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Trade Unions Act

(Chapter 333, Section 55)

Trade Unions Regulations

Rg 1

REVISED EDITION 1990

(25th March 1992)

[16th May 1977]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Trade Unions Regulations.

Definition

1A. For the purposes of these Regulations,“financial institution” has the same meaning as in section 16(7) of the Act.

[S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]

2. The register of trade unions required to be kept and maintained by the Registrar in accordance with section 7 of the Act shall be substantially in Form A set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93]

Application for registration

3.—(1) Every application made under section 9(1) of the Act for the registration of a trade union shall be substantially in Form B set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) Every statement accompanying an application under section 9(2)(c) of the Act shall state the personal particulars, occupation and designation of —

(a)	the members making the application; and
(b)	the officers of the trade union. [S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]

Manner of registration

4.—(1) The registration of a trade union shall be made by entering in the register all the particulars prescribed in Form A set out in the First Schedule which are applicable.

(2) The Registrar shall make all other entries in the register and any alteration or change in the register where it has been brought to his attention.

(3) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar that an error has been made in an entry in the register, that entry may be amended by the Registrar.

[Subst. by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Certificate of registration

5. The certificate of registration issued by the Registrar under section 11 of the Act shall be substantially in Form C set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Application for withdrawal or cancellation of certificate

6.—(1) Every application for cancellation or withdrawal of registration of a registered trade union under section 15(1)(a) of the Act shall be substantially in Form D set out in the First Schedule and be signed by the secretary of the union and by not less than 7 other members and, if the union has a seal, the seal shall also be affixed thereto.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) There shall be appended to every such application a certificate, signed by the secretary and the members of the trade union making it, to the effect that the statements contained in the application are to the best of their knowledge and belief true.

Power of Registrar to call for evidence

7. Upon an application for the cancellation or withdrawal of the registration of a trade union being presented to him, the Registrar, if he has reason to believe that the applicants have not been duly authorised by the union to make the applications, may, for the purpose of ascertaining the facts, require from the applicants such evidence as may seem to him necessary and examine any officer of the union.

Notice to withdraw or cancel registration

8. The Registrar shall, when he proposes to withdraw or cancel the certificate of registration of a trade union under section 15(1)(b) of the Act, cause a notice substantially in Form E set out in the First Schedule to be served on the trade union.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Surrender of certificate

9. The certificate of registration issued to a trade union under regulation 5 shall be surrendered by the secretary of the union on receipt of the order of the Registrar withdrawing or cancelling the certificate.

Notice of change of name

10.—(1) Notice of any change of the name of a registered trade union under section 35(1) of the Act shall be given substantially in Form F set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) The registration of a change of name shall be effected by entering in the register the particulars prescribed in item 8 of Form A set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(3) When the Registrar registers a change of name he shall certify under his signature at the foot of the certificate issued under regulation 5 that the new name has been registered. The secretary of the trade union shall present the certificate to the Registrar for this purpose.

Notice of amalgamation

11.—(1) Notice of every amalgamation of trade unions under section 35(1) of the Act shall be given substantially in Form G set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) When an amalgamated trade union is registered under section 35(4) of the Act, it shall be assigned a new number in the register and the particulars prescribed by regulation 3 shall be entered therein. The Registrar shall issue in respect of the amalgamated trade union a certificate in Form C set out in the First Schedule and shall also note the fact of amalgamation against the entries in the register, if any, relating to the trade unions so amalgamated.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Notice of dissolution

12.—(1) When a registered trade union is dissolved, notice of the dissolution under section 42 of the Act shall be sent to the Registrar substantially in Form H set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) Together with the notice of dissolution under section 42 of the Act, the secretary of the union shall surrender the certificate issued under regulation 5. When the Registrar registers the dissolution, he shall send an intimation of the fact of such registration under his signature to the secretary of the trade union.

