April 2025 - March 2026

Stafford Borough Council

What is Trade Union Facility Time?

Facility time is when an employee takes time off from their normal role to carry out their duties and activities as a trade union representative.

Under the Trade Union Facility Time Publication Requirements Regulations 2017 public sector employers must report and publish information on facility time for those employees who are trade union representatives.

Trade Union Facility Time is split into two categories;

Trade Union Duties (paid) and Trade Union Activities (either paid or unpaid). Trade Union representatives are entitled to reasonable paid time off to carry out trade union duties. They are not entitled to paid time off for trade union activities, but an employer can choose to pay for this time.

Some examples of Trade Union Duties

• Duties connected with collective bargaining - for example, on terms and conditions of employment, redundancy, allocation of work.
• Taking part in a negotiation or consultation process - including meeting and corresponding with managers, and informing union members of progress and outcomes.
• Attending a disciplinary or grievance hearing, with trade unions, including allowing reasonable time to prepare.
• Attending training for the trade union representative role.

Some examples of Trade Union Activities

• Discussing internal union matters dealing with internal administration of the union - for example, answering union correspondence meetings other than as part of the negotiating or consultation process.

Trade Union Representatives 

The Council recognises two Trade Unions for the purposes of Collective Bargaining.

In total there are 6 recognised Trade Union Representatives within the Council.  

These Representatives spent no more than 50% of their total working hours on Facility Time between April 2025 and March 2026.