Information and consultation

1. Do the information and consultation ('I&C') regulations apply to us?
2. We only have 27 employees. Will these regulations apply to us some time in the future?
3. We employ people on a seasonal basis, going to well over 200 for three months of the year, but otherwise only two or three. Are we caught by the legislation?
4. We employ a large number of part-time workers. How do we calculate whether we are affected?
5. So the regulations apply to us - what do we have to do?
6. We have an existing agreement on informing and consulting employees. Will that be OK?
7. So should we initiate negotiations for agreeing a new I&C agreement, even though we already have one?
8. Our existing arrangements work well, but they don't cover all employees, and they have never been formally approved. Can we remedy these deficiencies now?
9. We don't have any sort of I&C procedure - can we be forced into this whole process by a single trouble-maker?
10. An employee has said he will be asking us for data on our employees, for information and consultation purposes. Do we have to provide it?
11. If we get a request for negotiations over an I&C agreement, how long do we have to work out whether the request is valid?
12. Should we initiate negotiations for setting up an I&C agreement ourselves?
13. Once we have entered into negotiations, how long do we have to reach an agreement?
14. What are we negotiating over?
15. Are the negotiating representatives and the I&C representatives the same?
16. If we refuse to enter into negotiations, or do so but fail to agree, what happens? What are 'standard procedures'?
17. Once our agreement is in place, do we have to take any notice of what employees say in consultation?
18. Are there matters we can avoid informing or consulting about? What about trade secrets, or takeover negotiations?
19. What good is supposed to come out of all this?
20. Can employees ask for changes to a negotiated agreement, once it is made? Will we have to go through this palaver every three or six months?
21. What do we do if the new I&C arrangements don't work satisfactorily?
22. What happens if we just ignore the whole thing?
23. What are the penalties for ignoring requests for action on I&C, and under what circumstances might they be invoked?