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Holiday entitlement for employees on statutory family-related leave

Know how much holiday to give your staff

In this guide:

Advantages of managing staff holiday entitlement

Details the advantages of managing holiday entitlement for workers in your business.

It is beneficial to both your business and your staff if you manage holiday entitlement correctly.

Disagreements over holidays and holiday pay are common if entitlements are not clearly agreed upon and set out in writing. These disagreements could lead to a deterioration in your relationship with your staff and possible complaints to industrial tribunals.

In addition, almost all workers above school leaving age are entitled to statutory paid holiday entitlement, so you should be aware of what this means for your business and manage how it is worked out for each worker.

Advantages of managing staff holiday entitlement

Effectively managing staff holiday entitlement can bring several business benefits:

Staff motivation

Staff who can take regular holidays can feel more valued and become more motivated about their work, which helps them perform more effectively.

Reduction in stress and mistakes

Having a break from the workplace ensures staff are less prone to mistakes or accidents and less likely to suffer from stress because they have regular opportunities to rest.

Fair treatment

Having an annual leave policy and including paid holiday entitlement in employees' employment contracts ensures the rules and processes are clear to everyone. This will help you to take a consistent approach to annual leave across the business so that employees feel they have been treated fairly.

Prepare and plan for leave

Having an annual leave policy and appropriate procedures in place also minimises the opportunity for disputes. A worker is more likely to be granted an annual leave request if the appropriate procedure has been followed and they have given you sufficient notice of the leave so you can prepare for the absence.

Less sick leave and staff turnover

You should also experience a decrease in sick leave and staff turnover because staff feel more appreciated overall and are less likely to resort to sick leave when they need to take time off work.

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Holiday entitlement and statutory holiday pay

Minimum statutory annual leave entitlement, unused holidays, and how to set these arrangements out in writing.
Almost all workers above school leaving age - not just employees but also, for example, agency and casual workers - are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per leave year (28 days for a worker working a five or six-day week).

The 5.6 weeks is a minimum holiday entitlement - you can choose to offer more.

You can count any days off for public or bank holidays towards a worker's statutory holiday entitlement - but only as long as you pay them for those days off. See bank and public holiday dates.

Workers below school leaving age must have a two-week break during school holidays. Read more on employing children and young people.

When leave years may start

You may decide to have one date when your business' leave year starts or have different start dates for individual workers (or groups of workers).

If you do not have written leave arrangements, a leave year will start on the date a worker's employment begins and on each subsequent anniversary of that date.

Holiday entitlement: staff working a six-day week

The statutory paid holiday entitlement is capped at 28 days.

Although 5.6 weeks would equal 33.6 days for someone working a six-day week (5.6 x 6), because of the cap, staff working a six-day week are only entitled to 28 days' paid holiday. However, that is the minimum statutory allowance. If you wish you can increase the holiday entitlement under an employee's contract of employment.

Holiday entitlement and the contract of employment

You must set out an employee's paid holiday entitlement in their written statement of terms and conditions of employment.

This should enable them to work out their entitlement and pay for any untaken holiday if they leave. See the employment contract.

Workers not entitled to the statutory minimum paid holiday entitlement

The following types of workers do not have the right to benefit from the minimum paid holiday entitlement:

The genuinely self-employed, who can take as little or as much holiday as they choose.

Those whose jobs may conflict with the requirement to take annual leave requirements, eg the armed forces, the police, and those involved in civil protection (these workers have to rely on their contracts of employment for their rights to holiday).

Workers in some sectors are excluded from the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 because they are covered by separate regulations. The entitlement to annual leave of mobile staff working in the civil aviation sector, for example, is governed by the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004.

Carrying over unused paid holiday

A worker may wish to carry over unused holidays from the current leave year to the next.

Under European Union (EU) derived law, a worker must take at least 4 weeks holiday per leave year. If they take less than this, they cannot carry it over.

However, in the UK, the statutory entitlement is 5.6 weeks. What a worker may do with the additional 1.6 weeks depends on their employer's arrangements. You can either:

have an arrangement that workers must take their full statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks in any leave year

allow workers to carry over any of the additional 1.6 weeks that remain untaken into the next leave year - although they must take it by the end of the next leave year

If an employee has an additional contractual entitlement over and above the 5.6 weeks, it again depends on their contract of employment whether or not they can either carry it over or will receive pay in lieu for any of the entitlement that remains untaken.

If you do allow workers to carry over any contractual annual leave entitlement, you can have your own rules on when they must take it. For example, you could state that workers must take the carried-over leave within three months of the start of the next leave year.
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Calculate holiday entitlement and holiday pay

Guidance for employers on how to calculate holiday entitlement, calculate holiday pay, and what to do with untaken leave.
A worker's entitlement to paid annual leave starts on the first day of employment and is not subject to a minimum period of employment.

Holiday entitlement accrual

The Regulations permit an employer to operate a holiday accrual system for workers who are in their first year of employment (only). In practice, this means that a new worker will accrue one-twelfth of their annual holiday entitlement each month they are employed. This will apply from the start of each month.

Calculating holiday pay

For each week of leave accrued, workers are entitled to one week's normal pay. A week's pay is calculated according to the type of work carried out:

for workers on fixed hours and pay, it equals the amount due for a week's work, averaged over the preceding 12 weeks

for workers on fixed hours and variable pay (bonus, commission, or piece workers), it equals the average hourly rate (over the preceding 12 weeks) multiplied by the normal working hours in a week

for shift workers, it equals the average weekly hours of work in the preceding 12 weeks at the average hourly rate

for workers with no normal working hours, a week's pay is the average pay received over the preceding 12 weeks.

The 12-week reference period should be made up of 12 weeks in which pay was due to the worker. Any week in which no remuneration was payable to the worker should be discounted, as should any weeks where the employee was for any amount of time on sick leave, maternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, parental leave, paternity leave, or parental bereavement leave.

If any weeks are discounted, ie, no pay was received for a particular week, or the worker was on statutory leave as outlined above, earlier weeks should be considered until you get as close to 12 weeks as possible. In these circumstances, the maximum period you can go back is 24 weeks.

If the worker has been employed for less than 12 weeks, holiday pay is based on the number of complete weeks for which the worker has been employed.

Calculate holiday pay for hourly paid staff

To calculate the average hourly rate, you only count the hours where the worker was working and the pay that related to those hours.

Staff should receive the same pay during any holiday period as they would if they were at work. Therefore, when calculating holiday pay for the 4 weeks of paid holiday leave derived from European law, an employer must include payments which are intrinsically linked to the performance of tasks the employee is obliged to carry out under the terms of the contract. This includes commission, bonuses, regularly paid allowances, and payment for additional hours the employee normally and repeatedly works. Other payments, such as overtime payments regularly paid to the employee, should also be included, as should payments for professional or personal status relating to length of service, seniority, or professional qualifications. Employers may decide to extend this calculation to the full 5.6 weeks' statutory paid holiday entitlement, but they do not have to.

However, case law has suggested all paid annual leave should be treated as a composite whole where each day of a holiday a worker takes includes, on a fractional basis, the various elements making up their total holiday entitlement (whether they be contractual or statutory). Employers should take this into account when making holiday payments where they are only applying the law on overtime, commission, allowances, bonuses, etc (as outlined above) to the 4 weeks of holiday derived from European law to ensure underpayments of holiday pay are avoided.

The question of how much pay a worker is due during a period of holiday can be complex and has been the subject of several court judgments. Further information is available from the LRA Workplace Information Service on Tel 03300 555 300.

Calculate holiday entitlement for your employees.

Payments for untaken statutory holiday

In the UK, the statutory annual leave entitlement is 5.6 weeks. A worker must take at least four weeks' paid holiday per leave year.

What a worker does with the remaining 1.6 weeks depends on their employment contract.

For example, you could allow them to carry those 1.6 weeks into the next leave year or state that all 5.6 weeks must be taken by the end of the leave year.

However, you cannot make a payment in lieu of any days that remain untaken. The only time you can make a payment in lieu of the statutory holiday entitlement is when the contract of employment terminates, and the worker has accrued entitlement to holidays and is unable to take them before they leave.

Payments for untaken contractual holiday

At the end of a leave year, you may find you have an employee who has some untaken contractual annual leave, ie, annual leave over and above the statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks.

Depending on their employment contract, the employee may be entitled to either carry over the untaken days or receive a payment in lieu of those untaken days.

When to pay workers their statutory holiday pay

Workers must receive their statutory holiday pay at the time that leave is taken.

It's, therefore, unlawful not to pay a worker while they are on holiday and pay them an allowance as part of their wages or salary instead - a system known as rolled-up holiday pay.
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Calculating holiday entitlement for atypical workers

How to work out statutory paid annual leave for part-time staff, shift workers, casual workers, and others.
There are various ways of working out the holiday entitlement for workers who don't have regular working arrangements or patterns.

Part-time workers

Paid holiday entitlement is calculated pro rata for part-time workers.

For example, if a member of staff works three days a week, they are entitled to 16.8 days (5.6 x 3).

Shift workers

It is sometimes easier to calculate holiday entitlement as shifts.

For example, if a member of staff works four 12-hour shifts followed by four days off, the average working week is 3.5 12-hour shifts. So 5.6 weeks' holiday is 5.6 x 3.5 = 19.6 12-hour shifts.

For other shift patterns, it may be easiest to calculate according to the established repeating pattern.

