Sect. 32.   Terms of collective agreement.

(1) A collective agreement shall -

(a) be in writing and signed by the parties to the agreement;

(b) contain the date on which it is to become effective;

(c) contain procedures for the avoidance and settlement of disputes arising out of the interpretation, application and administration of the agreement, which may include a reference to conciliation or arbitration;

(d) provide for such other matters as may be agreed between the parties.

(2) The provisions of collective agreements shall not be less advantageous to employees than the provisions of this Act or regulations made thereunder.

Sect. 33.  Enforceability of collective agreements.

(1) A collective agreement is binding upon -

(a) the parties to the agreement;

(b) the employees who are or become members of a trade union party to the agreement to the extent that the agreement relates to them;

(c) the employers who are or become members of an employers organization party to the agreement to the extent that the agreement relates to their employees.

(2) The terms of the collective agreement are deemed to be incorporated into the employment contract of each employee who is covered by the collective agreement.

(3) Nothing in this Part shall effect the validity of a collective agreement in force immediately prior to the coming into force of this Act, and such agreement shall remain in force until it expires or is replaced by another collective agreements.

Sect. 34.    Submission of collective agreements.   The parties to a collective agreement shall deposit a copy of the collective agreement with the registrar.

[Malawi, Labour Relations Act, 1996]

Sect. 43. Form and content of collective agreements.  A collective agreement shall -

(a) be in writing and signed by the parties to the agreements,

(b) specify the bargaining unit to which it applies;

(c) specify the date on which it is to become effective;

(d) unless the parties have in another collective agreement made such provision, contain procedures for the settlement of disputes between the parties regarding the interpretation, application and administration of the agreements; and

(e) provide for such other matters as are agreed between the parties.

Sect. 45, Termination of agreement of indefinite duration

Unless the collective agreement otherwise provides, any party to a collective agreement that was concluded for an indefinite duration may terminate the agreement after it has been in effect for two years by giving reasonable notice to the other parties.

Sect. 46. Effect of collective agreements.

a collective agreement binds -

(a) the parties to the agreement or members of an industrial council that concluded the agreements,

(b) all members of any organization party to the agreement or member of an industrial council that concluded the agreement, to the ext that the agreement relates to them

(c) all employees in a bargaining unit covered by the agreement if a part to the agreement has been recognized or certified as the sole bargaining agent for the unit in accordance with this part or of any enterprise or workplace covered by an industrial council that concluded the agreement to the extent that the agreement relates to them.

The terms of a collective agreement to the extent that they are applicable, shall be deemed to be incorporated into the employment contract between an employee and an employer who are covered by the agreement and to amend or replace any term of that contract that is in conflict with the agreement.

Sect. 47. Relationship between collective agreements and laws and regulations.

(1) Collective agreements shall not contain provisions less favourable to employees than legislative provisions or regulations unless and to the extent that the legislation or regulations so provide.

(2) [...] Sect. 48.  Extension of collective agreements.

(1) The parties to a multi-employer collective agreement may jointly apply to the Tribunal to make the agreement or certain of its provisions binding upon employers and employees not otherwise subject to the agreement if -

(a) the employers and employees to which the  agreement is to be extended are engaged in an activity of the same kind as that carried out by those covered by the agreement;

(b)  the parties to the agreement are sufficiently representative of employers and employees in the activity concerned.

(2) On receipt of such application, the Tribunal shall refer the matter to the Commission [the body to be responsible for determining representativeness]  for a determination of whether the conditions specified in subsection (1) are met and the Commission shall report its findings to the Tribunal.

(3) Where the Commission determines that the conditions specified in subsection (1) are met the Tribunal shall,

(a) consult with the employers to which the application relates and the registered trade unions representing the employees to which the application relates;

(b) unless it has reason to believe that it would be significantly prejudicial to the viability of enterprises or employment in the sector of industrial activities concerned, issue and order extending the collective agreement to the employers and employees concerned and where appropriate to the trade unions concerned;

(c) specify in such order the date on which the order and agreement shall take effect.

(4) Where the Tribunal issues and extension order under this section, the collective agreement concerned shall apply to the employers, employees and trade unions to which it is extended in the same way as to the original parties to the agreement and their members.

(5) Any employer or trade union which was not a party to the original collective agreement and to which the extended agreement would apply, if it believes that coverage by an agreement would be prejudicial to the viability of, or employment in, the enterprise or workplace concerned, may apply to the Tribunal to have that enterprise or workplace exempted from all or certain of its provisions.

Sect. 49. Registration of collective agreements.

(1) A collective agreement shall not e enforceable as such by the court or Tribunal unless it is registered with the Commission by one of the parties to it.

(2) When a collective agreement submitted for registration fails to include any of the matters required by section [on form and content of collective agreements] to be included, the Commission shall provide the parties with information and advice on the matter as it deems appropriate.

Sect. 50. Successor rights and obligations.

(1) If an enterprise or part of an enterprise is sold, leased, transferred or otherwise disposed of, the purchaser, lessee or transferee shall be bound by any collective agreement that was in effect before the sale, lease, transfer or other disposition.

(2) Where a dispute before it refers to the issue of successor rights and obligations, the Court or Tribunal may -

(a) Request the Commission to determine whether the existing bargaining unit and bargaining agent continue to be appropriate and if not to determine the bargaining unit and the representativeness of the bargaining agent in accordance with section ;

(b) Require the employer or employers' organization concerned and the bargaining agent to meet and negotiate any differences arising regarding the content of the agreement in force;

(c) Determine by a decision or an award, which shall be final and binding on the parties, any remaining differences.

