Quick view: Key players in collective labour law – UK, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands

Traditionally, an employer’s counterpart at a collective level in the UK is a trade union.

Dependent on the scope of the recognition agreement, a recognised trade union will bargain on some or all terms and conditions of employment. Recognised trade unions are also given statutory rights to be informed and consulted on collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings regarding those parts of the workforce in respect of which they are recognised.

An employer is free to decide whether or not to recognise a trade union voluntarily. There is also a statutory process for compulsory trade union recognition, through which a trade union may be able to force an employer to recognise it for a particular bargaining unit for negotiations on pay, hours and holidays.

The number of trade unions in the UK is significant and, unlike in some other European countries, trade unions in the UK are not necessarily sector-specific. This has resulted in some employers recognising more than one trade union for different bargaining units.

The Employment Rights Bill, introduced on 10 October 2024, aims to strengthen trade union rights in the UK by requiring employers to inform workers about union membership, granting unions access to workplaces, simplifying the union recognition process, enhancing protections for union representatives, and reducing restrictions on industrial action.

Works councils are not part of the traditional UK industrial relations scene. Historically, the UK did not have company or establishment internal employee representatives. If employees wanted representation, the way to get it was through trade unions.

This changed with the two European directives on, respectively, European and national works councils. These were implemented in the UK by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 and the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004.

These regulations provide that, subject to a formal request being made by a prescribed minimum number of employees, an employer will be obliged to put in place a mechanism for informing and consulting with employee representatives. Both regulations encourage the employer and employees to reach agreement on the exact nature and scope of the mechanism, but set out fallback provisions should no agreement be reached within a specified time frame.

Works councils (the English translation for the German word Betriebsrat) are bodies of employee representatives that can be established in German workplaces to represent the interests of employees.

Works councils operate at establishment, (ie, site-specific) level and can be formed at the employees’ initiative in any establishment with five or more employees. There is no obligation on an employer to form a works council; it is up to the employees’ initiative, and therefore there are many, especially smaller, establishments that do not have a works council.

While the core works council rights and duties exist in respect of works councils at establishment level, there can be a hierarchy of works councils at different levels in an organisation.

Works council rights are clearly defined in the Works Constitution Act. Works councils have different levels of rights ranging from information, consultation and negotiation (but with no duty to reach an agreement) to co-decision (ie. joint decision making), depending on the subject matter in question. Transfers of undertakings and collective redundancies fall into the category of economic matters where there are no co-decision rights.

Under German law, if there is no works council, then no collective information and consultation obligations arise, irrespective of the nature and scope of the measure.

For further information see How-to guide: How to work with works councils in Germany and Quick view: Co-determination by German works councils.

Employees have the constitutional right to organise themselves into trade unions and to participate in trade union activity.

There is a significant number of trade unions in Italy and they are normally organised by industry sectors. Accordingly, all employees involved in a specific industry belong to the same union, regardless of the nature of their particular job or occupational qualification.

Traditionally, trade unions are counterparts to the employers and employers’ associations at a collective level and their most important role is to negotiate collective agreements (at national or local level), though they are also usually involved to some extent in information and consultation procedures.

In any transaction which involves employees on a collective basis (eg, restructuring procedures/transfer of undertakings), it is essential that the employer involves both trade unions (on a regional or national level) and internal union representatives (ie, works councils, if any).

Trade unions enjoy statutory information and consultation rights on collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings regarding those parts of the workforce to which the collective procedure applies. The Workers’ Statute grants trade unions and their members the right to take action.

Works councils operate at a business unit/plant level and can be formed at the employees’ initiative. If an employer employs more than 15 employees (in the same business unit/plant), its employees are entitled to elect a works council (called Rappresentanze Sindacali Aziendali (RSA), or Rappresentanze Sindacali Unitarie (RSU)) from the members of the trade unions that are party to and/or negotiated any collective agreement applied in the relevant business unit.

