This section of the Guide deals with the rights that employees and job applicants have in relation to trade union membership. These are all set out in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Perhaps the most important is the right not to be discriminated against for being a union member or taking part in union activities (discrimination on trade union grounds). The law acknowledges that individuals who do not wish to join a union should also be protected from discrimination. It is therefore unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual because he or she is not a union member (protection for non-members).
If a company recognises a trade union for the purposes of collective bargaining, the union's officials and members have certain rights to time off work. The union's officials, including shop stewards and learning representatives, are entitled to reasonable paid time off to carry out their functions and to undergo related training (time off for training ) (union learning representatives ). The union's members are entitled to reasonable unpaid time off for union activities, including using the services of their learning representatives (time off for union activities ) (union learning representatives ).
Companies that employ a significant number of union members may be prepared to deduct union membership subscriptions from employees' pay and forward them to the union. There are some legal requirements that 'check off' arrangements of this type must meet (legal regulation of check off ).
A specimen check-off agreement can be found elsewhere in this Guide (specimen documents).
Other aspects of the law that are of importance in relation to trade union membership are dealt with elsewhere in this Guide. Employees may join a trade union in the hope that the union will secure improved terms and conditions of employment for them, through negotiations with the employer. This will be possible, of course, only if their employer bargains with the union, and it may choose not to do so. However, there is a legal procedure that a union can use to secure recognition if it has sufficient support amongst the workforce (statutory procedure for recognition).
Even if their employer does not bargain with unions, employees may decide to join a union for other reasons. One of the most important of these is the assistance the union may provide if an employee is facing disciplinary proceedings or wishes to raise a grievance. Information on the legal right that workers have to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings by a union official of their choice is provided elsewhere in this Guide (the right to be accompanied ).