GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Emma Lejeune, Stuart Dalmedo, Adrian Pilcher, Nicholas Isola, Danielle Victor, James Castle, Louise Anne Turnock and Danielle Curtis, ISOLAS LLP
ations (as discussed in 4.4 Termination of Employ - ment Contracts) or where an employee is affected by a transfer of an undertaking commonly known as TUPE. • Additionally, the Employment (Information and Consultation of Employees) Regulations 2005 provide a framework for the rights to information and consultation upon the request of employees. In such cases, the employer must make a formal agreement about what business information it will share with its employees and when it will consult them, provided the employer employs a minimum of 50 employees, and 15 employees or 10% of the total workforce (whichever number is greater) make the request. Before the consultation process commences, the employer must arrange for its employees to elect the relevant number of informa - tion and consultation representatives by ballot: this means one representative per 50 employees or part thereof, provided that that number is at least two and does not exceed 25. • Sub-Regulation 4 (1) of the Employment (Trade Union Recognition) Regulations provide that if a trade union wants to negotiate with an employer on behalf of a bargaining unit (defined as the group of employees concerned), it must be (a) registered and (b) recognised by that employer. The trade union may apply in writing to an employer for rec - ognition as a bargaining agent (any such applica - tion needing to comply with Sub-Regulation 4 (4)) with the employer required within ten working days of receipt of that application to inform the trade union in writing whether it recognises that trade union as a bargaining agent or refuses to recognise the trade union as a bargaining agent and state the reasons thereof (Sub-Regulation 4 (5)). If the employer accepts the request for recognition then the parties must decide on a bargaining proce - dure. However, if the employer rejects the request for recognition, but (a) agrees to negotiate further, then a further 20 working days will be provided to negotiate (which can be extended by agreement of both parties under Sub-Regulation (7)) or (b) does not agree to negotiate further, then the trade union may apply to the Director of Employment for statutory recognition in accordance with Regula - tion 5 (Sub-Regulation 4 (6)). Regulation 5 contains the regulations relating to an application to the
Director of Employment for a statutory recognition order directing the employer to recognise the trade union, but there are basic requirements that must be fulfilled for an application for statutory recogni - tion including that the employer must employ a minimum of 21 employees or at least average 21 employees in the 13 weeks ending with the day on which the request was received. There are regula - tions focusing on collective agreements (Regula - tion 7), bargaining units and disclosure of informa - tion (Regulation 10) and rights to be accompanied to a disciplinary or grievance hearing (Regulation 10).
5. Tax Law 5.1 Taxes Applicable to Employees/
Employers Income Tax
Income tax is charged on the profits or gains from any office or employment arising in or from Gibraltar, including any allowances, perquisites or benefits in kind (such as expense payments, vouchers and credit tokens, living accommodation, car expenditure and loans to employees). For employees, tax on the income from employment is deducted from wages and salaries under the pay-as- you-earn (PAYE) system. An employer is required to deduct tax from the wages of the employee on each pay, and then pay the tax by the 15th day of the fol - lowing month. Taxpayers may, in their tax return, choose between an allowance-based system (ABS) or a gross income- based system (GIBS). However, irrespective of the system opted for, on final assessment the Income Tax Office will apply the system most beneficial to the taxpayer. Allowance-Based System (ABS) This system enables an individual to claim certain allowances against assessable income. Allowances include: • personal; • spouse;
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