The members of the works council must be employees of the employer and elected democratically. Their number depends on the total number of employees in the business unit. It is quite common for small organisations not to have a works council.

As the constitution of a works council is upon the employees’ initiative, there is no obligation on the employer to form, or to support the organisation of a works council. On the contrary there is a specific obligation on the employer not to support any works council.

The rights of works councils are set out in the Workers’ Statute and to some extent are provided for by other laws regarding collective aspects of the employment relationship. Their main functions are organising trade union meetings (also inside the business unit), posting notices at the employer’s premises, performing trade union activity on the premises and representing the employees in specific procedures, including:

• consulting with the employer in the event of a transfer of undertakings; and
• playing a significant role in large-scale redundancy procedures. In the event that no works councils are elected in a business unit, the collective information and consultation obligations arise only in respect of the trade unions.

The function of trade unions is to defend the rights and the moral and material interests of their members.

Trade unions negotiate collective bargaining agreements with employers or employers’ associations, covering a company, group of companies or industry.

Trade unions also have a specific role in the context of collective redundancies in the sense that they may negotiate the social plan with the employer. The social plan’s aim is to limit the impact of dismissals as far as possible. It is the employer’s prerogative to decide whether the social plan is to be negotiated with trade unions or whether the employer will propose a unilateral plan.

In practice, trade unions may well act in the background – for example, by giving support and advice to works councils/Social and Economic Committees (SEC).

An executive order (ordonnance) of 22 September 2017 provided for the setting-up of a single body in all employers called the Social and Economic Committee (SEC), which was designed to replace all existing staff representative bodies (ie, staff delegates, the health and safety committee and works council).

The SEC is now in place in almost all employers with an average headcount of at least 11 employees.

The works council/SEC in companies of at least 50 employees has two functions:

• functions of a social nature – the works council/SEC manages a certain number of social and cultural activities for employees (or their families) – for example, in relation to leisure, sports and housing; and
• functions of an economic and professional nature – the works council’s/SEC’s mission is to ensure the employees’ interests are protected in any decisions relating to the employer’s overall operation, its economic and financial development and to the organisation of work and working conditions.

Under French law any collective information and consultation requirements are inextricably linked to the existence of a works council/SEC.

Certain strategic decisions cannot be made without first informing and consulting the works council/SEC. In this respect, the works council/SEC must be informed and consulted concerning any changes to the employer’s economic or legal organisation, particularly in the case of a merger, transfer, substantial modification to the employer’s production facilities, or in case of an acquisition or transfer of subsidiaries.

Employers are also required to consult with the works council/SEC in the event of the acquisition of an equity interest in another company and in the event of a collective redundancy.

Less than a quarter of the Dutch labour force, roughly 15%, is unionised.

Most of the unions have joined one of the two trade union federations:

• The Netherlands Trade Union Federation (FNV); and
• The Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CNV).

Trade union membership is not compulsory. Over the past 20 years, the number of union members in the Netherlands has been decreasing.

Trade unions often conclude collective labour agreements (collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst (CLA)). CLAs can be negotiated at company level, or industry-wide, the latter being more usual. Industry-wide CLAs apply to all the companies in a particular industry sector. Some of the larger Dutch enterprises do have their own CLA, which only applies to their own workforce.

An employer with 50 or more employees is required to incorporate a works council. The members are employees elected by their colleagues, and the method of working is set out in the Works Councils Act (Wet op de ondernemingsraden (WCA)).

Pursuant to the WCA the works council has multiple rights, the main being:

• the right to give advice on a number of selected topics (eg, redundancy, change of control);
• the right to consent to a number of other selected topics (eg, data protection regulations and profit-sharing regulations);
• the right to receive information; and
• the right to take the initiative/submit proposals.

With regard to reorganisations, the rights to render advice and to receive information are essential. Other representative bodies might have consultation rights, such as a Group Works Council.

For further information see How-to guide: How to work with works councils in the Netherlands.