The impact of the Employment Relations Act 1999 on Scotland’s voluntary sector
| Pages | 256-270 |
| Date | 01 June 2001 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450110392670 |
| Published date | 01 June 2001 |
| Author | John Jackson,Ian Cunningham,Alistair Dutton |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Employee
Relations
23,3
256
Employee Relations,
Vol. 23 No. 3, 2001, pp. 256-270.
#MCB University Press, 0142-5455
Received December 2000
Revised January 2001
Accepted February 2001
The impact of the Employment
Relations Act 1999 on
Scotland's voluntary sector
John Jackson and Ian Cunningham
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, and
Alistair Dutton
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Edinburgh, UK
Keywords Charities, Employment law, Voluntary organizations, United Kingdom
Abstract Since the 1980s, public policy developments have promoted the role of the voluntary
sector in a variety of UK settings. In parallel, there has been a growing interest in the impacts of
employment relations regulation. This paper combines these themes by exploring the impact of the
Employment Relations Act (1999) on the Scottish voluntary sector. Provides evidence, based on
data from larger voluntary organisations, that the legislation has potential impacts, particularly
regarding unfair dismissals, trade union recognition and parental leave. An underlying issue is
the emergence of personnel management capability in conditions of increasingly complex labour
market regulation.
Introduction
Since the UK electorate returned the Labour Government to power in 1997,
much has been said about the possibilities of partnership between the state and
the voluntary sector. For instance, this has led to voluntary sector involvement
in the new deal, the signing of compacts and a range of initiatives to encourage
volunteering. These developments signal a growing role for voluntary
organisations. However, another strand of government policy also has
potentially far-reaching implications for the sector. Specifically, this involves
the election commitment to introduce legislation on fairness in the employment
relationship. In parallel with this development there is the Labour
Government's signing of the EU Social Chapter, committing the UK to
introduce a series of new rights in the workplace. Taken together, these
commitments have formed the basis of the recently introduced Employment
Relations Act, 1999. This exploratory study reports on management
perceptions of the impact of the Employment Relations Act (1999) within
voluntary sector organisations in Scotland. It aims to increase our knowledge
of how the legislation has impacted on the sector by focussing attention on
issues of implementation.
This article begins by describing the main features of the legislation, the
potential benefits, the anticipated regulatory costs to employers and the initial
reactions of commentators. It then outlines in more detail the rationale for the
study. This is followed by a methodology section, which paves the way for a
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The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Scottish Council for Voluntary
Organisations in the preparation of this article.
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