Derecognition 




Where recognition was wholly voluntary (that is, agreed without using the statutory recognition procedure at any stage), no formal statutory mechanism or procedure is needed for an employer to derecognise a union, and there is no set timescale. 



Where recognition was achieved through the statutory recognition procedure, the scope for derecognition is more limited and formal. The legislation sets out circumstances in which an employer or workers can apply to the CAC to formally derecognise a union. 




Where a union lacks a certificate of independence, a worker in the bargaining unit can apply to initiate formal statutory derecognition. Only a worker can make the application, not a union. In the first application of this kind, in July 2017, six Boots pharmacists applied to the CAC, supported by independent union the Pharmacists Defence Association Union (PDAU), to derecognise sweetheart union Boots Pharmacists Association (see box on page 140).