Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992

Further provisions with respect to ballots

115 Payments towards expenditure in connection with secret ballots

(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make a scheme providing for payments by the Certification Officer towards expenditure incurred by independent trade unions in respect of such ballots to which this section applies as may be prescribed by the scheme.

(2) This section applies to a ballot if the purpose of the question to be asked (or if there is more than one such question, the purpose of any of them) is—

(a) to obtain a decision or ascertain the views of members of a trade union—

(i) as to the acceptance or rejection of a proposal made by an employer in relation to the contractual terms and conditions upon which, or the other incidents of the relationship whereby, a person works or provides services for the employer, or

(ii) as to the calling or ending of a strike or other industrial action;

(b) to carry out an election—

(i) provided for by the rules of a trade union, or

(ii) required by section 46 (duty to hold elections for certain offices),

or to elect a worker who is a member of a trade union to be a representative of other members also employed by his employer;

(c) to amend the rules of a trade union;

(d) to obtain a decision in accordance with Chapter VI on a political resolution within the meaning of that Chapter at a time when there is such a resolution in force in relation to the union;

(e) to obtain a decision in accordance with Chapter VII on a resolution to approve an instrument of amalgamation or transfer;

(f) any other purpose specified by order of the Secretary of State.

(3) The scheme may include provision for payments to be made towards expenditure incurred in respect of arrangements to hold a ballot which is not proceeded with but which would have been a ballot to which this section applies if it had been held.

(4) The circumstances in which and the conditions subject to which payments may be made under the scheme, and the amounts of the payments, shall be such as may be prescribed by the scheme; and the scheme shall include provision for restricting the cases in which payments are made to cases in which the ballot is so conducted as to secure, so far as reasonably practicable, that those voting do so in secret.

(5) Regulations or an order under this section shall be made by statutory instrument; and—

(a) a statutory instrument containing regulations shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament; and

(b) no order shall be made unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

116 Use of employer’s premises for secret ballot

(1) Where an independent trade union which is recognised by an employer to any extent for the purposes of collective bargaining—

(a) proposes to hold a ballot to which this section applies, and

(b) requests the employer to permit premises of his to be used for the purpose of giving workers employed by him who are members of the union a convenient opportunity of voting,

the employer shall, so far as reasonably practicable, comply with that request.

(2) This section applies to a ballot if—

(a) as respects the purposes of the question (or one of the questions) to be voted upon, the ballot satisfies the requirements of a scheme under section 115, and

(b) the proposals for the conduct of the ballot are such as to secure, so far as reasonably practicable, that those voting do so in secret.

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply where—

(a) the ballot is one in which every person who is entitled to vote must be given a convenient opportunity to vote by post; or

(b) at the time the request is made the number of workers employed by the employer, added to the number employed by any associated employer, does not exceed 20.

(4) A trade union which claims that an employer has failed to comply with a request made by the union in accordance with subsection (1), which it was reasonably practicable for him to comply with, may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal.

(5) The tribunal shall not entertain a complaint unless it is presented to the tribunal—

(a) before the end of the period of three months beginning with the date of the failure, or

(b) where the tribunal is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period, within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable.

(6) Where the tribunal finds that the complaint is well-founded, it shall make a declaration to that effect and may make an award of compensation to be paid by the employer to the union of such amount as it considers just and equitable in all the circumstances having regard to the employer’s failure and to any expenses incurred by the union in consequence of the failure.

(7) The remedy of a union for failure to comply with a request under subsection (1) is by way of complaint to an industrial tribunal in accordance with this section, and not otherwise.