Sect. 51. Interpretation and enforcement.

Any dispute regarding the interpretation or application of a registered collective agreement or its conformity with the law or regulation may be brought by a trade union, group of trade unions acting jointly, employer or employers' organization party to the agreement to the Court for determination, after having exhausted any applicable procedure provided in the agreement.  The decision of the Court shall be binding.

[ILO draft provisions for a Member country]

Chapter 1. Nature and validity of collective agreements.
Sect. 71. 1. A collective labour agreement is an agreement relating to terms and conditions of employment and work concluded between, on the one hand, the representatives of one or more trade unions or occupational groupings of workers and, on the other, one or more occupational organizations of employers or any other grouping of employers or one or more employers individually.

Sect. 71. 2. An agreement may contain provisions that are more favourable to workers than those of the laws or regulations in force. It may not derogate from the public policy provisions set out in such laws and regulations.

Sect. 71. 3. Collective agreements shall determine their scope of application. At the occupational level, such scope shall be determined in terms of branches of activity. In geographical terms, it may be national, regional or local.

Where a collective agreement covering one or more specific branches of activity has been concluded at a particular level, the collective agreements concluded at a lower level shall adapt such agreement or certain of its provisions to the specific conditions of work existing at the lower level. They may contain new provisions and clauses that are more favourable to the workers.

Sect. 71. 4. The representatives of trade union organizations or of any other occupational grouping covered by the previous section may conclude an agreement on behalf of the organization that they represent under the terms:

- either of the rules of that organization; or

- of a special resolution of that organization; or

- of specific terms of reference conferred upon them individually and in writing by all the members of that organization.

In the absence of the above, to be valid, the collective agreement must be endorsed by a special resolution of the above grouping. The groupings concerned shall themselves determine the procedures respecting the resolution.

Sect. 71. 5. A collective agreement shall be concluded for a specified period of time or for an unlimited duration. Where it is concluded for a specific period of time, this may not exceed five years.

Unless otherwise stipulated, an agreement for a specified period which expires shall continue to be effective in the same way as an agreement for an unlimited duration.

An agreement for an unlimited duration may be terminated at the will of one of the parties.

Sect. 71. 6. A collective agreement shall provide for the manner and periods at which it may be denounced, renewed or revised. The collective agreement shall provide, among other matters, for the length of the period of notice which must precede its denunciation.

Sect. 71. 7. Any occupational trade union or employer that is not a party to a collective agreement may adhere to it subsequently.

Sect. 71. 8. To be valid, a collective agreement must be drawn up in French.

The conditions under which collective agreements are filed, published and translated, and the conditions under which they may be adhered to as envisaged in the last part of the previous section shall be determined by regulation.

Sect. 71. 9. All persons who have signed the collective agreement individually or who are members of signatory organizations shall be subject to the obligations deriving therefrom. The agreement shall also be binding upon organizations that adhere to it and upon those persons who become members of such organizations at any time.

Where an employer is bound by the stipulations of a collective labour agreement, such stipulations shall apply to contracts of employment concluded with the employer.

In any establishment covered by the scope of a collective agreement, the provisions of such an agreement shall apply, except where there are more favourable provisions for the workers, to the relationships deriving from individual or collective contracts. (…)

Chapter 3. Collective workplace agreements

Sect. 73. 1. Agreements covering one or more specific workplaces may be concluded between, on the one hand, an employer or group of employers and, on the other, representatives of the trade unions representative of the staff of the workplace or workplaces concerned.

Sect. 73. 2. The purpose of workplace agreements is to adapt to the specific conditions of the workplace or workplaces concerned the provisions of national, regional or local collective agreements and, in particular, the conditions for the attribution and calculation of piecework remuneration rates, individual and collective production bonuses and productivity bonuses.

They may contain new provisions and provisions that are more favourable to the workers.

The provisions of sections 71.5, 71.6, 71.8 and 71.9 shall apply to the agreements envisaged in the present section.

(…)

Chapter 5. Implementation of collective agreements

Sect. 75. 1. Groupings of workers or of employers bound by a collective agreement or a workplace agreement shall refrain from any act that is liable to jeopardize its fair implementation.

They shall only be guarantors of such implementation to the extent determined by the agreement.

Sect. 75. 2. Groupings entitled to go to law, which are bound by a collective labour agreement or an agreement as envisaged in section 73.1. above, may take action on their own behalf to seek compensation against any other groupings, their own members or any persons bound by the agreement who are in violation of the undertakings set forth therein.

Sect. 75. 3. Persons bound by a collective agreement or an agreement as envisaged in section 73.1. above may take action to seek compensation against other persons or groupings bound by the agreement which are in their regard in contravention of the undertakings set out therein.

Sect. 75. 4. Groupings entitled to go to law, which are bound by a collective labour agreement or an agreement as envisaged in section 73.1. above, may take any action arising out of the agreement in favour of their own members, without having to justify their action by a mandate from the person concerned, provided that the latter has been notified and has not indicated opposition to such action. The person concerned may at all times intervene in the body to which the grouping has referred the matter.

Where legal action arising out of the collective agreement or other agreement is taken either by an individual or a grouping, any grouping entitled to go to law, of which the members are bound by the agreement, may intervene at any time before the body by reason of the collective interest that the resolution of the dispute may offer for its members.

[Côte d'Ivoire, Labour Code, 1995]