More irregular working patterns: calculating holidays in hours

Annualised hours

If a member of staff works annualised hours, you need to calculate how many hours a week they work on average over the whole year.

For example, if a member of staff works a total of 1,600 hours a year, or 34.48 hours a week over 46.4 weeks of the year, the holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks x 34.48 hours a week = 193.09 hours of holiday for the year.

Compressed hours

For someone working compressed hours, for example, a 36-hour week over four days instead of five, their annual holiday entitlement is 36 hours x 5.6 weeks = 201.6 hours of holiday for the year.

Rather than taking a day's holiday, they would take the number of hours that they would have otherwise worked on that day (ie for 36 hours worked over four days, they would take nine hours' holiday for each day otherwise worked).

Calculating no fixed hours contracts (casual work, including zero-hours contracts)

To calculate the average hourly rate, only the hours worked and how much was paid for them should be counted. Take the average rate over the last 12 weeks.

A 'week' usually runs from Sunday to Saturday. Only use another 7-day period (like Thursday to Wednesday) if that's how a worker's pay is calculated.

You can also get further information from the LRA Workplace Information Service on Tel 03300 555 300.

Part days

Calculations may result in part days, eg 22.4 days for someone working four days a week. In some cases, it may be easier to work the holidays out in hours.

If this is the case, you could:

Allow the worker to leave early or arrive late one day. For example, for someone working an eight-hour day taking 0.4 of a day's holiday, you could allow them to leave after working for four hours and 48 minutes (480 minutes x 0.6 of a working day = 288 minutes) or allow them to arrive three hours and 12 minutes late (0.4 of a working day).

Round the entitlement up to the nearest full day - or half day if this is still easy for you to administer. You cannot round entitlements down.

Allow the worker to carry the part day over into the next leave year (and then perhaps round up to the nearest full day).

Pay them for a part day. However, you can only do this if the worker's paid holiday entitlement is more than 5.6 weeks, as you cannot pay a worker in lieu of an untaken statutory holiday - see calculating and paying holiday pay.

Term-time or part-year workers

Recent case law has determined that workers employed on a continuous contract throughout the year, and who work for varying hours during certain weeks of the year, such as those who work only term time, are entitled to 5.6 weeks of leave each year. This entitlement applies even though there are some weeks in the year when they do not work.

In such instances, holiday pay is calculated by averaging the pay received during the 12 weeks before the commencement of their leave. If there are weeks during the 12-week period where no pay was received, these weeks are disregarded, and the employer must count back to include a total of 12 weeks in which pay was received.

Although there may be times when a part-year worker receives a higher payment than a full-time worker, this is compliant with the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000, as the part-time worker is not being treated less favourably. There is no legislative provision to prevent part-time workers from being treated more favourably.
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Holiday entitlement for employees on statutory family-related leave

Holiday entitlement for staff on family-related leave.

Employees taking statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, parental leave, and parental bereavement leave will continue to accrue statutory paid holiday and, in many cases, any contractual holiday entitlement. If, by the end of the current holiday year, an employee has been prevented from taking part or all of their holiday leave entitlement due to being on one of these types of statutory leave, they have a right to carry over up to 5.6 weeks untaken statutory holiday leave into the new holiday year.

Holiday entitlement and maternity/adoption leave

Employees on maternity or adoption leave continue to accrue both statutory and any contractual paid holiday during both ordinary and additional maternity/adoption leave.

A statutory paid holiday cannot be taken at the same time as maternity/adoption leave. When you are planning for the maternity/adoption leave, you may wish to discuss taking any outstanding holiday and perhaps delay the start of their maternity/adoption leave.

Alternatively, it may be possible for them to take holiday at the end of the maternity/adoption leave period.

If a new holiday year starts, the employee is on maternity/adoption leave and holidays haven't been taken, the employee has a right to carry over up to 5.6 weeks of untaken statutory holiday leave to the new holiday year.

When you are planning, you should be aware that maternity and adoption leave cannot start later than the date of the child's birth or placement for adoption, so an early birth or placement could shorten the amount of annual leave the employee is able to take.

Read more on maternity leave and pay and adoption leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and paternity leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory and any contractual paid holiday entitlement while they are on statutory paternity leave.

Read more on paternity leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and shared parental leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory and any contractual paid holiday entitlement while they are on shared parental leave.

Read more on shared parental leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and parental leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory paid holiday entitlement while they are on parental leave. They will also continue to accrue contractual holiday entitlement if this is provided for in their contract of employment.

See parental leave and time off for dependants.

Holiday entitlement and parental bereavement leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory paid holiday entitlement while they are on parental bereavement leave. They will also continue to accrue contractual holiday entitlement if this is provided for in their contract of employment.

See statutory parental bereavement leave.

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Pay and time off on public and bank holidays

Including bank and public holidays as part of your workers' statutory paid holiday entitlement.
You do not have to give staff paid time off for bank and public holidays. However, you should set out in a worker's contract:

any right to time off on bank and public holidays

whether or not that time off is paid

what you will pay them if they work one of these days, ie, whether you will pay the normal rate of pay or an enhanced rate, eg, time-and-a-half or double time

Note that if you allow a worker time off for bank and public holidays over a significant period of time, it may become an implied term of their contract via custom and practice, ie, the term is not actually written in the contract document but is still part of the contract.

Part-time staff

Part-time staff have the same entitlement to leave as full-time workers. Therefore, if full-time staff are given paid leave for bank and public holidays, part-time workers should also receive this benefit on a pro-rata basis.

This can be a problem if most of the bank and public holidays fall on days when a part-time worker doesn't normally work.

A best practice example is as follows:

An employer has both part-time and full-time staff. In a particular year, there are ten bank/public holidays. The full-time staff work a five-day week, Monday to Friday. There are also part-time staff working a two-day week, some on Monday and Tuesday, some on Wednesday and Thursday, and some working varying days.

The employer allows all workers a day off in respect of all bank/public holidays falling on a day they would ordinarily have worked. Furthermore, for those part-time staff working Wednesday and Thursday (or varying days) who would never (or rarely) work on the day a bank/public holiday falls, the employer allows them a pro-rata entitlement of days off in lieu based on the number of days they work, by way of best practice. They, therefore, receive two-fifths of the ten-day entitlement.

This approach ensures that all workers enjoy a share of the benefits received by full-time staff.

Read more on employing part-time workers.

Bank and public holiday dates

When the Christmas and New Year public holidays fall on a weekend, other weekdays are declared public holidays. These are usually the following Monday and, if necessary, the Tuesday.

If a worker normally works weekends, and Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year's Day fall on a weekend, entitlement to time off depends on their employment contract. This may be something that is explicitly agreed upon in the terms of the contract or could have been incorporated through custom and practice.

However, entitlement will not depend on the contract if you are operating on the statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks.

See bank and public holidays in Northern Ireland.

Special bank holidays

Dates of bank holidays can be changed or extra holidays declared to celebrate special occasions. For example, there was an extra bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023 to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

A worker's minimum paid annual leave entitlement is 5.6 weeks. There is no statutory time off for bank holidays and public holidays. However, you may choose to include these as part of that worker's entitlement.

Where a worker's contract states they are entitled to the statutory minimum annual leave, an extra bank holiday would not increase their paid holiday entitlement.

However, if a worker had a contract that entitles them to 20 days' annual leave plus all bank and public holidays, they should be entitled to the additional bank holiday as annual leave.
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Taking holiday - notice periods, restrictions and sickness

Holiday request procedures, notice periods what to do when workers are sick.
Workers must give you notice that they wish to take leave. You can agree on the notice period with your workers and should set this out in writing.

If there is no agreement in place, they must give notice of at least twice the length of the intended leave period. You must reply within the same length of time as the intended leave.

For example, if the worker gives two days' notice for one day's leave, you must reply within one day. Even if the worker gives sufficient notice, you may still refuse the request - but be as reasonable as you can. You should retain a record of the refusal reason, and act consistently with respect to any refusals, within reason.

Restricting when holiday may be taken

You may restrict the taking of leave. Restrictions could:

be stated in the employment contract

have built up via custom and practice

be negotiated with trade unions or employee representatives

Examples include:

specifying periods when leave may or may not be taken

capping the amount of leave that can be taken at any one time

shutting down for certain periods, eg, between Christmas and New Year or for two weeks in August

If you don't have an agreement for taking leave and you want workers to take all or part of their holiday entitlement on certain dates, you must give notice of at least twice as long as the leave period.

Resolve clashes between requests for leave by considering the needs of the business, eg peak season or a quieter period, the individual circumstances, or by setting out clear rules for booking leave. It may be helpful to formalise cover for key staff on annual leave.

If you set restrictions on when holidays can be taken, bear in mind the need to avoid indirect discrimination - read more on how to prevent discrimination and value diversity.

You should also note that it's unlawful to prevent a worker from taking their statutory paid holiday entitlement. Therefore, you may have to allow a worker's annual leave request right at the end of the leave year to ensure that they have taken their full entitlement of 5.6 weeks or 4 weeks where you have agreed carry over.

Workers will also be able to carry over up to 4 weeks of holiday leave where:

the employer fails to recognise a worker's right to paid holiday leave

the employer fails to give the worker a reasonable opportunity to take holiday leave or to encourage them to do so

the employer fails to inform the worker that any holiday leave not taken by the end of the holiday leave year, which cannot be carried over, will be lost

Accruing annual leave during sick leave

A worker continues to accrue their statutory minimum holiday entitlement as normal while absent from work due to sickness. This is regardless of how long the period of sickness lasts.

