43/EC	Proposals broadly in line with existing UK law.	Consultation ends March 2002. To be implemented by July 2003.
General Framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation	November 2000	Article 13 2000/78/EC	Government sought to negotiate 8 year transition period for application of anti-discrimination provisions on the grounds of age and disability. Succeeded in agreement on 6 year transition in these 2 areas, and 3 years for discrimination on grounds of race, religious and sexual orientation. Negotiated exemption for armed forces.	Implementation by December 2003 for sexual orientation and religious belief and by December 2006 for disability and age discrimination. Consultation paper issued December 2001 with end March 2002 deadline.

Collective Redundancies Rev.	1998	98/59/EC		Implemented Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 1999. Government introduced exemption for companies with under 20 workers from having to consult.
Acquired Rights Review (TUPE)	1998	98/50/EC		Implemented by above Regulations. Further consultation on TUPE provisions, including improving pension protection, Sept-December 2001. Regulations now expected to be in force by end 2002. Deadline for implementing the 1998 amendments to the Acquired Rights Directive passed in July 2001. Leaked Cabinet Office papers (March 2002) suggest Government will not bring pensions into TUPE protection or extend it to service contracts.
European Company statute	(proposals from 1970)		UK supported progress of proposals, though not likely to be a major issue in the UK. Political agreement at EU level reached in December 2000. EU Regulation on European Company Statute and EU Directive on employee involvement adopted on 8^th October 2001.

Information & Consultation at National Level	1998	COM(1998) 612 98/0315 Social Policy Agreement - Commission Proposal for Directive	UK Government consistently blocked proposals on the grounds of subsidiarity. Actively sought support from other Member States to form a blocking minority. Blocking minority dissolved in June 2001, government forced to accept common position, but negotiated weaker sanctions, 7 year delay in implementation for smaller firms, weaker wording on negotiated agreements. Lobbied hard to keep common position, when EU Parliament voted to strengthen text. Reduced delayed implementation by 1 year to 6 years in December 2001 to get final agreement.
EU Charter on Fundamental Rights	Signed December 2000	Not legally binding	UK Government opposed incorporating the Charter into the EU Treaty, and negotiated to weaken trade union and employment rights articles. February 2002 Government open to incorporating the Charter of Fundamental Rights into a European constitution so long as it would not be enforceable in UK courts.

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