Check-off arrangements 


Many employers where unions are recognised have long-standing check-off payroll arrangements in place so that membership subs can be deducted from their pay and sent to the union. You can agree to pay your subs in this way when you become a member. You need to provide your written agreement to payment by check-off, as this is a deduction from your wages (see Chapter 4). 


There is no statutory right to pay union subs through check-off, even if the union agrees to pay the full cost of check off administration, which is nominal. 


Some members have a contractual right to check-off. This may be express (clearly agreed, and usually in writing, in your statement of employment particulars or a staff handbook) or implied (for example, based on custom and practice). For more information on contractual rights, see Chapter 3. 


In Hickey v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, [2013] All ER (D) 24, a high court judge ruled that local government staff who belonged to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) had the contractual right to have union subs deducted at source through check-off, based on wording in the staff handbook, which was incorporated into their employment contracts. A contract term can only be changed through agreement. In this case, the union gave evidence that the annual cost of check off for the employer was just £300, which the union had offered to fund. The government used £90,000 of public funds to pay legal costs incurred fighting the claim.


The Hickey case was one feature of a concerted political campign by the government to use check-off to destabilise the main civil service union, the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS). Over 2013-2015, check-off was removed for most civil service staff. The union mounted a highly successful, resource-intensive campaign to switch members to direct debit.


Following its defeat in the Hickey litigation, the government decided to use legislation in its campaign against check-off and to extend that campaign across the wider public services The Trade Union Bill initially included a blanket ban on check-off in the public sector as well as private sector employers that use public funding to perform “functions of a public nature”. 


Defeated in the House of Lords during the passage of the Bill, the government abandoned its plans to abolish check-off, so long as the costs of the system are met by the union. These costs are nominal. Under the TUA16, the amount charged by the employer must be judged by the Certification Officer to be “reasonable” (section 15, TUA16, section 116B, TULRCA).


In May 2016, a high court judge ruled that DWP staff had a contractual right to have their subs paid by check off, which should not have been abolished without agreement. The judgment opens the way for the union, which has been forced to spend significant time and resources re-recruiting tens of thousands of members to direct debit, to claim damages for loss of income. Similar legal challenges are being considered against other government departments that scrapped check off.