Checklist for ballots where voting papers were sent to employees on or after 1 March 2017.

This checklist is for ballots where voting papers were sent to employees on or after 1 March 2017. Please take advice if the trade union is relying on a ballot which was opened before 1 March 2017, when the law on ballots was different. These ballots are still relevant because as long as the industrial action started within tour weeks (can be extended to eight weeks by agreement) of the date the ballot closed there is no fixed end date to the validity of the ballot.

Has there been a ballot before the industrial action took place?
If so, consider the following questions. If the answer to any of them is ‘no’ it is possible that the ballot is invalid and any subsequent industrial action could be invalid. We recommend you contact us to discuss the details before taking any action.

NB: Minor accidental infringements of the balloting process are unlikely to make the ballot invalid.