Minimum service levels during strikes - draft Code of Practice published

New powers

The Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act has now come into force. The Act allows the Secretary of State to set minimum service levels for strikes in "relevant services" including education, health, fire and rescue and transport.

The Act provides that where a trade union gives an employer a notice of strike action relating to one of the specified relevant services, the employer may issue a work notice identifying persons who are required to work and the work they must carry out during the strike to secure minimum service levels. The union must take "reasonable steps" to ensure that members identified in the work notice comply with the work notice. If a union fails to take these reasonable steps, this would mean the strike is not protected in law, so any employees taking part in the strike (regardless of whether they are identified in the work notice or not) would lose their automatic protection from unfair dismissal as a consequence of taking part in the strike.

Draft code of practice

Until now, it has been unclear what specific steps unions will need to take in order to take "reasonable steps" in response to the issue of a work notice. The Government previously confirmed that a new statutory code of practice would be published to explain the obligations on trade unions under the Act. That draft code of practice has now been published.

The draft code of practice explains how unions will be able to meet their duties under the Act. The draft includes guidance on how a union can identify members, encourage them to comply with a work notice, how they should communicate to the wider union membership, as well as how to ensure the obligations under the code are not undermined by picketing or other union activities.

Consultation on the draft code of practice is open until 9.30am on 6 October 2023.

For more information, please contact Allison Cook on 0117 314 5466.