Notice of change of office

13. Notice of any change in the situation of the registered office of a trade union under section 37(2) of the Act shall be given substantially in Form I set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Notice of alteration of rules

14.—(1) Application for the registration of any new rule or of any alteration made in the existing rules of a trade union under section 38(3) of the Act shall be made to the Registrar substantially in Form J set out in the First Schedule. The application shall be signed by the secretary.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) [Deleted by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Notice of change of officers

15.—(1) Notice of every change of officers or of the title of any officer of a registered trade union under section 40 of the Act shall be given to the Registrar substantially in Form K set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(2) [Deleted by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Form of account rendered by treasurer

16. The accounts rendered to a registered trade union by its treasurer or other officer responsible for the accounts under section 51 of the Act shall be substantially in Form L set out in the First Schedule and there shall be appended thereto a statutory declaration by the treasurer or other officer to the effect that the statement of accounts is true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Duty to keep accounts and records, etc.

16A.—(1) Every registered trade union shall —

(a)	keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs, which shall include a cash book, a journal and a general ledger with respect to its transactions, assets and liabilities;
(b)	establish and maintain a system of control to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the registered trade union and over the expenditure incurred by it; and
(c)	keep all books of account and their source documents for a period of not less than 5 years.

(2) The accounts and records kept by a registered trade union under paragraph (1) shall include such accounts and records as are necessary to show a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the registered trade union and to explain its transactions.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the Registrar may, if he thinks it necessary, by notice in writing require any registered trade union to maintain such other accounts and records as may be specified in the notice.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Annual return

17. The general statement under section 53(1) of the Act shall be sent to the Registrar on or before 30th September in each year and shall be substantially in Form M set out in the First Schedule and shall contain all the particulars indicated in that Form. There shall be appended to the general statement a statement by the treasurer or other officer responsible for the accounts to the effect that the statement of accounts is true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Qualification of auditors

18. The person to be approved by the Registrar under section 51(3) of the Act to audit the accounts of a registered trade union shall be an accountant within the meaning of the Accountants Act (Cap. 2A).

Manner of audit

19. The auditor or auditors appointed by a registered trade union with the approval of the Registrar to audit the trade union’s accounts shall verify the annual return with the accounts and vouchers relating thereto, and shall thereafter sign the auditor’s declaration appended to Form M set out in the First Schedule indicating separately on that Form under his signature or their signatures a statement showing in what respect he or they found the return to be incorrect, not supported by vouchers, or not in accordance with the Act. The particulars given in such statement shall indicate —

(a)	every payment which appears to be unauthorised by the rules of the trade union or contrary to the provisions of the Act;
(b)	the amount of any deficiency or loss which appears to have been incurred by the negligence or misconduct of any person; and
(c)	the amount of any sum which ought to have been, but is not brought to account by any person. [S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Manner of serving notice or order

20. Any notice, order or intimation required by the Act or by these Regulations to be given or served on a registered trade union shall be deemed to have been duly given or served if the notice, order or intimation is served personally on the secretary of that union or sent by registered post addressed to the secretary of that union at its registered office.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Inspection of register and document and sale of copy or extract thereof

21.—(1) Any person may, on presentation of a written application to the Registrar and on payment of the prescribed fee, inspect the register of trade unions during office hours.

(2) Any member of a registered trade union may, on presentation of a written application to the Registrar and on payment of the prescribed fee, inspect any document required to be submitted to the Registrar by the registered trade union under the Act or these Regulations.

[Subst. by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

(3) Where any information in the register or any document submitted to the Registrar by a registered trade union under the Act or these Regulations is kept in an electronic form, the Registrar may, as he thinks fit —

(a)	on application by any person and on payment of the prescribed fee, provide to such person a copy of or an extract from the register; and
(b)	on application by any member of a registered trade union and on payment of the prescribed fee, provide to such member a copy or an extract of any document required to be submitted to the Registrar under the Act or these Regulations by the registered trade union to which such member belongs. [S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]

Power to inspect books and documents

22.—(1) The Registrar may at any time inspect all books and documents in the possession of or under the control of any registered trade union and any account kept by any registered trade union with any financial institution, and during such inspection the secretary and the treasurer of the union shall give every assistance in their power to the Registrar.

