The Trade Union Act 2016 introduced a requirement for public sector employers (including HEI’s in England and Scotland) to publish certain information on trade union facility time. The requirements apply to public sector employers with 50 or more employees (FTE) and at least one relevant trade union official.
This is a new provision designed to promote transparency and public scrutiny of facility time, and to encourage public sector employers to moderate the amount of money spent on trade union facility time in the light of that scrutiny. Employers must publish the required information relating to the 12-month “relevant period”, which is the 12 months from 1 April to 31 March every year, with the first period being from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.