Certification Officer
Posted by: Department for Business and Trade
Employed By: Department for Business and Trade
Job Title: Certification Officer
Salary: £125,000 per annum
Contract: Full-time
Location: London
Application Deadline: 18 June 2025 5pm
The Certification Officer (CO) is an independent statutory officeholder responsible for regulating trade unions and employers’ associations in accordance with relevant legislation. This is a crucial role in ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and maintaining public confidence in the governance and financial transparency of these organisations. The CO is free from Ministerial direction and operates independently to ensure trade union and employer associations compliance with certain rules and legal requirements.
This role involves overseeing compliance, determining decisions on complaints, initiating investigations into financial matters, and certifying the independence of trade unions. It requires strong analytical and decision-making skills, along with the ability to maintain impartiality while dealing with complex and often sensitive issues.
The CO is supported by a small office of staff employed by the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service (Acas).
This is a challenging yet rewarding role that requires a high degree of independence, fairness, and attention to detail. If you have the expertise and experience required to ensure compliance and fairness in the trade union governance, we encourage you to apply.
Organisation description
The Certification Officer (CO) and their team ensure that trade unions and employers’ associations carry out their statutory duties. The CO is an independent officer, appointed by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. The CO is funded largely by trade unions and employers' associations through the collection of a levy each year.
Reverting to the traditional aspect of the CO role means operating in line with the changes introduced by the Employment Rights Bill, including the removal of additional investigatory powers, the powers to impose financial penalties and levy requirements that were established under the Trade Union Act 2016. The CO will return to its previous remit.
The functions of the Certification Officer are contained in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (as amended). These functions include but are not limited to:
Maintaining a list of trade unions and employers' association.
Ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and keeping annual returns from trade unions and other employers' associations available for public inspection.
Determining complaints concerning trade union elections, and other ballots, and breaches of trade union rules.
Ensuring observance of statutory requirements governing mergers between trade unions and between employers’ associations.
Certifying the independence of trade unions.
Overseeing the political funds and the finances of trade unions and employers associations.
Person specification
Essential criteria
1. Strong knowledge and understanding of employment law, trade union regulations, good workplace practice, and governance frameworks.
2. Ability to operate at senior leadership level and provide strategic thinking in an organisational context.
3. Experience in regulatory, adjudication, tribunal, or oversight roles.
4. Ability to lead and manage disputes in a manner that maintains public confidence in the impartiality and independence required of the Certification Officer.
5. Excellent communications and stakeholder engagement skills, both verbal and written.
6. Ability to analyse and evaluate complex information to deliver fair, balanced and proportionate judgments based on evidence and reasoned argument and present them clearly and accurately.
7. Demonstrated financial management skills, including budgeting and resource allocation in the context of the broader strategic objectives.
Desirable criteria
1. Legal qualifications in employment, administrative, or regulatory legislation.
2. Understanding of legal processes and knowledge of formal or informal hearings in legal or workplace settings.
3. Experience of working at senior level in a public body (including universities), a trade union, a private sector organisation, the legal profession, or the Civil Service.
4. Experience of working with trade union officers and members.
5. Understanding of financial management and governance of trade unions and employers’ associations.
6. Knowledge of public sector governance, policy-making processes and decision-making frameworks, particularly in the context of employment law, trade unions, and certification processes.
7. Familiarity with public accountability mechanisms, dispute resolution protocols, and the application of legal standards and regulations specific to the Certification Officer's responsibilities.How to applyIn order to apply you will need to visit https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8515?page=2
Create an account or sign in, once you have logged in to your account, click on the apply for this role and follow the on screen instructions.
All candidates are required to provide a Curriculum Vitae (CV) providing contact details, details of education and qualifications, employment history, directorships, memberships of professional bodies and details of any relevant publications or awards.
A Supporting Statement (no longer than two pages) setting out how you meet the criteria for appointment, as set out in the person specification for the role.
Please not that the Supporting Statement is an important part of the application and is as much the means by which you will be assessed as your CV.