Requesting a formal agreement
Employees have the right to request a formal information and consultation agreement.
Eligibility
By law, employees can request an information and consultation agreement, as long as their organisation has at least 50 employees.
For the request to be valid:
- for businesses with 750 or more employees – at least 2% of employees must make the request
- for businesses with fewer than 750 employees – at least 15 people must make the request
Individual requests from employees
Individual requests from employees are counted together towards the total, if they're all within a 6-month period.
Individual requests made before 6 April 2020
The eligibility requirements changed on 6 April 2020, so it's easier to make a valid request.
If an employee made an individual request before that date, it's still counted towards the total as long as:
- one or more of the individual requests was made on or after 6 April 2020
- all individual requests were made within a 6-month period
Example of a valid request
A company has 750 employees. Before 6 April 2020, 4% of the company's employees had made individual requests for an information and consultation agreement.
Before 6 April this number would not have been enough for the requests to be valid. This is because the law required 10% of the company's employees to have made requests.
Since 6 April this number is enough for the requests to be valid, as long as at least one request is made from 6 April onwards.
Finding out how many employees are in the organisation
Employees can write to their employer to ask how many people they employ.
Employees can complain to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) if:
- their employer refuses to provide the number of employees
- they think the number they're given is wrong
Download the complaint form on GOV.UK
How to make a request
It's best for employees to make a request in writing to their employer. This could be in a letter or email.
Making a request directly to the employer
When making a request directly to their employer, employees should include:
- the date they're making the request
- their name and the names of any other employees included in the request
- that they're making a request to 'negotiate an information and consultation agreement'
Employers can start informing and consulting with employees without an agreement, or a request for one.
Making a request through the Central Arbitration Committee
Employees might not want to make a request to their employer directly. For example, if they do not want their employer to know who has made the request.
In these circumstances, they can make a request in writing to the Central Arbitration Committee.
The Central Arbitration Committee will tell the employer how many requests have been made, without revealing the names of the employees.
If employees are making a request to the Central Arbitration Committee, they should include:
- the date they're making the request
- an employee point of contact
- the names of all employees making the request, including any eligible individual employee requests
- their employer's name
- their employer's address – this should be their head or registered office, or the main place they do business
- whether the request should be anonymous
An employer could also ask the Central Arbitration Committee to decide whether:
- requests are valid
- any valid agreements already exist
How to contact the Central Arbitration Committee
Central Arbitration Committee
PO Box 78137
London
SW1P 9XE
Email: enquiries@cac.gov.uk
Telephone: 0330 109 3610