Getting Ready For Trade Union Access Rights

Under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA), trade unions will have a statutory right of access to engage with workers, in person or digitally, for the purposes of representation, support, recruitment, organisation and collective bargaining. This new right is expected to come into force in October 2026.

Whilst the extent to which trade unions will take advantage of this new right is not yet known, all employers need to prepare now to be able to respond to access requests from trade unions from October 2026. With penalties for repeated non-compliance with an access agreement of up to £500,000, employers need to embrace this shift in the industrial relations framework.

In this article, we explore:

1. What is an access agreement?

2. How the new right may strengthen trade union activity

3. How access agreements are likely to operate in practice

4. The penalties for non-compliance

You can read about other changes to trade union law coming into effect in 2026 in our 2026 Timeline of Employment Rights Act (2025) Reforms.

What is an access agreement?

An access agreement is an agreement between a qualifying trade union and employer that provides for one or more officials of the union to physically enter the workplace and/or communicate with workers for any of the access purposes.

Whilst taking industrial action is expressly excluded from the access purposes, the trade union may access the workplace to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers, and to facilitate collective bargaining.

Why the new right of access could strengthen trade union activity in any workplace

As set out in the Government’s factsheet covering changes to trade union law under the ERA 2025, it is the Government’s intention to foster a new partnership of cooperation between trade unions and employers.

Currently, unions do not have an independent right of access to workplaces and can only exercise their functions through individual members.

This new right of access will significantly increase the scope for trade unions to build relationships, gather support and increase visibility, particularly in workplaces that are not currently unionised.

The extent to which this new right will lead to greater union recognition will depend upon how active unions are in requesting access, and the appetite of employees to engage with the union.

However, with the CAC operating with a presumption in favour of access, the framework will be in place to facilitate a significant shift in the role that trade unions play across all sectors.

How are access agreements likely to operate in practice?

On 8 April 2026, the government published its response to its consultation on the right of trade unions to access workplaces. It also launched a new consultation on a draft code of practice, which sets out practical guidance on how the right of access should operate.

Making an access request

The trade union will first seek to agree terms of access with the employer on a voluntary basis. Where this has not been successful, the union may submit an access request to the employer using a standardised form.

Employer’s response to an access request

The employer will have up to 15 workings day to respond to the request for access, using a standardised template (which can be extended by agreement).

If the employer agrees to the terms of the request, the parties will notify the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).

If the employer rejects the terms of access, it will notify the union and provide details of which elements of the request it is rejecting.

Negotiating terms of access

The union and the employer will have 25 working days following the conclusion of the response period to negotiate the terms of an access agreement (which can be extended by agreement or application to the CAC).

If the negotiations are successful, the parties will notify the CAC.

If the negotiations are unsuccessful, either party will notify the CAC, which will make a decision, balancing the right of the trade union to enter a workplace with the employer’s right to continue to operate without unreasonable interference. The CAC will not grant access to a workplace that has fewer than 21 workers.

The terms of an access agreement

The terms of the access agreement will be those agreed between the parties or determined by the CAC. However, the Code of Practice provides us with an indication of how a reasonable access agreement may operate in practice, such as:

• Access of a frequency of up to once a week, in the workplace and during working hours.
• The employer making available existing accommodation and facilities for the purpose of facilitating access.
• The employer taking reasonable steps to ensure that direct communications between an employer’s workers and a trade union are private and respecting the privacy of access meetings.
• The first instance of access following the finalisation of the access agreement will require five working days’ notice. Following this, the trade union must provide a minimum of two working days’ notice of an upcoming access visit (physical or digital), as far as is reasonably possible
• The trade union official seeking access must comply with all reasonable instructions given by the employer, such as completing relevant health and safety inductions, providing identification and signing in at the front desk.

Revoking an access agreement

The parties will be able to agree a duration within the access agreement and the Code of Practice states that no access agreement will last longer than two years. The parties to an access agreement will be able to amend or revoke it by agreement.

The role of the Central Arbitration Committee

Trade unions and employers should seek to resolve disagreements about access-related matters through dialogue where possible. Where this has been unsuccessful, a party may refer the issue to the CAC within three months of the matter which is complained of occurring.

The CAC will have the power to alter the agreement or declare that the complaint is well-founded, issuing an order requiring steps to be taken to ensure the access agreement is complied with. A further complaint can be made if the other party has carried out the conduct complained of again within 12 months.

Consequences of breaching an access agreement

Where a further complaint has been made, the CAC will require a penalty to be paid.

The CAC may impose a penalty fine up to a maximum of £75,000 for a first penalty order and up to £150,000 for repeated non-compliance. Any third or subsequent penalty order issued under the same access agreement shall be subject to a maximum of £500,000.

Appeals regarding a CAC determination, declaration or penalty will be able to be made to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Preparing for a new era of union access

For the first time, unions will have a clear legal route to enter workplaces and engage with workers to carry out core representative, organisational and recruitment activities.

For employers that have little or no history of union involvement, new union access rights have the potential to alter day-to-day employee relations. Employers will need to respond to requests within tight statutory timeframes or risk intervention by the CAC.

It is therefore important for employers and HR professionals to understand the new access regime, putting into place clear internal processes for handling access requests. Early preparation will ensure compliance with the new rules once they take effect later this year.

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