Check-off arrangements 



Many employers where unions are recognised have long-standing check-off payroll arrangements 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. 



The government originally planned to use the TUA 16 to ban check off in the public sector and in private and voluntary sector organisations that are mainly publicly funded. However, following union campaigning, the government climbed down on this issue and under the TUA 16, public sector check off arrangements can be retained (section 15, TUA 16, section 116B, TULRCA), provided:


• the union meets the reasonable cost (see below); and


• union members can choose how to pay their membership subscriptions, for example through check off, direct debit or cheque.


Payments of the cost of check off will be “reasonable” if the employer is satisfied that the total payments paid by the union are “substantially equivalent to the total cost to public funds of making the deductions” (section 116B(2), TULRCA). In practice, the costs of administering check off are nominal.


Future regulations are expected to specify which public and voluntary sector bodies are caught by the restrictions.


Some members will have a contractual right to check-off. This may be express (clearly agreed, and usually in writing, in the 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, and there was no 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 on legal costs fighting the claim.



In May 2016, the High Court confirmed that DWP staff also have the contractual right to pay their subs using check off, and that the government breached their employment contracts by abolishing these arrangements without agreement.