Depending on the terms of their employment contract, they may also accrue any additional contractual annual leave that they would normally be entitled to.

Taking annual leave during sick leave

A worker is entitled to take statutory annual leave while on sick leave.

If the worker chooses to take annual leave while they are on sick leave, but they are not receiving any sick pay, you pay them their normal holiday pay.

A worker is most likely to choose to take annual leave while on sick leave if they are:

not entitled to sick pay of any kind

on sick leave for a long period and, as a result, you have stopped paying them sick pay

due to return to work shortly before the end of the leave year and, as a result, would be unable to take their full holiday entitlement following their return to work

Changing annual leave to sick leave

A worker can choose to change a period of annual leave during which they are sick to sick leave. This would occur if they either:

became sick while on annual leave

have a period of sick leave that continues into a pre-arranged period of annual leave

Once the worker returns to work, they can then make arrangements to take the annual leave they missed at a later date.

Where a worker is on sick leave instead of annual leave, you should consider asking them for evidence of their sickness in line with your usual sickness absence procedures and in line with any eligibility criteria for statutory sick pay.

For example, to qualify for full pay while sick, you could:

require a worker to inform you as soon as reasonably possible that they are sick

request that they provide you with medical evidence of that sickness

For more information about sick pay, see understanding statutory sick pay.

Carrying over annual leave that is left untaken due to sickness

If a worker is unable to take all their statutory annual leave entitlement within a leave year because of illness, they will be entitled to carry forward up to 4 weeks of the unused statutory entitlement to the next leave year. Holiday leave carried over in this way must be taken by the end of the period of 18 months from the end of the holiday leave year in which the entitlement originally arose.

If you need further advice on sick leave and/or annual leave, you should contact the Labour Relations Agency Workplace Information Service on Tel 03300 555 300.
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Holiday pay on termination of employment

Calculating holiday pay when workers leave your employment.
When your workers leave a job - even if you have dismissed them without notice for gross misconduct - they must receive pay for any statutory leave they are entitled to in the current leave year but have not taken.

This entitlement is not subject to a minimum period of employment.

Formula to calculate pay due to workers who resign

You can work out the pay due using the simple formula (A x B) - C, where:

A is the total holiday entitlement for the year

B is the fraction of the year to the date of leaving

C is the amount of holidays already taken

Example: Part-time worker

For example, a part-time worker works three days per week. Like all workers, they are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave.

They leave a job seven months into the leave year, having taken eight days off. This is the equivalent of 2.66 weeks (8 ÷ 3).

Applying the formula above: 5.6 x (7 ÷ 12) - 2.66 = 0.61 weeks' leave to be paid in lieu.

Note that, if you need to, you should round this figure up to prevent underpayment.

If you pay a worker on a daily basis, you can also work out their outstanding holiday entitlement in days.

Example: Full-time worker

For example, a worker working five days per week is entitled to 5.6 weeks per year, the equivalent of 28 days (5.6 x 5).

They leave a job three months into the year, having taken four days off.

Applying the formula above: 28 x (3 ÷ 12) - 4 = 3 days' leave to be paid in lieu.

Note that, if you need to, you should round this figure up to prevent underpayment.

You need to get the worker's signed agreement to make a deduction from the final payment to them for any leave taken over their entitlement.

Calculate pay when workers fail to give the correct period of notice

Holiday pay would usually sit separately from notice entitlement and would be earned up to the date the worker leaves your employment.

However, if a worker leaves employment without giving the correct period of notice, they could be in breach of their employment contract if the contract contains a clause stating what will happen if this occurs eg deductions will be made from earned pay.

Calculating leave pay due to workers who you dismiss

If you dismiss a worker, they have the right to be paid for leave accrued during their period of employment, no matter how short it was.

To work out B when using the formula above, you need to know the worker's termination date.

If you dismiss a worker with notice, the termination date is the date the notice period expires.

If you dismiss a worker without notice, the termination date is the date you summarily dismissed the worker.

An employee's written statement of employment particulars should contain information to enable them to calculate their entitlement to accrued holiday pay when they leave.

Taking annual leave during the notice period

A worker may wish to take some or all of their outstanding annual leave as part of their notice period. This should be treated the same as for any other holiday request - taking into account your usual procedure for authorising annual leave. Read more on taking holiday - notice periods, restrictions and sickness.

You can also insist by giving appropriate notice, or because it is clearly expressed in the contract of employment, that a worker takes any holiday owed to them as part of their notice period.

If a worker takes part of their paid leave entitlement during their notice period, you may reduce their notice pay by the amount of holiday pay, provided it is in respect of the same leave year.
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Managing staff holiday entitlement: five top tips

Follow these tips to help you successfully manage each worker’s holiday entitlement.

The majority of your workers are legally entitled to paid holidays. The following top tips will help you to successfully manage each worker's holiday entitlement.

Tips for employers to manage staff holiday entitlement

1. Calculate holiday entitlement

A worker's statutory paid holiday entitlement starts on the first day of employment and is 5.6 weeks per year (28 days for a worker working a five or six-day week) - see holiday entitlement and statutory holiday pay.

2. Consider irregular hours

Ensure that you work out holiday entitlement for any staff who don't have regular working arrangements. These can include part-time workers, shift workers, and casual workers - see calculating holiday entitlement for atypical workers.

3. Include in employment contracts

Set out your employee's paid holiday entitlement in their employment contract to avoid any disagreements - see the employment contract.

4. Consider bank and public holidays

You do not have to give staff paid time off for bank or public holidays, but ensure that you include this in your employees' contracts. If you allow a worker time off for bank and public holidays over a significant period of time, be aware that it may become an implied term of their contract, even if it is not written in the contract of employment - see pay and time off on public and bank holidays.

5. Agree notice periods

Workers must give you notice if they wish to take leave. You can agree the notice period with them and you should set this out clearly in writing - see taking holiday - notice periods, restrictions, and sickness.

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Tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services

Trade union membership rights

In this guide:

Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by a prospective employer as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused employment because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

they will not agree to make a payment - eg to a union or charity - in lieu of union membership or to allow a prospective employer to deduct a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment

It is unlawful for an employer to refuse employment in contravention of any of these rights.

What types of employment are covered?

'Employment' means employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship.

It does not include self-employment under a contract for services.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

Refusal of employment

A person will be regarded as having been refused the employment they are seeking if the prospective employer or agent acting on the employer's behalf:

refuses or deliberately omits to deal with their application or enquiry

causes them to withdraw or stop pursuing their application or enquiry - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

refuses or deliberately omits to offer them employment of the kind they are seeking

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but on terms - eg the rate of pay - that no reasonable employer who wished to fill the vacancy would offer, and which is not accepted

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but withdraws it or causes them not to accept it - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered employment subject to any of the requirements listed below and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused employment for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are or should remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not, or should not become, a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease to be a member of a trade union

they should make payments or suffer deductions in lieu of union membership

Job advertisements specifying union membership requirements

Where a job advertisement appears specifying any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements, or is unwilling to comply with them, and who applies for and is refused the job, will be presumed to have been refused it unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical, or a notice posted in or outside a factory.

Recruitment through trade unions

Where there is an arrangement or practice under which an employer recruits only people who have been supplied - ie put forward or approved - by a trade union from among its membership, a person who is not a member of the trade union concerned and who is refused the employment because they have not been supplied by the union, will be regarded as having been refused employment because they are not a union member.
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Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by an employment agency as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused the services of an employment agency because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

It is unlawful for an employment agency to refuse its services in contravention of any of these rights.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by an 'employment agency'?

'Employment agency' means any person or organisation that provides services - whether for profit or not - for the purpose of finding employment for workers or supplying employers with workers.

A trade union is not regarded as an employment agency if it provides services only to its own members to assist them in finding employment.

However, if a trade union provides such services to non-members, it will be regarded as an employment agency.

Refusal of the services of an employment agency

A person who seeks to use the services of an employment agency will be regarded as having been refused that service if the agency:

refuses or deliberately omits to make the service available to them

does not provide the service to them on the same terms as it provides the service to other people

causes them not to make use of the service, or to stop making use of it, eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered the service of an employment agency, subject to any of the requirements listed below, and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused the service for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are - or should - remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not - or should not - become a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease being a member of a trade union

Employment agency advertisements specifying trade union membership requirements

Where an advertisement about the services of an employment agency specifies any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements or is unwilling to comply with them, and who seeks to use and is refused the services, will be presumed to have been refused them unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be a list of job vacancies supplied by an employment agency to people who have registered with that agency.
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Tribunal claims: unlawful refusal of employment or employment agency services on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims where an individual has been refused employment or the services of an employment agency.
Individuals can make an industrial tribunal claim if they think they have been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency on trade union membership grounds - see trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers and trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies.

An individual - the claimant - can bring a claim against either or both a prospective employer and an employment agency where the claim arises out of the same situation.

If a claimant brings a claim against only one of them, either the employer/employment agency or the claimant can ask the tribunal to join the other - ie either the employment agency or employer - as a party to the proceedings.

A tribunal will grant such a request if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is not made until after the start of the hearing. This 'request for joinder' cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well founded.

