Certification Officer
This guidance is for trade unions. If you want to complain about an employers association, contact the COs team:
Email: info@certoffice.orgTelephone: 0330 109 3602
Who can complain to the CO
You can complain to the CO if you are a member of the trade union you want to complain about.
You can also complain to the CO if you were a member of the trade union at the time of the incident you are complaining about.
If your complaint is about the way a trade union has held an election, you may be able to complain if you are not a member of the union but have sufficient interest. For example, you may have been a candidate in an election for a general secretary without being a member of the union.
Anyone can complain about the way a trade union manages its financial affairs. [See guidance on reporting financial irregularities]
The CO has separate powers to investigate certain issues without a complaint from a member of a union. [See guidance on the COs power to act without receiving a complaint].
You cannot complain to the CO if you have already made the same complaint to a court.
Anonymity
The CO will not reveal your identify if you contact them to discuss the possibility of complaining.
However, you cannot usually submit a complaint anonymously.
After you have made a complaint, the CO will normally reveal your identity:
- to the trade union you have complained about
- to anybody else they think needs to know (for example a person who has made the same or similar complaint or her legal advisers)
- in any final decision issued by the CO and published on her website
In rare circumstances, the CO can choose to withhold your identity if you provide evidence that disclosing your identity might put you at risk (for example of violence or physical danger).
What you can complain to the CO about
A breach or threatened breach of trade union rules
The CO has powers to handle complaints about a breach or threatened breach of trade union rules on:
- the constitution of an executive committee or any decision-making meeting
- the procedure for conducting of an executive committee or any decision-making meeting
- appointing or electing any officers to any role in the trade union
- removing officers from their role in the trade union
- disciplinary proceedings against union members (including expulsion)
- balloting members on any issues other than industrial action
Breach of legal requirements
The CO also has powers to handle complaints about a breach of legal requirements for:
- electing the general secretary, president and members of a trade unions executive
- producing a Membership Audit Certificate
- the administration and use of political funds
- members right of access to the unions accounting records
- mergers with another union
- ensuring that certain types of offenders do not hold positions in the union
- the unions financial affairs
The CO does not have powers to handle complaints about the services provided by a union, such as individual representation.
If the CO cannot handle your complaint
You may be able to resolve your complaint by talking to your union. If that fails, you may be able to get free, confidential advice from the Advisory, Conciliation and Abritration Service (Acas), Citizens Advice or a local law centre.
Get advice on the Acas website.
Get advice on the Citizens Advice website.
Find your local law centre on the Law Centres Network website.
Time limits for complaints
The time limit for making a breach or threatened breach of trade union rules complaint is 6 months from the date of the alleged or threatened breach.
If you have used the unions internal complaints procedure, the time limit is 6 months from the date that procedure concludes.
If you have used the unions internal complaints procedure and this has not concluded within 12 months, you have a further 6 months to take your complaint to the CO.
If your complaint concerns a trade union election for a member of the executive, the president, the general secretary or for any position by virtue of which a person is a member of the executive, the time limit is a year from the date the union announces the election results.
If your complaint concerns the balloting on a political resolution, the time limit is a year from the date the union announces the ballot results. You must be a member or have been at the time the ballot was held.
If your complaint concerns a merger, the time limit is 6 weeks from the date the application to register the merger has been sent to the CO. Only members of the transferring union can make a complaint.
If you are attempting to resolve your complaint with the union either informally or formally, you should be mindful of the time limit.
You can submit a complaint to the CO while you try to resolve your complaint with the union. However, the CO may refuse to accept a complaint if you have not already tried to resolve it with the union.
What you need to provide
To make a complaint, you will need to provide:
- the name of the trade union you are complaining about
- details of your membership
- the name of the branch or section of the union where you are/were a member
- the date the trade union breached a union rule or legal requirement
- a summary of how the union breached or threatened to breach the rule or legal requirement
- evidence that supports your allegation that the union breached or threatened to breach a rule
- evidence that you have tried to resolve your complaint with the union (for example documents or an email showing that you set out your complaint to the trade union)
- an explanation of how you complained to the union and what the outcome was, or when you expect the outcome (for example responses to your complaint)
If your complaint is about a breach of union rules, you will also need to explain which rule has been breached and provide a copy of that rule.
How to complain
Download the CO complaints form and fill in all fields.
Email the completed form to info@certoffice.org
Your email should include:
- the completed complaints form
- your supporting evidence
- the relevant rules
You can also email or telephone the CO team if you need help filling in the form.
Email: info@certoffice.org
Telephone: 0330 109 3602
After you apply
Someone from the COs office will contact you shortly after receiving your application.
The CO aims to make a decision on your complaint within 6 months, but this will depend on the complexity of the case.
The COs team will assess whether your complaint falls within the COs powers, is within the time limits and whether a rule can have been broken in the way you have described.
They will contact you to discuss your complaint and agree the complaint wording. They may ask you for additional information to support your complaint.
If your complaint is accepted:
- the COs team will send the complaint to the trade union for comment
- you will have the opportunity to reply to the unions response
- the CO will decide how to proceed with your complaint
If your complaint is not accepted, the COs team will notify you and close your case file.
Reasons a complaint might not be accepted include:
- your complaint does not fall within the COs powers
- your complaint has not been received within the time limit
- the rule or requirement cannot have been breached in the way you describe
Possible outcomes once your complaint is accepted
The CO will give you and the union the opportunity to present your case at an online hearing.
You and the union can agree to ask the CO to decide on your complaint without a hearing. However, the CO may decide that a hearing is still necessary.
The CO can strike out an application, part of an application or a response at any stage.
The CO will decide whether to uphold your complaint. If she does, she will make a declaration that the union