The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999

Ballot arrangements

13.—(1) Subject to regulation 15, the UK members of the special negotiating body shall be elected by a ballot of the UK employees.

(2) The UK management must arrange for the holding of a ballot of employees referred to in paragraph (1), which satisfies the requirements specified in paragraph (3).

(3) The requirements referred to in paragraph (2) are that—

(a) the ballot of the UK employees must comprise a single ballot but may instead, if the UK management so decides, comprise separate ballots of employees in such constituencies as the UK management may determine where—

(i) the number of UK members of the special negotiating body to be elected is more than one, and

(ii) the UK management considers that if separate ballots were held for those constituencies, the UK members of the special negotiating body to be elected would better reflect the interests of the UK employees as a whole than if a single ballot were held;

(b) a UK employee who is an employee of the Community-scale undertaking or the Community-scale group of undertakings on the day on which votes may be cast in the ballot, or if the votes may be cast on more than one day, on the first day of those days, is entitled to vote in the ballot of the UK employees;

(c) any UK employee, or UK employees' representative, who is an employee of, or an employees' representative in, the Community-scale undertaking or Community-scale group of undertakings immediately before the latest time at which a person may become a candidate in the ballot, is entitled to stand in the ballot of the UK employees as a candidate for election as a UK member of the special negotiating body;

(d) the UK management must, in accordance with paragraph (7), appoint an independent ballot supervisor to supervise the conduct of the ballot of the UK employees but may instead, where there are to be separate ballots, appoint more than one independent ballot supervisor in accordance with that paragraph, each of whom is to supervise such of the separate ballots as the UK management may determine, provided that each separate ballot is supervised by a supervisor;

(e) after the UK management has formulated proposals as to the arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees and before it has published the final arrangements under sub-paragraph (f) it must, so far as reasonably practicable, consult with the UK employees' representatives on the proposed arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees;

(f) the UK management must publish the final arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees in such manner as to bring them to the attention of, so far as reasonably practicable, the UK employees and the UK employees' representatives.

(4) Any UK employee or UK employees' representative who believes that the arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees are defective may, within a period of 21 days beginning on the date on which the UK management published the final arrangements under sub-paragraph (f), present a complaint to the CAC.

(5) Where the CAC finds the complaint well-founded it shall make a declaration to that effect and may make an order requiring the UK management to modify the arrangements it has made for the ballot of the UK employees or to satisfy the requirements in sub-paragraph (e) or (f) of paragraph (3).

(6) An order under paragraph (5) shall specify the modifications to the arrangements which the UK management is required to make and the requirements which it must satisfy.

(7) A person is an independent ballot supervisor for the purposes of paragraph (3)(d) if the UK management reasonably believes that he will carry out any functions conferred on him in relation to the ballot competently and has no reasonable grounds for believing that his independence in relation to the ballot might reasonably be called into question.

(8) For the purposes of paragraph (4) the arrangements for the ballot of the UK employees are defective if—

(a) any of the requirements specified in sub-paragraphs (b)-(f) of paragraph (3) is not satisfied; or

(b) in a case where the ballot is to comprise separate ballots, the constituencies determined by the UK management do not reflect adequately the interests of the UK employees as a whole.