If a claimant brings a claim against both an employer and an employment agency or if joinder has been granted and the tribunal finds the claim to be well founded against both the employer and the agency, the tribunal can order any compensation it may award to be paid only by the employment agency, paid only by the employer or divided between the two.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

If the prospective employer or employment agency claims that they were induced to act unlawfully by pressure exerted on them by a trade union or other person - eg by threatening or organising industrial action - they can ask the Industrial Tribunal to join the trade union or other person as a party to the proceedings.

The claimant can also ask that a trade union or other person be joined as a party to the proceedings if they believe that they induced the employer or employment agency by these means to act unlawfully.

A tribunal will grant such a request for joinder - made by either the prospective employer/employment agency or the claimant - if the request is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

A request for joinder cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well-founded.

Where a trade union or other person has been joined to the proceedings and the tribunal finds the claim to be well-founded, it will also consider whether pressure was exerted on the prospective employer or employment agency, as alleged.

If the tribunal finds that such pressure was exerted, it can order the trade union or other person to pay some or all of any compensation it may award.

Remedies for unlawful refusal of employment or the services of an employment agency

If a tribunal finds that an individual has been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency because of their membership or non-membership of a trade union, it will make a declaration to that effect.

The tribunal may also:

award the claimant compensation to be paid by the prospective employer and/or employment agency

recommend that the prospective employer or employment agency takes action to remedy the adverse effect of their unlawful refusal on the claimant, eg by recommending that the employer considers the claimant for a job vacancy

Compensation

The tribunal will assess and award compensation as it sees fit. It may include compensation for injury to feelings.

In cases where a claim is made and upheld against a party and they fail without reasonable justification to comply with a recommendation to take action, the tribunal may increase its award of compensation, or make an award if it has not already done so.

The amount of compensation payable, including any additional compensation awarded for failure to comply with a recommendation, is subject to an upper limit.

See current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.
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Trade union membership rights in the workplace

The rights of those in work not to be treated unfairly as a result of trade union membership or non-membership.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds of trade union membership or non-membership. Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

A person can be subjected to a detriment through either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether a worker has suffered a detriment is for an industrial tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment include withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, a detriment could also be ending their employment.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to give up their trade union membership, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right not to belong to a trade union

No person has to join or remain a member of, a trade union.

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for not belonging to a trade union or for refusing to join one

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer (for not being or refusing to become a trade union member)

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the employer is to induce them to be or to become a trade union member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right not to make payments in lieu of union membership

Employees have the right not to be dismissed for refusing to make a payment, eg to a union or a charity, in lieu of union membership or for objecting to their employer deducting a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment.

Employees and other workers have the right not to have other action taken by their employer to force them to make such a payment. If their employer deducts a sum of money from their pay, this counts as an action to force them to make such a payment.

Right to belong to a trade union

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for being a member of an independent trade union or for proposing to become a member

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them not to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer, to prevent or deter them from belonging to an independent trade union or from seeking to become a member, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the offer is to induce them not to be (or seek to become) a member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can make an industrial tribunal claim. For more information, see tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims when workers are discriminated against due to trade union membership.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as set out in trade union membership rights in the workplace) have been infringed can make an Industrial Tribunal claim.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their claim is one of unfair dismissal.

If an employee or other worker considers that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their claim is one of detriment.

For the detriment to be unlawful, the person must have been subjected to it with the intention of putting pressure on them in respect of non-membership or membership of a union, or for other unlawful purposes relating to failure to accept unlawful inducements.

If a worker believes that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership as described above, their claim is one of unlawful inducement.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

An employer who faces a claim of unfair dismissal may have dismissed the employee concerned as a result of pressure applied by a union or other person because the employee was not a member of a trade union. The pressure could be in the form of actual or threatened industrial action.

If the employer or the employee making the complaint claims this is so, either of them may make a request to the tribunal for the union or other person concerned to be joined - ie brought in as a party - to the proceedings.

A request by either an employer or a dismissed employee for a trade union or other person in unfair dismissal proceedings to be joined in this way will be granted by the tribunal if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

If the tribunal finds the dismissal unfair and the claim of pressure well founded, it may make any award of compensation wholly or partly against the union or other person concerned instead of - or as well as - against the employer.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to union membership, non-membership, and unlawful inducements vary. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where a worker makes a related claim to the tribunal concerning detriment and the tribunal upholds that claim, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If a worker has accepted an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

In such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services

The right of workers who are union members not to be treated unfairly when interacting with their union.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds that they have taken part in the activities of the trade union to which they belong or have made use of their union's services at an appropriate time.

Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

Detriment can be either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether an employee or other worker has suffered a detriment is for a tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment would be withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, detriment could also take the form of dismissal.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers not to take advice from their union, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right to take part in trade union activities

All employees have the following rights relating to their trade union activities:

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy, for taking part - or proposing to take part - in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer. The sole or main purpose of the offer must be to induce them not to take part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from taking part in trade union activities at an appropriate time, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to take part in an independent trade union's activities at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

The kinds of union activity a worker may take part in are not set out in law. However, union activities involving a worker acting on behalf of the union would be covered, eg a shop steward representing a union that is recognised for collective bargaining purposes or activities connected with the election or appointment of union officials.

Right to make use of trade union services

All employees have the following rights relating to the use they make of their union's services:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for making use, or proposing to make use, of the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which was to induce them not to use the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from using their union's services at an appropriate time or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to make use of an independent trade union's services at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer for failing to accept such an offer

'Trade union services' are services made available to an employee or other worker by virtue of their membership of an independent trade union. They include the union agreeing to raise a matter on behalf of the employee or other worker by, for example, writing to the employer about a grievance.

However, such services do not include having a member's terms and conditions determined by collective agreement.

The 'appropriate time' for the union member to take part in union activities or to make use of their union's services is time either:

outside the member's working hours - this could cover activities that take place or services which are used when the person is on the employer's premises but not actually required to be working, eg during lunch breaks

within the member's working hours where the employer has agreed that the worker may take part in trade union activities or use the trade union's services

Rights to reasonable time off for trade union duties and activities also exist where an employer recognises a union for collective bargaining. For more information on collective bargaining, see meaning and types of trade union recognition.

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal. See tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services

Industrial tribunal claims due to discrimination relating to trade union activities and services.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as in rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services) have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their complaint is one of unfair dismissal.

If employees or other workers consider that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their complaint is one of detriment.

If employees or other workers consider that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union activities and services, their complaint is one of unlawful inducement.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to dismissal and detriment vary. A tribunal can make an award to an individual for claims of unlawful inducements in relation to trade union membership/non-membership, activities, or collective bargaining. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where an employee or other worker makes a related complaint to the tribunal concerning detriment, and the tribunal upholds that complaint, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If an employee or other worker accepts an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

Also, in such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the employee or worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Time-off rights for union officials and members

Rights to time off for union duties and activities and the circumstances under which this should be paid time off.
Trade union officials and members have rights to time off under certain circumstances. The time off may or may not be paid.

The right to paid time off for union duties

You must give an employee who is an official of a recognised union reasonable paid time off:

to carry out their union duties

for training related to union duties

A trade union official's typical duties may include:

recruiting, organising and representing members of a trade union, either individually or collectively

attending meetings with members of the workforce and management

accompanying workers to disciplinary and grievance hearings

negotiating with the employer on terms and conditions of employment or matters of discipline

The right to time off for union activities

You must give union officials and members reasonable unpaid time off for carrying out union activities.

Such activities might include:

voting in union elections

meeting full-time officials to discuss issues relevant to the workplace

attending workplace meetings to discuss and vote on the outcome of negotiations

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of these rights have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If the tribunal finds the complaint well founded, it will make a declaration to that effect and award compensation as it sees fit.

In cases where the employer has failed to pay the employee for the time off, it will order the employer to pay the amount due.
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Rights of union learning representatives

The rights of union learning representatives, including arranging and undertaking training.
What are union learning representatives?

Union learning representatives have the same status as union officials and are allowed paid time off to carry out their duties.

Union learning representatives are:

representatives of a recognised union who provide advice to union members about their training, educational, and developmental needs

elected or appointed in accordance with the union's rules

trained in line with statutory training conditions

notified to the employer in writing

Rights of union learning representatives

Union learning representatives have a legal right to reasonable paid time off during working hours to carry out their duties, which may include:

undertaking relevant training

analysing the learning or training needs of union members

providing information and advice on learning or training

arranging learning or training

consulting the employer about learning and training

preparing for the above

The law does not assign a negotiating role to union learning representatives. However, some employers have voluntarily negotiated learning agreements with their union learning representatives.

Advantages of union learning representatives for employers

Union learning representatives can be a source of expert advice. They cost you comparatively little and can help with identifying the training needs of staff and encouraging a learning culture within the company.
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Blacklisting of trade union members

Description of the law that prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.
From 6 April 2014 the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 came into operation which prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.

The Regulations make it unlawful to compile, supply, sell or use a 'prohibited list' (ie a blacklist).

Employers and employment agencies cannot:

refuse a person employment for a reason related to a blacklist

dismiss an employee for a reason related to a blacklist

subject a person to any other detriment for a reason related to a blacklist

refuse the services of an employment agency to a person for a reason related to a blacklist.

What is a blacklist?

A blacklist must:

Contain 'details' about current or former trade union members or of persons who are taking part or have taken part in trade union activities. These 'details' could include names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, occupations or work histories.

