6.The Employment Act 2008 was included in the draft legislative programme announced by the Prime Minister on 11 July 2007.
7.Several different consultation documents were issued on the matters included in the Act. These were:
Sections 1–7: “Resolving Disputes in the Workplace”(2) (21st March – 20th June 2007);
Sections 8-12 and 15-16: “National Minimum Wage and Employment Agency Standards Enforcement”(3) (16th May – 8th August 2007);
Sections 13-14: “National Minimum Wage and Voluntary Workers”(4) (12th June – 4th September 2007);
Section 19: “European Court of Human Rights Judgment in Aslef v UK – Implications for Trade Union Law”(5) (16th May – 8th August 2007).
8.Government responses to these consultations were published on the following dates:
Dispute resolution – 19th May 2008
National Minimum Wage and Employment Agency Standards Enforcement – 6th December 2007
National Minimum Wage and Voluntary Workers – 27th November 2007
Trade union membership – 28th November 2007