On 19/06/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/06/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/06/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/01/2012.
PART III
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
16. For the purposes of this Part —
(a)
the Minister for Finance shall be deemed to be the employer of employees of the Government; and
(b)
the Minister shall be deemed to have been notified that a trade dispute exists if a person designated by him for that purpose has been so notified.
[30
17.
—(1) No trade union of employees which has not been given recognition by an employer in the prescribed manner may serve on that employer a notice under section 18.
(2) No trade union of employees whose constitution and rules do not permit it to admit as members any class of employees may seek recognition in respect of that class of employees or serve a notice under section 18 in respect of those employees.
(3) No trade union of employees the majority of whose membership consists of employees in non-managerial or non-executive positions may seek recognition in respect of employees in managerial or executive positions or serve a notice under section 18 in respect of those employees.
(4) Where an employer raises the objection that a trade union should not represent certain employees or a class of employees, the employer and the trade union shall make a joint application to a Court for the determination of the question.
(5) Until the Court gives its decision, the employer shall recognise the trade union in respect of other employees or class of employees in respect of whom the recognition of the trade union by the employer is not in dispute if the trade union represents the majority of such employees or class of employees.
(6) The powers of a Court under subsection (4) shall be exercisable by the Court constituted by the President alone.
(7) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the extent that a trade union of employees is deemed to be recognised by a transferee under section 18A(8) of the Employment Act (Cap. 91).
[16
18.
—(1) A trade union of employees which has been accorded recognition by an employer may serve on that employer or an employer may serve on a trade union of employees a notice in the prescribed form —
(a)
setting out proposals for a collective agreement in relation to any industrial matters; and
(b)
inviting the employer or trade union of employees, as the case may be, to negotiate with it in relation to those matters with a view to arriving at a collective agreement.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), no trade union of employees may include in a notice setting out proposals for a collective agreement a proposal in relation to any of the following matters:
(a)
the promotion by an employer of any employee from a lower grade or category to a higher grade or category;
(b)
the transfer by an employer of an employee within the organisation of an employer’s profession, business, trade or work, provided that such transfer does not entail a change to the detriment of an employee in regard to his terms of employment;
(c)
the employment by an employer of any person that he may appoint in the event of a vacancy arising in his establishment;
(d)
the termination by an employer of the services of an employee by reason of redundancy or by reason of the reorganisation of an employer’s profession, business, trade or work or the criteria for such termination;
(e)
the dismissal and reinstatement of an employee by an employer in circumstances in which section 35(3) applies; or
(f)
the assignment or allocation by an employer of duties or specific tasks to an employee that are consistent or compatible with the terms of his employment.
[17
19. An employer or a trade union upon whom a notice under section 18 has been served may serve on the trade union or employer by whom the notice was served an acceptance of the invitation to negotiate.
[18
20.
—(1) Where, within 7 days after service of a notice under section 18, a trade union or employer upon whom it was served has not served an acceptance under section 19, the employer or trade union by whom the notice was served may notify the Commissioner.
(2) Upon receipt of a notification under subsection (1), the Commissioner shall consult, or direct a conciliation officer to consult, with the employer or trade union which has not served an acceptance with a view to persuading that employer or trade union to accept the invitation.
(3) Where, after consultation with an employer or trade union on whom an invitation to negotiate has been served, the Commissioner is satisfied that the employer or trade union refuses to negotiate, he shall notify the Minister and, unless the Minister otherwise directs, the Registrar that a trade dispute exists.
[19
21.
—(1) If after the expiration of 14 days from the date of service of a notice under section 18 or, where the notice has been served on more than one employer or trade union on different dates, from the latest of those dates, a collective agreement has not been reached between all the trade unions and employers by whom and upon whom the notice was served as to all the industrial matters set out in the invitation and a memorandum of its terms delivered to the Registrar, any party to the negotiations may notify the Commissioner.
(2) Upon receiving a notification under subsection (1), the Commissioner may consult, or direct a conciliation officer to consult, with the employers and trade unions concerned in an endeavour to assist them to reach agreement by conciliation.
[20
22. Where the Commissioner is of the opinion —
(a)
at any time after the expiration of 7 days after consultation has begun under section 21 that the negotiations are unlikely to lead to a collective agreement registered under this Act as to all the industrial matters which are the subject of the negotiations; or
(b)
upon receiving a notification under section 21 that it is unlikely that conciliation will assist the parties to the negotiations to reach agreement,
he shall notify the Minister and, unless the Minister otherwise directs, the Registrar that a trade dispute exists.
[21
23.
—(1) The Minister may, where he considers it possible that any trade dispute may be settled by conciliation or further conciliation, direct a person, whether engaged in or connected with the trade dispute or not, to attend at a time and place specified in the direction a conference presided over by the Minister or such person as the Minister directs.
