"Transposition of the EU information and consultation Directive means that the UK now has, for the first time, a general statutory framework giving employees the right to insist on being informed and consulted by their employers on a range of key business, employment and restructuring issues. This article assesses the significance of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 in the light of the UK's previous approaches to the regulation of employee consultation and in terms of potential patterns of implementation. A key aspect of the government's legislative strategy has been to maximise employers' flexibility of response to the Regulations, enabling the negotiation of organisation-specific agreements and, controversially, providing scope for reliance on direct rather than representative-based forms of information and consultation. The article examines the options open to employers, employees and trade unions under the Regulations and their possible take-up, drawing on the experience of analogous UK legislation, including that on European Works Councils and trade union recognition."

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