Certification Officer

No. The Certification Office website shows a list of all trade unions and, where an annual return has been submitted, their contact details. However the Certification Officer can not make any recommendations on which union you should join. 
 
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) on their website (http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/join_union.cfm) gives advice on which union to join. However you should be aware that not all unions are affiliated to the TUC. 

You can check whether a body is a trade union or employers’ association by going to Trade Unions or Employers' Associations pages on this site, and examining the lists and schedules to the list.

It is for the Union to follow an Order made by the Certification Officer.  If the Union fails to do so, the Order may be enforced in the same way as an Order of a court.  We would suggest you take your own legal advice on this matter.

Please ­click here to find statistics on the number of trade unions and employers’ associations since 1975 and click here for trade union membership figures since 1975.

The statutory definition of a trade union as contained in section 1 of the 1992 Act is:

A “trade union” means an organisation (whether temporary or permanent)-

(a) which consists wholly or mainly of workers of one or more descriptions and whose principal purposes include the
      regulation of relations between workers of that description or those descriptions and employers or employers’  
      associations; or
(b) which consists wholly or mainly of-
      (i) constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil the conditions in paragraph (a)(or themselves consist  wholly or 
          mainly of constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil those conditions), or
     (ii) representatives of such constituent or affiliated organisations, and whose principal purposes include the regulations of
          relations between workers and employers or between workers and employers’ associations, or the regulation of 
          relations between its constituent or affiliated organisations.
 

A trade union is a voluntary members’ organisation.  It is open to any group of workers to establish a trade union.  There is no set formula for doing this.  As with most organisations, a trade union will usually require a set of rules establishing for example its objects, its rules on membership and its systems of governance.  There are a few statutory requirements on what should be in the rules and there are certain statutory duties relating to the administration of a union, which those establishing or running a trade union must be aware of.  These include: the duty to maintain a proper system of accounting and a register of members; the duty to submit audited annual returns; the duty to hold elections for certain offices.  The Certification Officer does not provide advice on setting up trade unions and generally this office recommends taking some legal advice on the process.

The statutory definitions of an employers’ association as contained in section 122 of the 1992 Act is:

An “employers’ association” means an organisation (whether temporary or permanent)-

(a) which consists wholly or mainly of employers or individual owners of undertakings of one or more descriptions and
      whose principal purposes include the regulation of relations between employers of that description or those descriptions
      and workers or trade unions; or
(b) which consists wholly or mainly of-
      (i) constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil the conditions in paragraph (a)(or themselves consist  wholly or
           mainly of constituent or affiliated organisations which fulfil those conditions), or
      (ii) representatives of such constituent or affiliated organisations, and whose principal purposes include the regulations
           of relations between employers and workers or between employers and trade unions, or the regulation of relations
           between its constituent or affiliated organisations.
 

There is no set formula for setting up an employers association.  As with many organisations, an employers association will usually require a set of rules establishing for example its objectives, its rules on membership and its system of governance.

There are a few statutory requirements on what should be in the rules and there are certain statutory duties relating to the administration of an employers association, which those establishing or running an employers association must be aware of.  These include: the duty to maintain a proper system of accounting and a register of members; the duty to submit audited annual returns; the duty to hold elections for certain offices.  The Certification Officer does not provide advice on setting up an employers association and generally this office recommends taking some legal advice on the process.
 

No. There is no requirement for trade unions or employers’ associations to be registered/listed. However, if an organisation satisfies the statutory definition of a trade union or employers’ association, it is required to comply with various statutory provisions whether or not it is registered/listed. These requirements are set out in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (as amended). Any such organisations can voluntarily apply for entry on the list of trade unions and employers' associations maintained by the Certification Officer. See Chapter 1 of the Annual Report for further details.  The schedule to the list contains the names of those trade unions known to the Certification Officer which have no applied to be on the list.

For trade unions, listing is an essential preliminary to any application for a certificate of independence under section 6 of the 1992 Act. It is also one of the requirements for obtaining tax relief in respect of expenditure on provident benefits (section 981 Corporation Tax Act 2010) and a listed union enjoys certain procedural advantages in connection with the devolution of property following a change of trustees (section 13 of the 1992 Act). There are no equivalent advantages for employers' associations. However, there are two benefits of listing which are shared by trade unions and employers’ associations. The fact of being on the relevant list is evidence (in Scotland, sufficient evidence) that the organisation is a trade union or an employers’ association. Further, the name of a trade union or employers’ association is protected by the provision that an organisation shall not be entered in the relevant list if its name so nearly resembles the name of an organisation already on that list as to be likely to deceive the public.