Have been compiled for employers or employment agencies to use in order to discriminate on grounds of trade union membership or activities when recruiting or during employment.

Blacklists would include any index or other set of items whether recorded manually, electronically or in other forms, and can include haphazard or unstructured collections of information with a common connection - such as a shared purpose.

You can act unlawfully if you indirectly access a blacklist. It may not be a defence for you to claim that you did not know you were using information from a blacklist.

Everyone on a blacklist is protected, even non-trade union members.

There are some incidences where the law does not prohibit blacklists. It is lawful if you:

Supply a blacklist in circumstances where you could not reasonably be expected to know it was a prohibited list.

Compile, supply or use a blacklist in order to draw attention to possible or actual blacklisting activity. For this to apply, no information about the person on the list should have been published without their consent, and the activity is justified in the public interest.

Compiled, sold, supplied or used a prohibited list for the sole or main purpose of appointing or electing an office-holder in a trade union; or appointing a person to a post or office where the appointee must have experience or knowledge of trade unions, and it is reasonable to apply such a requirement.

Compile, sell, supply or use a blacklist to comply with a statutory or legal requirement or to obey a court order.

It is also lawful to access a blacklist either:

in connection with legal proceedings

to obtain or provide legal advice about blacklisting compliance

Industrial Tribunal claims

If an employer is suspected of blacklisting, or an employment agency refuses employment based on blacklist information, they could be taken to an industrial tribunal.

If successful in an Industrial Tribunal, the claimant could be awarded compensation.

Court claims

A claim to a court can be made by anyone if they have suffered loss or been threatened by a potential loss.

If a complaint is successful, the court can award damages and compensation for injury to feelings. They are also empowered to make orders to stop organisations from blacklisting or using blacklists.

An individual cannot make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal and the court in relation to the same conduct. However, if a complaint is made to an industrial tribunal, the same complainant could also ask the court to restrain or prevent an employer from blacklisting.
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Current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits

Minimum and maximum amounts that may be ordered to be paid by a tribunal.

Table of increase of limits

Compensation	From 6 April 2023	From 6 April 2024
Maximum basic award for unfair dismissal (30 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£20,070	£21,870
Minimum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (26 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£17,394	£18,954
Maximum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (52 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£34,788	£37,908
Maximum amount of 'a week's pay' for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal	£669	£729
Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair	£8,139	£8,863
Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal	£105,915	£115,341
Limit on guarantee pay (per day)	£35	£38
Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership, activities, or services, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining	£5,382	£5,861
Minimum amount of compensation where an individual is expelled from a union in contravention of Article 38 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and not readmitted by date of tribunal application	£12,206	£13,292
Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of debt to which Part XIV of the 1996 Order applies and which is referable to a period of time	£669	£729

The limit for the maximum award in breach of contract cases is £25,000.

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Trade union membership rights in the workplace

Trade union membership rights

In this guide:

Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by a prospective employer as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused employment because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

they will not agree to make a payment - eg to a union or charity - in lieu of union membership or to allow a prospective employer to deduct a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment

It is unlawful for an employer to refuse employment in contravention of any of these rights.

What types of employment are covered?

'Employment' means employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship.

It does not include self-employment under a contract for services.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

Refusal of employment

A person will be regarded as having been refused the employment they are seeking if the prospective employer or agent acting on the employer's behalf:

refuses or deliberately omits to deal with their application or enquiry

causes them to withdraw or stop pursuing their application or enquiry - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

refuses or deliberately omits to offer them employment of the kind they are seeking

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but on terms - eg the rate of pay - that no reasonable employer who wished to fill the vacancy would offer, and which is not accepted

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but withdraws it or causes them not to accept it - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered employment subject to any of the requirements listed below and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused employment for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are or should remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not, or should not become, a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease to be a member of a trade union

they should make payments or suffer deductions in lieu of union membership

Job advertisements specifying union membership requirements

Where a job advertisement appears specifying any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements, or is unwilling to comply with them, and who applies for and is refused the job, will be presumed to have been refused it unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical, or a notice posted in or outside a factory.

Recruitment through trade unions

Where there is an arrangement or practice under which an employer recruits only people who have been supplied - ie put forward or approved - by a trade union from among its membership, a person who is not a member of the trade union concerned and who is refused the employment because they have not been supplied by the union, will be regarded as having been refused employment because they are not a union member.
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Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by an employment agency as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused the services of an employment agency because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

It is unlawful for an employment agency to refuse its services in contravention of any of these rights.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by an 'employment agency'?

'Employment agency' means any person or organisation that provides services - whether for profit or not - for the purpose of finding employment for workers or supplying employers with workers.

A trade union is not regarded as an employment agency if it provides services only to its own members to assist them in finding employment.

However, if a trade union provides such services to non-members, it will be regarded as an employment agency.

Refusal of the services of an employment agency

A person who seeks to use the services of an employment agency will be regarded as having been refused that service if the agency:

refuses or deliberately omits to make the service available to them

does not provide the service to them on the same terms as it provides the service to other people

causes them not to make use of the service, or to stop making use of it, eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered the service of an employment agency, subject to any of the requirements listed below, and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused the service for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are - or should - remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not - or should not - become a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease being a member of a trade union

Employment agency advertisements specifying trade union membership requirements

Where an advertisement about the services of an employment agency specifies any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements or is unwilling to comply with them, and who seeks to use and is refused the services, will be presumed to have been refused them unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be a list of job vacancies supplied by an employment agency to people who have registered with that agency.
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Tribunal claims: unlawful refusal of employment or employment agency services on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims where an individual has been refused employment or the services of an employment agency.
Individuals can make an industrial tribunal claim if they think they have been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency on trade union membership grounds - see trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers and trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies.

An individual - the claimant - can bring a claim against either or both a prospective employer and an employment agency where the claim arises out of the same situation.

If a claimant brings a claim against only one of them, either the employer/employment agency or the claimant can ask the tribunal to join the other - ie either the employment agency or employer - as a party to the proceedings.

A tribunal will grant such a request if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is not made until after the start of the hearing. This 'request for joinder' cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well founded.

If a claimant brings a claim against both an employer and an employment agency or if joinder has been granted and the tribunal finds the claim to be well founded against both the employer and the agency, the tribunal can order any compensation it may award to be paid only by the employment agency, paid only by the employer or divided between the two.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

If the prospective employer or employment agency claims that they were induced to act unlawfully by pressure exerted on them by a trade union or other person - eg by threatening or organising industrial action - they can ask the Industrial Tribunal to join the trade union or other person as a party to the proceedings.

The claimant can also ask that a trade union or other person be joined as a party to the proceedings if they believe that they induced the employer or employment agency by these means to act unlawfully.

A tribunal will grant such a request for joinder - made by either the prospective employer/employment agency or the claimant - if the request is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

A request for joinder cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well-founded.

Where a trade union or other person has been joined to the proceedings and the tribunal finds the claim to be well-founded, it will also consider whether pressure was exerted on the prospective employer or employment agency, as alleged.

If the tribunal finds that such pressure was exerted, it can order the trade union or other person to pay some or all of any compensation it may award.

Remedies for unlawful refusal of employment or the services of an employment agency

If a tribunal finds that an individual has been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency because of their membership or non-membership of a trade union, it will make a declaration to that effect.

The tribunal may also:

award the claimant compensation to be paid by the prospective employer and/or employment agency

recommend that the prospective employer or employment agency takes action to remedy the adverse effect of their unlawful refusal on the claimant, eg by recommending that the employer considers the claimant for a job vacancy

Compensation

The tribunal will assess and award compensation as it sees fit. It may include compensation for injury to feelings.

In cases where a claim is made and upheld against a party and they fail without reasonable justification to comply with a recommendation to take action, the tribunal may increase its award of compensation, or make an award if it has not already done so.

The amount of compensation payable, including any additional compensation awarded for failure to comply with a recommendation, is subject to an upper limit.

See current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.
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Trade union membership rights in the workplace

The rights of those in work not to be treated unfairly as a result of trade union membership or non-membership.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds of trade union membership or non-membership. Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

A person can be subjected to a detriment through either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether a worker has suffered a detriment is for an industrial tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment include withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, a detriment could also be ending their employment.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to give up their trade union membership, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right not to belong to a trade union

No person has to join or remain a member of, a trade union.

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for not belonging to a trade union or for refusing to join one

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer (for not being or refusing to become a trade union member)

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the employer is to induce them to be or to become a trade union member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right not to make payments in lieu of union membership

Employees have the right not to be dismissed for refusing to make a payment, eg to a union or a charity, in lieu of union membership or for objecting to their employer deducting a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment.

Employees and other workers have the right not to have other action taken by their employer to force them to make such a payment. If their employer deducts a sum of money from their pay, this counts as an action to force them to make such a payment.

Right to belong to a trade union

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for being a member of an independent trade union or for proposing to become a member

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them not to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer, to prevent or deter them from belonging to an independent trade union or from seeking to become a member, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the offer is to induce them not to be (or seek to become) a member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can make an industrial tribunal claim. For more information, see tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims when workers are discriminated against due to trade union membership.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as set out in trade union membership rights in the workplace) have been infringed can make an Industrial Tribunal claim.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their claim is one of unfair dismissal.

If an employee or other worker considers that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their claim is one of detriment.

For the detriment to be unlawful, the person must have been subjected to it with the intention of putting pressure on them in respect of non-membership or membership of a union, or for other unlawful purposes relating to failure to accept unlawful inducements.

