Commentary on provisions of Act Section 15: Restriction on deduction of union subscriptions from wages in public sector
This section only permits public sector employers from providing a check off service if their workers have the option to pay their union subscriptions by other means and arrangements have been made for the union to make reasonable payments to the employer in respect of the making of the deductions. Check off involves the employer deducting trade union subscriptions from a union member's pay on behalf of that union and transferring the money deducted to the union.
	For the purposes of this section, public sector employers are employers that are either public authorities specified, or of a description specified, in regulations, or bodies that provide functions of a public nature that are wholly or mainly funded by public funds and are specified in regulations (subsections (3) and (4) of the new section 116B inserted by the section). These would include central government bodies such as Civil Service departments including non-ministerial departments and their executive agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, local government bodies such as councils, fire and rescue authorities and Transport for London. They would also include NHS bodies (including trusts), state-funded schools (including academies and free schools) and public corporations such as the BBC. A public sector employer may be a body or an office holder.
	The regulations, which are subject to the affirmative procedure, may amend or otherwise modify existing legal entitlements, such as those contained in contracts of employment. The regulations may also make transitional provisions before the prohibition takes effect, such as specifying a commencement date after a certain period of time to enable trade unions to make alternative arrangements to check-off and notify their members of these, encouraging them to switch to direct debit for example.