Complain about your trade union
Attend a hearing
You’ll usually get the chance to attend a hearing with the Certification Officer to have your complaint heard.
You’ll get a letter from the Certification Officer asking you to confirm what your complaint is about, for example what rule you think has been broken.
Your complaint will be sent to your union - they can disagree with any allegation you’ve made.
Provide documents for your hearing
You and your union must send certain documents by a date specified by the Certification Officer.
These include:
- copies of all the documents that relate to your complaint
- written statements from anyone that’s going to give evidence at the hearing
- written draft arguments
- copies of any legal evidence that backs up the draft arguments
Get a date for the hearing
You’ll get a letter from the Certification Officer that sets a date for the hearing when both of the following have happened:
- your union has replied to the Certification Officer about your complaint
- you and your union provide the Certification Officer with all the necessary documents
You or your union can ask for the hearing to be postponed if either of you can’t attend the hearing on the date given.
The hearing guidance tells you:
- how you or your union might be able to change the date of the hearing
- what happens at the hearing
Get a decision without a hearing
You can also get a decision from the Certification Officer on your case without having to attend a hearing, for example if both you and the union agree that either the union’s own rules or the law has been broken.
You’ll still need to provide the Certification Officer with all the details about the case so they can decide what should happen next.