If a worker believes that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership as described above, their claim is one of unlawful inducement.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

An employer who faces a claim of unfair dismissal may have dismissed the employee concerned as a result of pressure applied by a union or other person because the employee was not a member of a trade union. The pressure could be in the form of actual or threatened industrial action.

If the employer or the employee making the complaint claims this is so, either of them may make a request to the tribunal for the union or other person concerned to be joined - ie brought in as a party - to the proceedings.

A request by either an employer or a dismissed employee for a trade union or other person in unfair dismissal proceedings to be joined in this way will be granted by the tribunal if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

If the tribunal finds the dismissal unfair and the claim of pressure well founded, it may make any award of compensation wholly or partly against the union or other person concerned instead of - or as well as - against the employer.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to union membership, non-membership, and unlawful inducements vary. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where a worker makes a related claim to the tribunal concerning detriment and the tribunal upholds that claim, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If a worker has accepted an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

In such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services

The right of workers who are union members not to be treated unfairly when interacting with their union.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds that they have taken part in the activities of the trade union to which they belong or have made use of their union's services at an appropriate time.

Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

Detriment can be either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether an employee or other worker has suffered a detriment is for a tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment would be withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, detriment could also take the form of dismissal.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers not to take advice from their union, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right to take part in trade union activities

All employees have the following rights relating to their trade union activities:

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy, for taking part - or proposing to take part - in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer. The sole or main purpose of the offer must be to induce them not to take part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from taking part in trade union activities at an appropriate time, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to take part in an independent trade union's activities at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

The kinds of union activity a worker may take part in are not set out in law. However, union activities involving a worker acting on behalf of the union would be covered, eg a shop steward representing a union that is recognised for collective bargaining purposes or activities connected with the election or appointment of union officials.

Right to make use of trade union services

All employees have the following rights relating to the use they make of their union's services:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for making use, or proposing to make use, of the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which was to induce them not to use the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from using their union's services at an appropriate time or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to make use of an independent trade union's services at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer for failing to accept such an offer

'Trade union services' are services made available to an employee or other worker by virtue of their membership of an independent trade union. They include the union agreeing to raise a matter on behalf of the employee or other worker by, for example, writing to the employer about a grievance.

However, such services do not include having a member's terms and conditions determined by collective agreement.

The 'appropriate time' for the union member to take part in union activities or to make use of their union's services is time either:

outside the member's working hours - this could cover activities that take place or services which are used when the person is on the employer's premises but not actually required to be working, eg during lunch breaks

within the member's working hours where the employer has agreed that the worker may take part in trade union activities or use the trade union's services

Rights to reasonable time off for trade union duties and activities also exist where an employer recognises a union for collective bargaining. For more information on collective bargaining, see meaning and types of trade union recognition.

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal. See tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services

Industrial tribunal claims due to discrimination relating to trade union activities and services.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as in rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services) have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their complaint is one of unfair dismissal.

If employees or other workers consider that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their complaint is one of detriment.

If employees or other workers consider that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union activities and services, their complaint is one of unlawful inducement.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to dismissal and detriment vary. A tribunal can make an award to an individual for claims of unlawful inducements in relation to trade union membership/non-membership, activities, or collective bargaining. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where an employee or other worker makes a related complaint to the tribunal concerning detriment, and the tribunal upholds that complaint, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If an employee or other worker accepts an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

Also, in such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the employee or worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Time-off rights for union officials and members

Rights to time off for union duties and activities and the circumstances under which this should be paid time off.
Trade union officials and members have rights to time off under certain circumstances. The time off may or may not be paid.

The right to paid time off for union duties

You must give an employee who is an official of a recognised union reasonable paid time off:

to carry out their union duties

for training related to union duties

A trade union official's typical duties may include:

recruiting, organising and representing members of a trade union, either individually or collectively

attending meetings with members of the workforce and management

accompanying workers to disciplinary and grievance hearings

negotiating with the employer on terms and conditions of employment or matters of discipline

The right to time off for union activities

You must give union officials and members reasonable unpaid time off for carrying out union activities.

Such activities might include:

voting in union elections

meeting full-time officials to discuss issues relevant to the workplace

attending workplace meetings to discuss and vote on the outcome of negotiations

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of these rights have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If the tribunal finds the complaint well founded, it will make a declaration to that effect and award compensation as it sees fit.

In cases where the employer has failed to pay the employee for the time off, it will order the employer to pay the amount due.
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Rights of union learning representatives

The rights of union learning representatives, including arranging and undertaking training.
What are union learning representatives?

Union learning representatives have the same status as union officials and are allowed paid time off to carry out their duties.

Union learning representatives are:

representatives of a recognised union who provide advice to union members about their training, educational, and developmental needs

elected or appointed in accordance with the union's rules

trained in line with statutory training conditions

notified to the employer in writing

Rights of union learning representatives

Union learning representatives have a legal right to reasonable paid time off during working hours to carry out their duties, which may include:

undertaking relevant training

analysing the learning or training needs of union members

providing information and advice on learning or training

arranging learning or training

consulting the employer about learning and training

preparing for the above

The law does not assign a negotiating role to union learning representatives. However, some employers have voluntarily negotiated learning agreements with their union learning representatives.

Advantages of union learning representatives for employers

Union learning representatives can be a source of expert advice. They cost you comparatively little and can help with identifying the training needs of staff and encouraging a learning culture within the company.
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Blacklisting of trade union members

Description of the law that prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.
From 6 April 2014 the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 came into operation which prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.

The Regulations make it unlawful to compile, supply, sell or use a 'prohibited list' (ie a blacklist).

Employers and employment agencies cannot:

refuse a person employment for a reason related to a blacklist

dismiss an employee for a reason related to a blacklist

subject a person to any other detriment for a reason related to a blacklist

refuse the services of an employment agency to a person for a reason related to a blacklist.

What is a blacklist?

A blacklist must:

Contain 'details' about current or former trade union members or of persons who are taking part or have taken part in trade union activities. These 'details' could include names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, occupations or work histories.

Have been compiled for employers or employment agencies to use in order to discriminate on grounds of trade union membership or activities when recruiting or during employment.

Blacklists would include any index or other set of items whether recorded manually, electronically or in other forms, and can include haphazard or unstructured collections of information with a common connection - such as a shared purpose.

You can act unlawfully if you indirectly access a blacklist. It may not be a defence for you to claim that you did not know you were using information from a blacklist.

Everyone on a blacklist is protected, even non-trade union members.

There are some incidences where the law does not prohibit blacklists. It is lawful if you:

Supply a blacklist in circumstances where you could not reasonably be expected to know it was a prohibited list.

Compile, supply or use a blacklist in order to draw attention to possible or actual blacklisting activity. For this to apply, no information about the person on the list should have been published without their consent, and the activity is justified in the public interest.

Compiled, sold, supplied or used a prohibited list for the sole or main purpose of appointing or electing an office-holder in a trade union; or appointing a person to a post or office where the appointee must have experience or knowledge of trade unions, and it is reasonable to apply such a requirement.

Compile, sell, supply or use a blacklist to comply with a statutory or legal requirement or to obey a court order.

It is also lawful to access a blacklist either:

in connection with legal proceedings

to obtain or provide legal advice about blacklisting compliance

Industrial Tribunal claims

If an employer is suspected of blacklisting, or an employment agency refuses employment based on blacklist information, they could be taken to an industrial tribunal.

If successful in an Industrial Tribunal, the claimant could be awarded compensation.

Court claims

A claim to a court can be made by anyone if they have suffered loss or been threatened by a potential loss.

If a complaint is successful, the court can award damages and compensation for injury to feelings. They are also empowered to make orders to stop organisations from blacklisting or using blacklists.

An individual cannot make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal and the court in relation to the same conduct. However, if a complaint is made to an industrial tribunal, the same complainant could also ask the court to restrain or prevent an employer from blacklisting.
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Current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits

Minimum and maximum amounts that may be ordered to be paid by a tribunal.

Table of increase of limits

Compensation	From 6 April 2023	From 6 April 2024
Maximum basic award for unfair dismissal (30 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£20,070	£21,870
Minimum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (26 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£17,394	£18,954
Maximum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (52 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£34,788	£37,908
Maximum amount of 'a week's pay' for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal	£669	£729
Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair	£8,139	£8,863
Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal	£105,915	£115,341
Limit on guarantee pay (per day)	£35	£38
Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership, activities, or services, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining	£5,382	£5,861
Minimum amount of compensation where an individual is expelled from a union in contravention of Article 38 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and not readmitted by date of tribunal application	£12,206	£13,292
Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of debt to which Part XIV of the 1996 Order applies and which is referable to a period of time	£669	£729

The limit for the maximum award in breach of contract cases is £25,000.

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Tribunal claims: unlawful refusal of employment or employment agency services on TU membership grounds

Trade union membership rights

In this guide:

Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by a prospective employer as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused employment because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

they will not agree to make a payment - eg to a union or charity - in lieu of union membership or to allow a prospective employer to deduct a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment

It is unlawful for an employer to refuse employment in contravention of any of these rights.

What types of employment are covered?

'Employment' means employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship.

