The compensation system is an integral part of the collective agreement as it defines minimum wages. Portuguese law distinguishes three types of collective agreements according to the nature of the signatories on the employer side (Article 2, Collective Labour Relations Act): association agreements negotiated by employers` organisations; multi-employer agreements negotiated by a number of employers who, whether or not they are members of employer organizations, do not act through any association to negotiate the agreement in question; Agreements concluded at the company level by a single employer. This distinction is used by law to resolve specific conflicts between collective agreements (see also collective bargaining: level of bargaining, instruments of collective labour regulation). Another legal distinction, based on the different nature of the scope of collective agreements, is defined by horizontal and vertical agreements (see below). The collective agreement guarantees the correct evolution of wages. To this end, he agrees with the minimum wages and general wage increases that form the basis of the employee compensation system. In addition, you can negotiate your personal increases. The Collective Bargaining Act has four fundamental points: in general law, Ford/A.U.E.F. [1969],[8] the courts have once declared that collective agreements are not binding.
Second, the Industrial Relations Act, introduced by Robert Carr (Minister of Labour in Edward Heath`s office), provided in 1971 that collective agreements were binding, unless a written contractual clause indicated otherwise. Following the fall of the Heath government, the law was struck down to reflect the tradition of the British labour relations policy of legal abstention from labour disputes. A collective agreement (TES) is an interim contract between a union and an employer union on the conditions of employment observed in this area. Once the NRL has certified a union as an exclusive bargaining partner, the union has an irrefutable presumption of one-year majority support (River Dyeing – Finishing Corp. v. NLRB, 482 U.S. 27, 107 S. 2225, 96 L. Ed. 2d 22 [1987]). This year, the employer must not refuse to negotiate with the union because the union does not represent a majority of workers.