Prevent discrimination and value diversity

Discrimination over membership or non-membership of unions

Employees may not be refused a job, dismissed, selected for redundancy or discriminated against, for:

• joining a trade union, or declining to join one
• carrying out trade union activities at an appropriate time
• making use of trade union services at an appropriate time

Also, they cannot be dismissed or selected for redundancy for refusing to accept an unlawful incentive by an employer to give up any of these trade union rights, or give up their collective agreement rights.

Many trade unions are recognised by an employer when it negotiates agreements on pay and other terms and conditions of employment. This is a process known as collective bargaining, but it is not compulsory for an employee to be a member of that or any other trade union.

Any withholding of a job offer, dismissal, or selection for redundancy, for membership or non-membership of a trade union could lead to a claim at an employment tribunal.

Employers could also face an employment tribunal claim for dismissing, selecting for redundancy, or treating detrimentally an employee who takes part, or proposes to take part, in trade union activities or makes use of a trade union's services at an appropriate time.

For these purposes, industrial action does not count as a trade union activity.

An "appropriate time" may be, for instance, outside working hours, during an employee's lunch break or at a time when the employer has agreed that they may take part in trade union activities.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Discrimination in recruitment and induction
• Sex discrimination
• Age discrimination
• Discrimination against disabled people
• Discrimination on the grounds of race
• Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief
• Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation
• Discrimination over membership or non-membership of unions
• Discrimination in day-to-day working practices

 Print This Page

Source - Business Link; Crown Copyright.