Everyone should be open-minded during consultation.
It's important that employers take on board all the comments made by employees and their representatives during the consultation. After the consultation has ended, employers can:
- change their original suggestions and set out new proposals
- reject the views given by employees and their representatives
- decide not to go ahead with any changes
Whatever the employer chooses to do, they should set out the reason for their decision.
If an employer decides to make changes to the proposal
As an employer, you should be prepared to reconsider your original proposal, for example if:
- there's something you might have overlooked
- another proposal is put forward that might work better
If you decide to make changes, you should give employees and their representatives recognition if their views and ideas played a part.
If an employer decides to go ahead with the original proposal
As an employer, you do not have to act on the views of employees and their representatives if there's a good practical or financial reason for doing so. However, you should:
- set out all the considerations made for not taking their views into account
- after taking into account the considerations, carefully explain the reason for rejecting their views
You must never intimidate or threaten employees or their representatives to try to force them to agree to a change. You should carefully consider the best way to have discussions about how the organisation and its employees might be affected if you cannot agree acceptable changes.
If an employer decides not to go ahead with any changes
As an employer, if you decide not to go ahead with any changes, you should make it clear whether it's something that is going to be reviewed again in the future.