Payment for activities

There is a distinction between trade union duties and trade union activities as employers are not required to pay their employees when they permit them to take time off for activities. The TUC sums it up: “Reps have a right to paid time off for duties but not for trade union activities”. This right to unpaid time off is only available to reps if their union is recognised by the employer.

This doesn’t mean reps can’t be paid for trade union activities, but it would have to be a matter for agreement or practice, not a statutory right. A good agreement on time off would acknowledge a close relationship between trade union duties and trade union activities and not differentiate between the two, certainly as far as the rights of elected or appointed reps are concerned.