It does not include self-employment under a contract for services.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

Refusal of employment

A person will be regarded as having been refused the employment they are seeking if the prospective employer or agent acting on the employer's behalf:

refuses or deliberately omits to deal with their application or enquiry

causes them to withdraw or stop pursuing their application or enquiry - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

refuses or deliberately omits to offer them employment of the kind they are seeking

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but on terms - eg the rate of pay - that no reasonable employer who wished to fill the vacancy would offer, and which is not accepted

makes them an offer of employment of the kind they are seeking but withdraws it or causes them not to accept it - eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered employment subject to any of the requirements listed below and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused employment for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are or should remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not, or should not become, a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease to be a member of a trade union

they should make payments or suffer deductions in lieu of union membership

Job advertisements specifying union membership requirements

Where a job advertisement appears specifying any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements, or is unwilling to comply with them, and who applies for and is refused the job, will be presumed to have been refused it unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical, or a notice posted in or outside a factory.

Recruitment through trade unions

Where there is an arrangement or practice under which an employer recruits only people who have been supplied - ie put forward or approved - by a trade union from among its membership, a person who is not a member of the trade union concerned and who is refused the employment because they have not been supplied by the union, will be regarded as having been refused employment because they are not a union member.
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Trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies

The right of job applicants not to be treated unfairly by an employment agency as a result of trade union membership status.
An individual has the right not to be refused the services of an employment agency because:

they are not a member of a trade union, or will not agree to become a member

they are a member of a trade union or will not agree to cease being a member

It is unlawful for an employment agency to refuse its services in contravention of any of these rights.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' means:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by an 'employment agency'?

'Employment agency' means any person or organisation that provides services - whether for profit or not - for the purpose of finding employment for workers or supplying employers with workers.

A trade union is not regarded as an employment agency if it provides services only to its own members to assist them in finding employment.

However, if a trade union provides such services to non-members, it will be regarded as an employment agency.

Refusal of the services of an employment agency

A person who seeks to use the services of an employment agency will be regarded as having been refused that service if the agency:

refuses or deliberately omits to make the service available to them

does not provide the service to them on the same terms as it provides the service to other people

causes them not to make use of the service, or to stop making use of it, eg by making threats or discouraging remarks

Where a person is offered the service of an employment agency, subject to any of the requirements listed below, and they do not accept the offer because they do not satisfy the requirement, or are unwilling to comply with it, they will be regarded as having been unlawfully refused the service for that reason.

The requirements are that:

they are - or should - remain a member of a trade union

they should take steps to become a member of a trade union

they are not - or should not - become a member of a trade union

they should take steps to cease being a member of a trade union

Employment agency advertisements specifying trade union membership requirements

Where an advertisement about the services of an employment agency specifies any of the union membership or non-membership requirements listed above, a person who does not satisfy the requirements or is unwilling to comply with them, and who seeks to use and is refused the services, will be presumed to have been refused them unlawfully.

'Advertisement' means every form of advertisement or notice, whether to the public or not. For example, it could be a list of job vacancies supplied by an employment agency to people who have registered with that agency.
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Tribunal claims: unlawful refusal of employment or employment agency services on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims where an individual has been refused employment or the services of an employment agency.
Individuals can make an industrial tribunal claim if they think they have been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency on trade union membership grounds - see trade union membership rights of job applicants - employers and trade union membership rights of job applicants - employment agencies.

An individual - the claimant - can bring a claim against either or both a prospective employer and an employment agency where the claim arises out of the same situation.

If a claimant brings a claim against only one of them, either the employer/employment agency or the claimant can ask the tribunal to join the other - ie either the employment agency or employer - as a party to the proceedings.

A tribunal will grant such a request if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is not made until after the start of the hearing. This 'request for joinder' cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well founded.

If a claimant brings a claim against both an employer and an employment agency or if joinder has been granted and the tribunal finds the claim to be well founded against both the employer and the agency, the tribunal can order any compensation it may award to be paid only by the employment agency, paid only by the employer or divided between the two.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

If the prospective employer or employment agency claims that they were induced to act unlawfully by pressure exerted on them by a trade union or other person - eg by threatening or organising industrial action - they can ask the Industrial Tribunal to join the trade union or other person as a party to the proceedings.

The claimant can also ask that a trade union or other person be joined as a party to the proceedings if they believe that they induced the employer or employment agency by these means to act unlawfully.

A tribunal will grant such a request for joinder - made by either the prospective employer/employment agency or the claimant - if the request is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

A request for joinder cannot be made after the tribunal has decided whether or not the claim was well-founded.

Where a trade union or other person has been joined to the proceedings and the tribunal finds the claim to be well-founded, it will also consider whether pressure was exerted on the prospective employer or employment agency, as alleged.

If the tribunal finds that such pressure was exerted, it can order the trade union or other person to pay some or all of any compensation it may award.

Remedies for unlawful refusal of employment or the services of an employment agency

If a tribunal finds that an individual has been unlawfully refused employment or the services of an employment agency because of their membership or non-membership of a trade union, it will make a declaration to that effect.

The tribunal may also:

award the claimant compensation to be paid by the prospective employer and/or employment agency

recommend that the prospective employer or employment agency takes action to remedy the adverse effect of their unlawful refusal on the claimant, eg by recommending that the employer considers the claimant for a job vacancy

Compensation

The tribunal will assess and award compensation as it sees fit. It may include compensation for injury to feelings.

In cases where a claim is made and upheld against a party and they fail without reasonable justification to comply with a recommendation to take action, the tribunal may increase its award of compensation, or make an award if it has not already done so.

The amount of compensation payable, including any additional compensation awarded for failure to comply with a recommendation, is subject to an upper limit.

See current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.
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Trade union membership rights in the workplace

The rights of those in work not to be treated unfairly as a result of trade union membership or non-membership.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds of trade union membership or non-membership. Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

A person can be subjected to a detriment through either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether a worker has suffered a detriment is for an industrial tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment include withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, a detriment could also be ending their employment.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to give up their trade union membership, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right not to belong to a trade union

No person has to join or remain a member of, a trade union.

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for not belonging to a trade union or for refusing to join one

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer (for not being or refusing to become a trade union member)

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the employer is to induce them to be or to become a trade union member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right not to make payments in lieu of union membership

Employees have the right not to be dismissed for refusing to make a payment, eg to a union or a charity, in lieu of union membership or for objecting to their employer deducting a sum of money from their pay to make such a payment.

Employees and other workers have the right not to have other action taken by their employer to force them to make such a payment. If their employer deducts a sum of money from their pay, this counts as an action to force them to make such a payment.

Right to belong to a trade union

All employees have the right:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for being a member of an independent trade union or for proposing to become a member

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for failing to accept an offer made by their employer with the sole or main purpose of inducing them not to be or become a trade union member

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer, to prevent or deter them from belonging to an independent trade union or from seeking to become a member, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer where the sole or main purpose of the offer is to induce them not to be (or seek to become) a member

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can make an industrial tribunal claim. For more information, see tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination against workers on TU membership grounds

Industrial tribunal claims when workers are discriminated against due to trade union membership.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as set out in trade union membership rights in the workplace) have been infringed can make an Industrial Tribunal claim.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their claim is one of unfair dismissal.

If an employee or other worker considers that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their claim is one of detriment.

For the detriment to be unlawful, the person must have been subjected to it with the intention of putting pressure on them in respect of non-membership or membership of a union, or for other unlawful purposes relating to failure to accept unlawful inducements.

If a worker believes that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership as described above, their claim is one of unlawful inducement.

Pressure exerted by a trade union or other person

An employer who faces a claim of unfair dismissal may have dismissed the employee concerned as a result of pressure applied by a union or other person because the employee was not a member of a trade union. The pressure could be in the form of actual or threatened industrial action.

If the employer or the employee making the complaint claims this is so, either of them may make a request to the tribunal for the union or other person concerned to be joined - ie brought in as a party - to the proceedings.

A request by either an employer or a dismissed employee for a trade union or other person in unfair dismissal proceedings to be joined in this way will be granted by the tribunal if it is made before the hearing begins. However, the tribunal may refuse the request if it is made after the start of the hearing.

If the tribunal finds the dismissal unfair and the claim of pressure well founded, it may make any award of compensation wholly or partly against the union or other person concerned instead of - or as well as - against the employer.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to union membership, non-membership, and unlawful inducements vary. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where a worker makes a related claim to the tribunal concerning detriment and the tribunal upholds that claim, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If a worker has accepted an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

In such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services

The right of workers who are union members not to be treated unfairly when interacting with their union.
You must not treat employees and other workers unfairly on the grounds that they have taken part in the activities of the trade union to which they belong or have made use of their union's services at an appropriate time.

Unfair treatment includes dismissal and subjecting a worker to a detriment.

What is meant by the term 'trade union'?

The term 'trade union' includes:

any trade union

a particular trade union

one of a number of particular trade unions

a particular branch or section of a trade union

one of a number of particular branches or sections of a trade union

What is meant by the term 'detriment'?

Detriment can be either an act or a deliberate decision not to act by an employer. Whether an employee or other worker has suffered a detriment is for a tribunal to decide.

Examples of a detriment would be withholding a pay increase, discrimination in promotion, transfer or training opportunities, or threats of dismissal. For a worker who is not an employee, detriment could also take the form of dismissal.

In addition, a detriment could be the failure to confer a benefit on a person who failed to accept an unlawful inducement that would have been conferred on them had they accepted the offer.

For example, if an employer offered £1,000 to workers not to take advice from their union, any worker who did not accept that offer and was therefore not paid the £1,000 would have been subjected to a detriment of £1,000.