(2) A direction under this section may be given orally or in writing signed by the Minister.
(3) Except as otherwise directed by the Minister or presiding person, a conference shall be held in private.
(4) A person who —
(a)
on being directed under subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse to attend a conference; or
(b)
on being directed to continue his attendance at a conference by the Minister or presiding person, fails without lawful excuse to do so,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction by a District Court to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
[22
[36/2010 wef 01/02/2011]
24.
—(1) A notification by the Commissioner under this Part that a trade dispute exists shall contain —
(a)
a statement of the parties to the trade dispute;
(b)
the matters in dispute so far as they are known to the Commissioner; and
(c)
where the trade dispute is notified to the Commissioner in accordance with section 20, the reasons for the refusal to negotiate so far as they are known to the Commissioner.
(2) The Registrar shall, upon receiving a notification under this Part, immediately bring it to the notice of the President.
[23
25.
—(1) If a collective agreement is arrived at, a memorandum of its terms shall be —
(a)
made in writing and signed by or on behalf of the parties to the collective agreement; and
(b)
delivered within one week thereof to the Registrar who, upon receiving it, shall immediately bring it to the notice of a Court for certification.
(2) The Court may in its discretion —
(a)
refuse to certify a memorandum delivered under subsection (1) if it is of the opinion that it is not in the public interest that the collective agreement should be certified or if it is of the opinion that the memorandum does not set out satisfactorily or adequately the terms of the collective agreement between the parties and shall refuse to do so if the collective agreement does not comply with subsection (5); and
(b)
before certifying a memorandum delivered under subsection (1), require that such part or parts thereof shall be amended satisfactorily or adequately in any manner which the Court considers expedient to comply with the other provisions of this Act or any other written law or with any direction of the Court.
[23/2002]
(3) If any party to the collective agreement refuses to carry out such request the Court may, notwithstanding any other power exercisable under this Act, amend the memorandum in the manner required under subsection (2)(b) before proceeding to certify the memorandum.
(4) The Court may in its discretion afford the parties an opportunity to be heard before proceeding to amend the memorandum under subsection (3).
(5) A collective agreement shall —
(a)
specify the period during which it shall continue in force which period shall be not less than 2 years or more than 3 years from the date on which it is expressed to commence; and
(b)
unless the Court considers such provision inappropriate, make provision for the settlement of disputes between the parties to the collective agreement while the collective agreement is in force arising out of the operation of the collective agreement including provision for the reference of such disputes to a referee.
[29/72]
(6) The referee mentioned in subsection (5)(b) shall be a person to be chosen in a manner provided by the collective agreement from among the persons referred to in section 43(3) and whose decision shall have effect as if it were a term of the collective agreement.
(7) The memorandum when certified by the Court shall be deposited with and registered by the Registrar.
(8) Any person who or any trade union which —
(a)
enters into a collective agreement which is specified to continue in force for less than 2 years or more than 3 years from the date on which it is expressed to commence;
(b)
delivers to the Registrar a memorandum which does not contain all the terms of the collective agreement entered into by him or it; or
(c)
fails or neglects to bring a collective agreement or any of the terms of such collective agreement entered into by him or it to the notice of a Court in accordance with the provisions of this Act,
shall be guilty of an offence.
[24
[29/72]
26. A collective agreement, a memorandum of which has been certified by a Court, shall be deemed to be an award for the purposes of this Act and shall be binding on —
(a)
the parties to the collective agreement;
(b)
any successor to, or any transferee, assignee or transmittee of, the undertaking of an employer bound by an agreement, including any corporation which has acquired or taken over the undertaking of such an employer;
(c)
any successor to a trade union of employees which was a party to the collective agreement; and
(d)
any person or trade union upon whom it is declared to be binding by order made by the Minister under section 41.
27. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, a person may not in negotiations under this Act relating to industrial matters —
(a)
make, offer or receive any proposal in relation to those industrial matters on behalf of or purport to act on behalf of a trade union or employer; or
(b)
be present at any meeting at which employers or representatives of employers or representatives of trade unions negotiate with regard to those industrial matters,
unless he is a person qualified in accordance with section 64 to represent an employer or trade union which is a party to the negotiations if the negotiations were proceedings before a Court.
28.
—(1) The Minister shall appoint such public officers as he thinks fit to be conciliation officers and such persons as he thinks fit to be industrial relations officers for the purposes of this Act and shall from time to time publish in the Gazette a list of the names of officers so appointed.
(2) The Minister may make such arrangements as he considers appropriate for the training of persons to be conciliation officers or industrial relations officers and of conciliation officers and industrial relations officers.
29. Any person who or any trade union which enters into negotiations in relation to industrial matters otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Part or Part IV shall be guilty of an offence.
[23/2002]