By Jo Seery Professional Support Lawyer &
Amber Davies, Solicitor
The Employment Rights Act 2025 came into force on 18 December 2025. While many of the provisions are subject to further consultation and regulation, we continue our in-depth analysis on the provisions on trade unions which are the first to be implemented.
In this, weekly feature article on the Employment Rights Act, we focus on the changes to the law on trade union political funds and the Certification Officers powers. In ‘Next Steps to Make Work Pay’ the Government stated it was committed to updating trade union legislation and ‘removing unnecessary restrictions’ including measures to remove the requirement for a political resolution to be renewed every ten years in order for a trade union to maintain a political fund. The change to the political fund is one of the areas which formed part of the battleground in the parliamentary “ping pong” prior to the ER Bill becoming an Act.
Introduction
A Unions political fund is set up following a ballot of the union members. The political fund is separate from a Union’s general fund and is established to meet the ‘political objects’ as defined by Section 72 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Unions who have been mandated to have a political fund are required to hold review ballots every 10 years.
What’s included?
The changes in respect of the political fund are:
- Reverse the changes introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 (‘TUA’) which required members to actively opt in to contribute to the political fund and reminded annually of their right to withdraw. The change means that members are automatically treated as having opted- in unless they choose to opt out.
- Repeal of the requirement to hold a review ballot of members every ten years on whether the Union should continue operating a political fund. Funds will remain in place indefinitely unless closed by a trade union according to its own procedures. Instead, Members will receive an opt-out information notice every ten years informing members of the fact that the Union operates a political fund and of their right to opt out.
- Allowing members to opt in and out of the political fund digitally.
The changes in respect of the Certification Officer are:
- that the provision requiring trade unions and employers’ associations to pay a levy to fund the CO’s office introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 is repealed.
- removal of the CO’s power to initiate investigations, meaning that the CO can only act following a complaint from a union member or other interested party.
- abolition of the CO’s ability to impose civil penalties for breaches of statutory obligations.
- updating the obligations on Unions to provide information to the CO and requiring annual returns in a prescribed format that can be submitted digitally.
- the provision of transitional protections as the new regime comes into effect. This will mean that any investigations or enforcement actions initiated under the old law (including civil penalties or levy collection) can continue until they are concluded and gives the Government power to introduce further transitional regulations if needed.
As these changes mainly deal with the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016, they due to come into force two months after the Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025.
What’s not changed?
The core regulatory role of the Certification Officer will remain the same meaning they will still maintain the official register of trade unions and employers’ associations, oversee compliance with statutory reporting obligations and handle complaints from members about breaches of union rules. Essentially the role of the CO will revert to that pre-Trade Union Act 2016.
Comment
These changes seek to reduce some of the administrative and financial burdens faced by Trade Unions. The change back to union members being automatically opted in to contribute to a political fund, unless they expressly opt out should assist unions in being able to campaign more effectively on issues like workers’ rights, pay, and safety. In addition, the move to digitisation signals the general move to a more modern, tech-forward approach, in line with the change to electronic balloting. This should, in theory, make these things quicker and less onerous for unions and symbolises the removal of much of the ‘red tape’ introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016.
