The election is now over and we will have a Labour/Alliance coalition government. How will this effect employment law?

Labour plan to repeal the Employment Contracts Act and replace it with a new Act called the Employment Relations Act. Labour will not reinstate national awards and compulsory unionism. Union membership will remain optional.

Collective and individual employment contracts are to be retained, but the way in which they are negotiated will change. Only unions will have the right to negotiate collective employment contracts, and only union members may be parties to them. Anyone may negotiate or be a party to an individual employment contract.

To strengthen the ability of unions to negotiate on behalf of their members, they will be given greater rights of access to the workplace. Union members will also be entitled to attend two union meetings per year on pay.

The new Act will also require parties to bargain in good faith. This means that parties must deal openly and honestly with one another, and respect each other's choice of bargaining agent. The Employment Court will be given the function of enforcing the good faith bargaining provisions of the new Act, and will also have a wide range of remedies available to deal will any breaches. It is also likely that the concept of "good faith bargaining" will not be defined in the Act, and the Employment Court will be given the task of developing, through case law, exactly what it means.

Labour are also considering enacting provisions that require employers to pay for employees covered by a collective employment contract to attend seminars on employment relations education, including the concept of good faith bargaining.

Under the Employment Contracts Act, employees are given protection against "harsh and oppressive" conduct in the bargaining process, and may also claim relief from the Employment Court if their contract is "harsh and oppressive". The words "harsh and oppressive" impose a very high test for employees to meet, and in the nine years since the Employment Contracts Act was enacted very few cases have been successful. Labour plan to lower the threshold, so that employees are given protection from "unfair" contracts. Again, the concept of "unfair" contracts is unlikely to be defined in the new Act and the Employment Court will be given the task of developing, through case law, exactly what it means.

To assist with the change to the new Act, all existing employment contracts will end on 1 June 2001 unless they expire before that date. Employers and employees will then be required to negotiate replacement contracts under the provisions of the new Act.

The personal grievance provisions will remain largely unchanged except that reinstatement will become the primary remedy for employees who have been unjustifiably dismissed. This is likely to bring an increase in litigation as employees who want reinstatement will be more inclined to proceed through to an adjudication hearing, rather than settling for monetary compensation at mediation. It will also mean that employers will have to pay more to employees to persuade them to settle their cases for monetary compensation out of Court or at mediation.

There is also likely to be a substantial increase in the number of employees who apply to the Employment Court for interim reinstatement pending the determination of their personal grievances. This is because making reinstatement the primary remedy makes interim reinstatement easier for employees to get.

Employees will also have the right to remain employed on similar terms and conditions when a business changes hands. Their employment will be deemed continuous

Labour is also considering extending the new Act to cover dependant contractors. These are people who are not employees, but are totally dependent on the person or company they are contracted to for their work and earnings. For example, courier drivers.

The upshot of the new Act is that employees (and dependent contractors) will be given greater bargaining rights and increased job security. There is likely to be an increase in litigation as employees seek to enforce their new rights. Litigation will also increase when the new Act is first introduced as employers, employees and unions seek to test its boundaries. It will take time for the Employment Tribunal, Employment Court and the Court of Appeal to develop, through case law, what the various provisions of the new Act mean. Additional Judges and Tribunal members may have to be appointed to the Employment Court and Tribunal to cope with the extra workload.

The new Act gives greater recognition and rights to unions. This is likely to bring about a revival in the trade union movement, though it is unlikely to reach the heights that it did in the 1980's when there was compulsory unionism.

The Alliance party's employment policies give even greater rights to employees and unions than those of Labour, and it remains to be seen how much influence they will have over their senior coalition partner in terms of the new Act and its contents.