DOCAS and facility time changes brought forward

New rules around trade union subscription payments and facility time will come into effect earlier than previously expected, the government has announced. Extensive lobbying from UNISON and the TUC significantly watered down the original government proposals in the Trade Union Act, but there are still changes to the way the DOCAS (or “check off”) will operate in public service employers and new requirements on reporting facility time. From 10 March 2018, new DOCAS agreements have to be in place to ensure a “reasonable fee” is being paid wherever employers deduct union subs directly from staff wages. The new rules only apply to public sector employers and do not apply in Northern Ireland. Members who already pay by direct debit are not affected by the changes. UNISON continues to lobby against these changes, but the union has also been preparing to implement the new arrangements. A UNISON project team has been working for six months on plans for the change and a pilot project has been set up and will begin in April. Most UNISON members work for 300 or so large employers, and regions will be approaching these employers over the next two months or so – so branches should not seek to renegotiate any DOCAS agreement without talking to their regional office first. But about a third of members work for smaller employers and are scattered among some 7,500 workplaces – many with less than 10 members each. It is these fragmented workplaces which will be more of a challenge...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article activists branches docas facility time South east subscriptions TU Bill unison south east Source Type: news