Industrial relations

Penningtons Manches Cooper’s employment law team has a wealth of expertise in dealing with collective workforce issues, both for employers and trade unions. We provide pragmatic solutions to help businesses develop productive working relationships with trade unions, often in pressurised situations, and guide our clients through the complexities of negotiations.

Legal advice for successful industrial relations

Our highly regarded industrial relations lawyers work with employers in a variety of sectors to manage their engagement with trade unions. At a national level, we advise employers of different sizes on a broad spectrum of industrial relations issues, ranging from the recognition of trade unions to collective agreements and bargaining, collective consultation, strike ballots, strike management and injunctions. We also offer authoritative guidance on the legal issues and strategic management of picketing, public demonstrations and social media campaigning.

We have extensive experience of advising trade unions on industrial relations and collective bargaining, including the detailed requirements for ballots for industrial action and applications for statutory and voluntary collective bargaining. Our specialist trade union solicitors provide unique insights to executive teams on how to negotiate and work with trade unions to best resolve the issues that are at play.

We advise across a range of sectors including education, shipping, energy, manufacturing, aviation, communication, transport and food production. Our client base extends from some of the most highly unionised sectors to those that traditionally have had little union engagement. We tailor our advice to suit the nature of the industrial relations framework for each employer.

Penningtons Manches Cooper guide us with a confident and risk-averse approach that gives us huge peace of mind and confidence to take action on key strategic decisions.

Our expertise covers social and political industrial relations on a national and global level. We have a unique capability associated with the Trade Unions Congress and the International Labour Organization (ILO), which is a United Nations agency. Our industrial relations lawyers advise on ILO labour standards such as the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98), including their use in governent consultations, corporate codes of conduct, framework agreements with trade unions, and CSR/business and human rights initiatives.

Both as a team and individually, we engage in consultations on proposed changes to the law on industrial action, liaise with other stakeholders, and are frequent commentators and writers on industrial relations issues. Widely acknowledged for their specialist expertise, our industrial relations and trade union lawyers are recommended for their work in the latest editions of both Chambers UK and the Legal 500.

How we help our clients

Union recognition agreements, both statutory and voluntary

Advice on the rights of trade union members and officials

Collective bargaining

Collective information and consultation on redundancies and TUPE

Managing strikes and other industrial action

Strike injunctions

Trade union litigation, including collective and individual claims in unionised workplaces

Support for membership organisations

Useful resources

An introduction to industrial action – FAQS for employers

The whole team is fantastic and they talk things through very well. Their communication, standard of work and how they run litigation is second to none.

Penningtons set out the options and discuss them with us, so that as the client we feel that we understand the issues fully and are aware of our options.

I am so impressed with their work ethic, honesty, passion for helping the client and overall service quality. Proud to be associated with them.

Recent work highlights

National strike injunction

Successfully obtaining an injunction in relation to a national strike in the public sector concernng incorrect balloting procedures.

Union recognition and judicial review

Acting for two employers on claims presented under TULRCA over bargaining units proposed by independent trade unions, and subsequently applying for a judicial review of the Central Arbitration Committee’s decision to grant statutory trade union recognition.

Board level strike advice

Providing strike advice to executive teams, including in relation to the legality of strike actions, as well as guidance on strike organisation, ACAS conciliation proceedings and settlement agreements.

Action short of a strike

Advising one of the largest employers in the UK in relation to the effect of overtime bans and temporary cessations of work by three of its recognised trade unions.

Oil and gas collective redundancy

Acting for the successful employer in Seahorse Maritime Limited v Nautilus International, the leading case in the offshore oil and gas sector on the obligation to collectively consult a trade unionised workforce employed on ships in foreign territorial waters.