Industrial Relations: Consulting on trade union reforms

Trade Union Right of Access 

As part of the sweeping trade union reforms being proposed in the Employment Rights Bill, the Government proposes to give trade unions a statutory right of access to the workplace to communicate with workers in person as well as digitally via an IT platform e.g. the employer’s intranet.  This will mean that unrecognised trade unions will be able to apply for access to the workplace to meet, support, represent, recruit and organise workers presumably with a view to achieving recognition.  

In October, the Government launched a consultation, Make Work Pay: Right of Trade Unions to Access Workplaces, seeking views on the operational detail of how the right of access will work.  The consultation closes on 18 December 2025.

What does the consultation say?

The consultation is seeking insight on how unions should request access and how employers ought to respond, the information to be included in the request and response and a proposed timetable for the process.  

Timeline:

The consultation proposes that:

• The response period should be 5 working days for employers to respond to a union’s request for access
• The negotiation period should be 15 working days to discuss the access request and find solutions to any concerns raised.
• The deadline for submitting a referral request for the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to decide whether access takes place should be 25 working days from the day the request for access is submitted.

CAC Determinations: 

The consultation is seeking views on the factors at play when determining whether access should be granted and on what terms.  The consultation proposes that:

• Employers with fewer than 21 workers should be excluded from the new right of access.  
• Employers should have an initial notice period of 5 working days from notification of the CAC’s decision to prepare for access.
• An access agreement should have an expiry period maximum of 2 years from the day it comes into force to ensure it remains relevant and if it becomes dormant it will expire.
• The presence of a recognised union could be a reasonable basis on which to refuse access.  This consideration would not automatically prevent access being granted.
• The allocation of more resources than is required to facilitate access could be a reasonable ground for access not to be granted.
• Model terms include frequency of access, proposing weekly access is reasonable, and notice periods for access, proposing unions give at least 2 working days’ notice before access takes place. 

Enforcement:

The Government’s preferred option would introduce two maximum penalty amounts: 

• a standard cap of £75,000, and 
• a higher maximum for repeated breaches of £150,000.

The Government has made it clear that it wants changes to take effect by October 2026 which will give all parties proper time to prepare. To support that, the Government will be consulting on a new statutory Code of Practice in the Spring with practical guidance for both unions and employers.

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

A second consultation published in October, Make Work Pay: Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, seeks views on how the duty will work in practice.  The consultation closes on 18 December 2025.

What does the consultation say?

The consultation seeks views on how the duty can be implemented effectively while minimising burden on employers.  It covers: 

• The form the statement should take - Government standard form or employer-drafted.
• The content of the statement, including a brief overview of the functions of a summary of the statutory rights in relation to union membership, a list of all trade unions that the employer recognises (if any) and a signpost to a GOV.UK website page with list of trade unions.
• The manner in which the statement must be delivered (direct or indirect) either alongside the s.1 statement or via the intranet or notice board.
• The frequency with which the statement must be reissued after the beginning of employment, whether it should be every six months, annually or a sector specific frequency.

The new duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union is intended to come into effect in October 2026.