Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Public and Commercial Services Union [2024] UKSC 41

Background:

The case involved ‘check-off’ arrangements whereby employees from the respondent departments would choose to have their Union subscription deducted from their salary at source and paid directly to the Union. This arrangement arose from collective agreements between the government and the unions in the 1960s.

The Government departments unilaterally withdrew the check-off arrangements. They had agreed during the proceedings that that decision was a breach of the contract of employment for individual employees. However, the issue in this case was whether the Union could take an action as they had suffered a loss from a drop in subscriptions.  The argument from the Government