The law also prohibits employers from discriminating against those who choose not to join a union. It is therefore unlawful for a company to refuse to recruit an individual because he or she is not a union member.
When advertising a job, it is important not to suggest that the post is open only to union members. If an advertisement indicates that being a union member is a pre-condition for employment and a non-member unsuccessfully applies for the job, the law views that person as having been refused the job on union grounds, regardless of the real reason for the decision.
An employer is also acting unlawfully if it puts an employee under any form of disadvantage in order to compel him or her to become a union member. And it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee or to select him or her for redundancy on the grounds that the individual is not a union member or refuses to become one.
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual for not being a union member even if it was pressurised into doing so by a union taking or threatening to take industrial action. In those circumstances, however, an employment tribunal may order that the union should join the employer in defending any discrimination claim that the individual then makes, and should pay all or part of any compensation that is awarded.
As a result of these legal provisions, the operation of 'pre-entry' or 'post-entry' closed-shop arrangements, whereby an employer recruits or employs only trade union members, is very likely to be unlawful, as are union-only labour supply arrangements and practices.