Trade Union Act 2016: consultation on the Certification Officer’s enforcement powers

This consultation seeks your views on the government’s proposals for the implementation of Section 19 of the Trade Union Act. This gives the Certification Officer the power to impose financial penalties on unions and employer associations for non-compliance with statutory requirements.

We are consulting on the detail of how the proposed financial penalties regime will operate. Specifically, we are seeking views on whether:

• the proposed approach to set the level of financial penalty by type of obligation breached is appropriate
• the maximum levels by type of obligation breached are appropriate
• the proposal to reduce the penalty maxima by 50% for unions and employer associations whose membership size is less than 100,000 is appropriate

We welcome views from trade unions, employer associations and other interested organisations and individuals.