Advice to NHS bodies in England who need to implement disciplinary procedures for doctors and dentists in their local procedures.
Incorporating nationally negotiated collective agreements
Collective agreements made between employers and unions are not enforceable unless they have been expressly incorporated into the employees’ individual contract.
In the recent case of Worrall V Wilmott Dixon Partnerships Ltd, an Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that terms in collective agreements will not be incorporated into an employee’s contract of employment unless they are agreed or specifically brought to the employee’s attention. The fact that the terms are contained in a document which may be available to the employee does not:
- give those terms contractual effect
- show that the employee had notice or had agreed to them.
Employers should as a matter of good practice write to individual members of staff to notify them of the revisions to their terms and conditions of service and place a copy of the notification on each individual’s HR record. This will become particularly important as and when employers seek to change terms in light of proposals in the recent white paper.