Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 not set to bite in education

In January 2023 we wrote about the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill (article available here). The Bill received Royal Assent in July 2023 and to recap, under the Act, when a trade union calls a strike in a service (education is a service for the purpose of the Act) to which minimum service levels apply (minimum service levels do not exist yet in education), after consulting the union, employers can issue work notices identifying the workers that are required to work and the work they are required to do to ensure the minimum service level is met during the strike. The work notice must not identify more workers than are "reasonably necessary" to meet the minimum service requirement.

The Act only bites in relation to a service once there are minimum service levels which the Act envisages being introduced through minimum service regulations. Before minimum service regulations (and thus levels) are introduced in education there must be a consultation. In February 2023, the Government commenced a consultation on minimum service levels in the following services: ambulance, fire and rescue, and passenger rail services. It has not yet commenced a consultation on minimum service levels in education and indicated back in January 2023 that it hopes to not have to use the Act for other sectors including education. The upshot is that at least for the meantime, the Act will not apply to education services.

To see our comment on the Bill in January 2023, click here.