A Study of the Outcomes of the Transposition of the EU Directive on Employee Information and Consultation in Two Jurisdictions

Abstract

This thesis examines the impact of the European Union Directive on Employee Information and Consultation (ICED) (2002/EC/14) in workplaces in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Evidence is derived from six research sites in three case study companies operating on a cross border basis. The ICED created for the first time a legal right for employees to obtain information on a specific ongoing basis from their employers. There was considerable anticipation from the academic and practitioner communities that ICED would transform or at the very least have a significant impact on the provision of employee voice. The main rationale of the thesis was to investigate the potential of the regulatory effect of the ICED in terms of shifting the axis of employment regulation and in any subsequent modification of workplace employee voice forms and practices. The investigation was a systematic study that examined the role of workplace governance regimes in shaping the outcomes of voice as observed through the lens of the ICED regulations and the concept of regulatory space. The main conclusion of the study was that the ICED had little workplace impact for a number of differential reasons. Primarily the regularity space for the ICED regulations was captured in the interests of preserving voluntarist and existing voice forms and practices. The type of governance regimes in individual workplaces played a significant part in determining the outcomes experienced by employees from the ICED regulations. As such this thesis makes a contribution to the theory of workplace governance regimes and their role as rule makers in the political arena of employment regulation.