Opening The Doors: New Trade Union Rights From October 2026

Several new and strengthened rights relating to trade unions and industrial action are expected to take effect on 30 October 2026. Although these reforms were introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), further legislation will be needed to bring them fully into force and settle the final detail.

All employers, including those without a recognised trade union, should now familiarise themselves with the new regime and begin preparing for its implementation.

Strengthened trade union rights of access to the workplace

Trade unions will gain a new statutory right of access to workplaces to engage with workers for the purposes of representation, support, recruitment, organisation and collective bargaining.

With simplified trade union recognition from April 2026, and electronic and workplace balloting for statutory trade union ballots expected to be introduced in August 2026, trade unions are likely to see strengthened access rights as the first stage towards wider union recognition.

Employers will need to respond to formal union access requests within a statutory timetable, with voluntary agreement expected first and a structured process if terms are disputed.

If the parties cannot agree access terms, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) will be able to determine the access agreement, balancing the union’s access rights against the employer’s need to operate without unreasonable interference.

The draft Code of Practice on trade union right of access suggests access may include in-person and digital visits, employer-provided facilities, privacy protections for meetings and minimum notice requirements for access visits.

Non-compliance may lead to CAC orders and significant financial penalties of up to £500,000 for repeated non-compliance.

Duty to inform workers of the right to join a trade union

Employers will be required to give workers a written statement informing them of their right to join a trade union. The reform marks a shift from workers merely having the legal right to join a union to employers having a proactive duty to make sure that right is clearly communicated.

The recent consultation indicates that the statement, intended to be a standardised statement provided by government and tailored by employers, may include a brief explanation of trade unions, a summary of statutory rights linked to union membership, details of any recognised trade unions, and a signpost to a GOV.UK list of trade unions.

The statement would be given to new workers at the start of employment, alongside the statement of employment particulars, and then reissued to existing workers at a later prescribed frequency. The government’s preferred approach is for the statement to be provided annually to existing workers.

For new workers, the government proposes direct delivery such as by email or letter. For existing workers, the current preference is to allow either direct or indirect delivery, for example via a staff portal or intranet.

The final position on the steps employers will need to take to comply with the duty is expected to be confirmed in regulations prior to 30 October 2026.

Extended statutory protection against detriment for industrial action

Workers will gain a new statutory right not to be subjected to prescribed detriments for the sole or main purpose of preventing, deterring or penalising them for taking protected industrial action.

The reform is designed to close the gap identified in the 2024 case of Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer, in which the Supreme Court identified that existing detriment protection did not extend to participation in industrial action.

The recent consultation says ‘detriment’ should be understood broadly as a disadvantage, potentially including disciplinary action, withheld promotion or training opportunities, bullying or other adverse treatment. However, the protection is not intended to prevent pay deductions for strike action where current law permits them.

As the burden will be on the employer to show the sole or main purpose for which the employer acted or failed to act, it will be important for employers to be able to evidence the reason for any detrimental action taken or not taken against an employee under these circumstances.

New rights and protections for trade union representatives

At present, trade union officials and learning representatives are entitled to take paid time off during their working hours for prescribed purposes.

The right to paid time off will be extended to union equality representatives who will gain new statutory rights to paid time off for defined equality-related duties and relevant training, provided notice and training conditions are met.

An employer that permits an official, learning representative or equality representative to take time off will, where requested by the employee, have to provide them with such accommodation and other facilities for carrying out the duties or undergoing training as is reasonable in the circumstances.

Officials and representatives will be able to bring tribunal claims not only where time off is refused, but also where an employer fails to provide facilities, with the burden on the employer to show that any refusal was not reasonable.

The changes will be supported by an updated Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities.

Dealing more effectively with unfair practices in the trade union recognition and derecognition process

The unfair practices regime will be strengthened from 30 October 2026. The reforms are intended to ensure appropriate safeguards are put in place before recognition ballots are modernised in 2027.

Capping the bargaining unit

There is no restriction at present on altering a bargaining unit through recruitment into that unit and this has the potential to impact on the integrity of the recognition process. It is expected that, from 30 October 2026, the number of workers in a bargaining unit during a recognition process will be capped. Any staff recruited during the recognition process will not be included in the number in the bargaining unit and will not be entitled to vote in any subsequent recognition ballot.

Extending the application of the Code of Practice in relation to unfair practices

Currently, the prohibition on unfair practices under the Code of Practice on access and unfair practices applies from when the parties are informed of the ballot arrangements until the ballot closes, or, for a postal ballot, until the end of the ballot period. It is proposed that the prohibition will be extended to apply throughout the recognition process from the point where the CAC accepts the union’s statutory recognition application.

Identifying unfair practices

The ERA 2025 provides a clearer list of practices that are considered to be unfair. A party will use an unfair practice if they do any of the following to influence a recognition application:

• Dismiss, or threaten to dismiss, a worker.

• Take, or threaten to take, disciplinary action against a worker.

• Subject, or threaten to subject, a worker to any other detriment.

• Offer to pay money, or give money’s worth, to a relevant worker in return for the worker’s agreement to vote in a particular way, or to abstain from voting, in a relevant ballot.

• Make an outcome-specific offer to a relevant worker.

• Coerce, or attempt to coerce, a relevant worker to disclose whether the worker intends to vote, or to abstain from voting, in any relevant ballot, or how the worker intends to vote, or has voted, in any relevant ballot.

• Use, or attempt to use, undue influence on a relevant worker.

Complaining about unfair practices

The unfair practices complaints process will be updated as so:

• Either party may complain to the CAC that the other has failed to refrain from unfair practices and it will be enough to show the conduct occurred without needing to prove it affected the result.

• The time limit for making a complaint will be extended to five working days after the ballot has closed or, if there is no ballot, until the CAC decides the application.

• If the complaint is upheld, the CAC may order steps to mitigate the breach and, in the most serious cases, declare the union recognised or not recognised, depending on which party is at fault.

It is anticipated that, from 30 October 2026, an updated Code of Practice on access and unfair practices (‘the New Code of Practice’) will apply during statutory trade union recognition and derecognition processes, giving practical guidance on how access should be agreed, how campaigning should be conducted, and how employers and unions should avoid unfair practices during a live application.

Employers should prepare to update internal procedures to reflect the New Code of Practice.

Preparing for the new trade union landscape

The reforms taking effect on 30 October 2026 are likely to make trade unions a more visible and common part of working life across a wider range of workplaces. For some employers, that may mean dealing with trade union issues for the first time. For others, it may mean a shift in how union engagement, worker communication and collective issues need to be managed. Either way, all employers should now be preparing for a future in which trade union rights are more prominent and confidence in handling these issues will be increasingly important.

What employers should do now

• Consider how union access requests would be managed in practice.
• Prepare onboarding and employee communication processes for the new information duties.
• Train HR teams and managers on the expanded protections for workers and union representatives.
• Monitor further regulations and guidance expected before 30 October 2026.

Check out our insights for more advice and guidance on dealing with trade union reforms and changes to wider employment law. For bespoke, retainer-based support get in touch to find out how we can help.