Harbours Act, 1996
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FIFTH SCHEDULE Election of Employee Directors | ||
1. (1) The Secretary of the company (or a person selected by him or her after consultation with representatives of the employees) shall be the returning officer for an election of a person or persons for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) of section 30 (1) (hereafter in this Schedule referred to as “the election”). | ||
(2) The returning officer shall not be entitled to be nominated as, or to nominate, act as agent for or promote the interests of, a candidate at the election. | ||
(3) The returning officer may delegate to a person such of his or her functions under this Schedule as he or she specifies and functions so delegated to a person shall be performable by that person. Subparagraph (2) shall apply to such a person. | ||
2. (1) A poll shall be conducted for the purposes of the election where the number of candidates standing nominated in accordance with this Schedule exceeds the number of offices of director to be filled. | ||
(2) Voting at the election shall be by secret ballot and on the basis of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. | ||
(3) The election shall be held in accordance with such procedures (if any) as may be prescribed. | ||
(4) The returning officer shall appoint such number of persons as he or she thinks appropriate to perform the functions of presiding officers and polling clerks at the poll conducted for the purposes of the election. | ||
3. (1) The returning officer shall fix the nomination day for candidates at the election and give notice of the election not later than 10 weeks before that day. | ||
(2) The day to be fixed under subparagraph (1) shall be not earlier than 6 weeks after the day on which eligibility of voters and candidates at the election is determined in accordance with paragraphs 10 and 11, respectively. | ||
4. (1) The returning officer shall, where only one or two persons stand nominated as a candidate or candidates in accordance with this Schedule for election to an office of director referred to in section 30 (1) (a), declare that person or, as the case may be, each of those persons to be elected to such an office. | ||
(2) The returning officer shall, where only one person stands nominated as a candidate in accordance with this Schedule for election to the office of director referred to in section 30 (1) (b), declare that person to be elected to that office. | ||
5. If the nomination of candidates or the poll conducted for the purposes of the election is interrupted or cannot be proceeded with the returning officer may adjourn the nomination or poll for such period as he or she considers appropriate to enable him or her, on its expiration, to proceed with or complete the nomination or poll. | ||
6. On receipt of a notification from the returning officer of the name of the candidate or candidates elected, or declared to be elected under paragraph 4, the Minister shall, in accordance with section 30 , appoint the candidate or, as the case may be, each of the candidates to be a director of the company. | ||
7. The returning officer shall for the purposes of paragraph 8 prepare a list of the names of the other candidates at the election placed in order of the votes credited to each of them at the last count in which he or she was involved. | ||
8. In choosing a person to fill a casual vacancy referred to in section 30 (3) the Minister shall select the candidate, if any, placed highest on the voting list under paragraph 7 who is an employee of the company at the time the vacancy comes to be filled. Where two or more such candidates are credited with an equal number of votes on the said list the Minister shall select one of them by lot. | ||
9. The company shall bear the costs of holding the election other than any costs incurred by candidates expressly on their own behalf. | ||
10. Every employee of the company who, on the day specified by the returning officer and on the day on which the poll is taken— | ||
(a) is not less than 18 years of age, and | ||
(b) has been an employee of the company for— | ||
(i) a continuous period of not less than 1 year, or | ||
(ii) a continuous period of not less than 13 weeks and is normally expected to work not less than 8 hours a week for the company, | ||
shall be entitled to vote at the election. | ||
11. (1) Every employee of the company who, on the day specified by the returning officer under paragraph 10— | ||
(a) is not less than 18 years of age, and | ||
(b) has been an employee of the company for— | ||
(i) a continuous period of not less than 1 year, or | ||
(ii) a continuous period of not less than 13 weeks and is normally expected to work not less than 8 hours a week for the company, | ||
shall be eligible to be nominated as a candidate at the election. | ||
(2) Nominations shall be made in the manner specified by the returning officer. | ||
(3) A candidate may be nominated by a recognised trade union or staff association or jointly by two or more such bodies but no such body shall be entitled both to nominate one or more candidates of its own accord and to nominate one or more candidates jointly with another such body or bodies. | ||
(4) The returning officer shall rule on the validity of nominations. The decision of the returning officer shall be final. | ||
12. Prior service (for a continuous period ending on the relevant vesting day) with a harbour authority or in the Department of the Marine (as the case may be) of staff transferred under section 38 to the company on the said day shall be reckonable as service with the company for the purposes of paragraphs 10 and 11. | ||
13. The returning officer shall prepare and maintain a list of eligible voters and candidates for the purposes of this Schedule. | ||
14. The returning officer shall prepare and maintain a list of recognised trade unions and staff associations for the purposes of this Schedule. |