(2) The secretary of a registered trade union shall, on a notice being served on the union by the Registrar, authorise in writing the financial institution at which the union’s account is kept to disclose to the Registrar the union’s account and documents incidental thereto.

Fees to be paid in stamps

23. [Deleted by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Cancellation of stamps

24. [Deleted by S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Disposal and custody of funds

25.—(1) The committee of every registered trade union shall open a current account with a bank in the name of the union, and all moneys received by the union, except moneys the disposal and custody of which are governed by rules relating to a benevolent fund, shall be paid into that account within 7 days of the receipt thereof, except that the treasurer or the secretary of the union may retain as cash-in-hand such sum as may, by the rules of the union, be prescribed. All cheques or withdrawal orders drawn on that account shall be signed by the following officers of the union:

(a)	the chairman (or the analogous officer) or in his absence the vice-chairman (or the analogous officer); and [S 500/91]
(b)	the treasurer or secretary. [S 500/91]

In the absence of the treasurer and the secretary, the committee shall appoint one of its members to sign in place of the absent officer. The secretary of the union shall report to the Registrar the name of the bank with which such account has been opened and the Registrar shall enter the name of the bank in the register.

[S 500/91]

(1A) The secretary of every registered trade union shall report to the Registrar the particulars of any other account opened or kept by the union with any other financial institution.

[S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]

(2) Where the Minister makes a direction by notice under section 16(2) of the Act, the committee shall suspend such officers who have powers of disposal and custody of any funds of the trade union under its constitution until such time as the investigation by the public authority is completed and shall inform the Registrar forthwith of the suspension.

(3) The committee may appoint such other officers to carry out the duties of the officers under suspension by virtue of paragraph (2) subject to the approval of the Registrar.

Benevolent funds

26.—(1) A registered trade union shall not create a benevolent fund unless rules governing the creation, administration, protection, control and disposal of such fund and governing all matters connected therewith or incidental thereto have been approved in writing by the Registrar.

(2) The Registrar shall not approve such rules unless he is satisfied that the interests of the members of the union in such fund are adequately safeguarded.

(3) When such rules have been approved by the Registrar, the particulars prescribed by item 12 of Form A set out in the First Schedule shall be entered in the register.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Appeals to Minister

27.—(1) Every appeal to the Minister against —

(a)	the refusal of the Registrar to register a trade union;
(b)	the refusal of the Registrar to register an amalgamated trade union;
(c)	the refusal of the Registrar to register the change of name of a registered trade union;
(d)	the order of the Registrar withdrawing or cancelling a certificate of registration of a trade union; or
(e)	the refusal of the Registrar to register a new rule or any alteration of any rule of a registered trade union, [S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

shall be in writing and shall be sent by registered post or handed to the Commissioner for Labour for transmission to the Minister within a period of 30 days reckoned from the date of the refusal or order.

(2) Every such appeal shall indicate the refusal or order of the Registrar by which the appellant is aggrieved and shall state the ground on which the appeal is made.

(3) Every such appeal shall be signed by the person aggrieved.

(4) The appeal shall be considered and disposed of in such manner as the Minister thinks fit.

Secret ballot

28. The return of the result of the secret ballot for the election of officers in accordance with section 39 of the Act shall be in Form N set out in the First Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Fees payable

29. All fees payable under these Regulations shall be in accordance with the rates set out in the Second Schedule.

[S 185/93 wef 14/05/1993]

Rules of trade union

30.—(1) The secretary of every registered trade union shall, on request by any person and on payment of a sum determined by the trade union, furnish that person with a copy of the rules of the trade union.

(2) The sum referred to in paragraph (1) shall be a sum not exceeding $5.

[S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]

Composition of offences

31.—(1) The Registrar may compound any of the offences referred to in section 51(10), 53(5), 58 or 59(1) of the Act.

(2) Where an offer of composition is made and accepted, payment shall be made by cash, money order or postal order to the Registrar.

(3) The Registrar shall issue a receipt for such payment to the trade union or to the person to whom the offer of composition was made.

[S 572/2000 wef 15/12/2000]