EU workers given right to data on businesses

A new European directive will give employees in Ireland the right to be informed about the economic health of the business for which they work, provided the business employs at least 50 people.

Under the European Directive on National Information and Consultation, employees will have the right to be informed about the business's prospects and consulted about the employment outlook and any decisions that may lead to substantial changes, including redundancies and transfers.

The precise details are expected to be clarified in the national legislation enacting the directive.

At the moment, employees only have the right to be consulted about collective redundancies, transfers of undertakings and health and safety.

The directive was passed earlier this year and member-states have until March 2005 to implement it. Ireland and Britain are the only two EU member-states that have not yet legislated for the provision of information and consultation frameworks by employers.

According to human resources firm Watson Wyatt, high-profile, large-scale job cuts across Europe have increased pressure on the EU to introduce measures to protect workers' rights.

For example, Marks & Spencer's failure to notify its workforce before closing its main store in Paris resulted in the French courts ordering the re-opening of the store and the reinstatement of the workforce at great cost and negative publicity, according to Mr Martin Light, a consultant specialising in employee communication at Watson Wyatt.

Information and consultation should take place at an appropriate time through appointed employee representatives. Management may withhold commercially sensitive information from employees, if disclosing it would seriously harm the company, or they may ask the employee representative to keep the information confidential.

Watson Wyatt recommends that employers start planning their response to the directive now. Employers and employees may agree to implement information and consultation procedures different to those set out in the directive.