Trade union facility time

Trade union facility time and facilities are the time and resources (such as access to ICT and accommodation) that unions negotiate from employers so that they are able to represent members both individually and collectively in negotiations with managers.

Union representatives have had a statutory right to reasonable paid time off to carry out trade union duties since 1975, and most of the current provisions come under the Trade Unions and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, introduced by the then Conservative government.

In accordance with the Transparency Code 2015, we publish details of our Trade Union Facility Time.  The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017, which took effect on 1April, have strengthened the requirements of the Code.  This means that public sector employers are now required to publish certain information on trade union officials and facility time on their website.

Public sector employers will be subject to the new rules if they have at least one employee who is a trade union official, a trade union learning representative or a safety representative and will be required to publish information on this role.

The first set of reports should be available on Public Sector Trade Union Facility Time data after the submission deadline of 31st July 2019, but until then we have published the information here:

Trade Union Facility Time for period 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019

Employees in the organisation: 50 - 1,500

Trade Unions represented: UNISON

Trade union representatives and full-time equivalents (FTE)

Percentage of working hours spent on facility time

Total pay bill and facility time costs

Paid trade union activities