Right to take part in trade union activities

All employees have the following rights relating to their trade union activities:

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy, for taking part - or proposing to take part - in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

Not to be dismissed or selected for redundancy because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer. The sole or main purpose of the offer must be to induce them not to take part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from taking part in trade union activities at an appropriate time, or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to take part in an independent trade union's activities at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment for failing to accept such an offer

The kinds of union activity a worker may take part in are not set out in law. However, union activities involving a worker acting on behalf of the union would be covered, eg a shop steward representing a union that is recognised for collective bargaining purposes or activities connected with the election or appointment of union officials.

Right to make use of trade union services

All employees have the following rights relating to the use they make of their union's services:

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, for making use, or proposing to make use, of the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

not to be dismissed, or selected for redundancy, because they failed to accept an offer made by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which was to induce them not to use the services of an independent trade union at an appropriate time

In addition, all employees and other workers have the right:

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer to prevent or deter them from using their union's services at an appropriate time or to penalise them for doing so

not to be made an offer by their employer, the sole or main purpose of which is to induce them not to make use of an independent trade union's services at an appropriate time

not to be subjected to a detriment by their employer for failing to accept such an offer

'Trade union services' are services made available to an employee or other worker by virtue of their membership of an independent trade union. They include the union agreeing to raise a matter on behalf of the employee or other worker by, for example, writing to the employer about a grievance.

However, such services do not include having a member's terms and conditions determined by collective agreement.

The 'appropriate time' for the union member to take part in union activities or to make use of their union's services is time either:

outside the member's working hours - this could cover activities that take place or services which are used when the person is on the employer's premises but not actually required to be working, eg during lunch breaks

within the member's working hours where the employer has agreed that the worker may take part in trade union activities or use the trade union's services

Rights to reasonable time off for trade union duties and activities also exist where an employer recognises a union for collective bargaining. For more information on collective bargaining, see meaning and types of trade union recognition.

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of their rights as set out above have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal. See tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services.
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Tribunal claims: discrimination regarding trade union activities and services

Industrial tribunal claims due to discrimination relating to trade union activities and services.
Individuals who think that any of their rights (as in rights of workers relating to trade union activities and services) have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If an employee has been dismissed - including cases where they have been dismissed on grounds of redundancy - their complaint is one of unfair dismissal.

If employees or other workers consider that they have been subjected to a detriment by an act, or deliberate failure to act, by their employer, their complaint is one of detriment.

If employees or other workers consider that you have made an unlawful inducement relating to trade union activities and services, their complaint is one of unlawful inducement.

Compensation

The compensatory awards for the claims in relation to dismissal and detriment vary. A tribunal can make an award to an individual for claims of unlawful inducements in relation to trade union membership/non-membership, activities, or collective bargaining. For more information, see current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits.

Note that in cases where an employee or other worker makes a related complaint to the tribunal concerning detriment, and the tribunal upholds that complaint, the tribunal may award compensation for the detriment suffered.

In deciding the amount of such compensation, a tribunal may not make a reduction on the ground that a complainant:

contributed to their loss by accepting or not accepting an unlawful inducement

has received or is entitled to an award on the grounds that an unlawful inducement has been made to them

Status of contractual changes resulting from unlawful inducements

If an employee or other worker accepts an unlawful inducement, but any consequent agreement by them to vary their terms and conditions has not yet been effected, the agreement to vary the terms and conditions is not enforceable.

Also, in such circumstances, the employer cannot recover any cash paid or other benefits conferred on the employee or worker concerned.

However, in cases where the agreed variation of terms and conditions has been effected, those variations are enforceable.
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Time-off rights for union officials and members

Rights to time off for union duties and activities and the circumstances under which this should be paid time off.
Trade union officials and members have rights to time off under certain circumstances. The time off may or may not be paid.

The right to paid time off for union duties

You must give an employee who is an official of a recognised union reasonable paid time off:

to carry out their union duties

for training related to union duties

A trade union official's typical duties may include:

recruiting, organising and representing members of a trade union, either individually or collectively

attending meetings with members of the workforce and management

accompanying workers to disciplinary and grievance hearings

negotiating with the employer on terms and conditions of employment or matters of discipline

The right to time off for union activities

You must give union officials and members reasonable unpaid time off for carrying out union activities.

Such activities might include:

voting in union elections

meeting full-time officials to discuss issues relevant to the workplace

attending workplace meetings to discuss and vote on the outcome of negotiations

Right of complaint to an Industrial Tribunal

Individuals who think that any of these rights have been infringed can complain to an industrial tribunal.

If the tribunal finds the complaint well founded, it will make a declaration to that effect and award compensation as it sees fit.

In cases where the employer has failed to pay the employee for the time off, it will order the employer to pay the amount due.
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Rights of union learning representatives

The rights of union learning representatives, including arranging and undertaking training.
What are union learning representatives?

Union learning representatives have the same status as union officials and are allowed paid time off to carry out their duties.

Union learning representatives are:

representatives of a recognised union who provide advice to union members about their training, educational, and developmental needs

elected or appointed in accordance with the union's rules

trained in line with statutory training conditions

notified to the employer in writing

Rights of union learning representatives

Union learning representatives have a legal right to reasonable paid time off during working hours to carry out their duties, which may include:

undertaking relevant training

analysing the learning or training needs of union members

providing information and advice on learning or training

arranging learning or training

consulting the employer about learning and training

preparing for the above

The law does not assign a negotiating role to union learning representatives. However, some employers have voluntarily negotiated learning agreements with their union learning representatives.

Advantages of union learning representatives for employers

Union learning representatives can be a source of expert advice. They cost you comparatively little and can help with identifying the training needs of staff and encouraging a learning culture within the company.
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Blacklisting of trade union members

Description of the law that prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.
From 6 April 2014 the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 came into operation which prohibits the blacklisting of trade unionists.

The Regulations make it unlawful to compile, supply, sell or use a 'prohibited list' (ie a blacklist).

Employers and employment agencies cannot:

refuse a person employment for a reason related to a blacklist

dismiss an employee for a reason related to a blacklist

subject a person to any other detriment for a reason related to a blacklist

refuse the services of an employment agency to a person for a reason related to a blacklist.

What is a blacklist?

A blacklist must:

Contain 'details' about current or former trade union members or of persons who are taking part or have taken part in trade union activities. These 'details' could include names, addresses, National Insurance numbers, occupations or work histories.

Have been compiled for employers or employment agencies to use in order to discriminate on grounds of trade union membership or activities when recruiting or during employment.

Blacklists would include any index or other set of items whether recorded manually, electronically or in other forms, and can include haphazard or unstructured collections of information with a common connection - such as a shared purpose.

You can act unlawfully if you indirectly access a blacklist. It may not be a defence for you to claim that you did not know you were using information from a blacklist.

Everyone on a blacklist is protected, even non-trade union members.

There are some incidences where the law does not prohibit blacklists. It is lawful if you:

Supply a blacklist in circumstances where you could not reasonably be expected to know it was a prohibited list.

Compile, supply or use a blacklist in order to draw attention to possible or actual blacklisting activity. For this to apply, no information about the person on the list should have been published without their consent, and the activity is justified in the public interest.

Compiled, sold, supplied or used a prohibited list for the sole or main purpose of appointing or electing an office-holder in a trade union; or appointing a person to a post or office where the appointee must have experience or knowledge of trade unions, and it is reasonable to apply such a requirement.

Compile, sell, supply or use a blacklist to comply with a statutory or legal requirement or to obey a court order.

It is also lawful to access a blacklist either:

in connection with legal proceedings

to obtain or provide legal advice about blacklisting compliance

Industrial Tribunal claims

If an employer is suspected of blacklisting, or an employment agency refuses employment based on blacklist information, they could be taken to an industrial tribunal.

If successful in an Industrial Tribunal, the claimant could be awarded compensation.

Court claims

A claim to a court can be made by anyone if they have suffered loss or been threatened by a potential loss.

If a complaint is successful, the court can award damages and compensation for injury to feelings. They are also empowered to make orders to stop organisations from blacklisting or using blacklists.

An individual cannot make a complaint to an Industrial Tribunal and the court in relation to the same conduct. However, if a complaint is made to an industrial tribunal, the same complainant could also ask the court to restrain or prevent an employer from blacklisting.
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Current tribunal and arbitration compensation limits

Minimum and maximum amounts that may be ordered to be paid by a tribunal.

Table of increase of limits

Compensation	From 6 April 2023	From 6 April 2024
Maximum basic award for unfair dismissal (30 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£20,070	£21,870
Minimum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (26 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£17,394	£18,954
Maximum additional award for failure to comply with a tribunal's order to reinstate or re-employ an employee who has been unfairly dismissed (52 weeks' pay, subject to the limit on a week's pay)	£34,788	£37,908
Maximum amount of 'a week's pay' for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal	£669	£729
Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair	£8,139	£8,863
Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal	£105,915	£115,341
Limit on guarantee pay (per day)	£35	£38
Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership, activities, or services, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining	£5,382	£5,861
Minimum amount of compensation where an individual is expelled from a union in contravention of Article 38 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and not readmitted by date of tribunal application	£12,206	£13,292
Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of debt to which Part XIV of the 1996 Order applies and which is referable to a period of time	£669	£729

The limit for the maximum award in breach of contract cases is £25,000.

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