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24 January 2025
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Time to Engage: Why 2025 is the year for UK employers to be more engaging

To The Point
(5 min read)

Amongst many other matters, the Employment Rights Bill (Bill):

- provides that the numbers for collective redundancy consultation will be determined across the business (rather than at one establishment), potentially capturing many more redundancy exercises than previously;

- simplifies the statutory union recognition process; and

- offers trade unions new rights of access to the workplace, which is likely to facilitate more recognition requests.  

Employers seeking to mitigate the impact of these changes may wish to elect standing bodies of employee representatives for collective consultation purposes and to prioritise establishing more ways to engage and consult with their workforce in 2025 ahead of the changes in the Employment Rights Bill taking effect in 2026.

Background

On 10 October 2024, the new Labour Government published the Employment Rights Bill.  Described as a "once-in-a-generation" overhaul of workers' rights, the Bill sets out the first phase of Labour's key employment law reforms.  The Next Steps to Make Work Pay confirms how other measures will be taken forward, including legislating by other means, through non-legislative delivery or longer-term reform.

The wide-ranging reforms contained within the 158-page Bill include the following proposals:

1.    Collective redundancy
Currently, the duty to collectively consult arises where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less.  The Bill proposes to remove the words "at one establishment" so that the number of proposed redundancies for collective redundancy consultation purposes will be determined across the business.

2.    Simplifying the process for trade union recognition and rights of trade unions to access workplaces (see Factsheet: Trade Unions in the Employment Rights Bill)
To provide workers with a meaningful right to organise through trade unions, the Bill makes preparations for the 10% threshold for the Civil Arbitration Committee (CAC) to accept a trade union application (and at other stages of the recognition scheme) to be replaced with a less onerous test of anywhere between 2% and 10%.  It also removes the requirement for a union to demonstrate that there is likely to be majority support for trade union recognition and removes the 40% support threshold from recognition ballots.

New rights of access will enable trade unions and employers to enter into "access agreements" for union officials to access the employer's workplace for the purposes of meeting, representing, recruiting or organising workers, or facilitating collective bargaining (but not to organise industrial action).

What will be the impact of these changes and how can employers prepare?

1.    Collective redundancy

  • Removing the words "at one establishment" will be a significant change, especially for employers with multiple sites across the UK.  Employers will need to know about redundancies across all sites and ensure that there is a coordinated approach.  If not handled correctly, an employer proposing a small-scale redundancy exercise in one location could suddenly find that it has acted unlawfully if another site proposes its own reorganisation within the same 90-day period.
  • Employers who are not currently unionised and without an employee forum or standing body of employee representatives may wish to establish one, with relevant authority, ready to be consulted about relevant redundancy proposals. Those employers who already have a standing body will want to check that the terms of reference include collective consultation, and, if not, include it.  Employers will need to take steps to ensure that any standing body is representative of the affected employees at the time.

2.    Simplifying the process for trade union recognition and rights of trade unions to access workplaces

  • Measures to simplify the rules governing applications for trade union recognition are likely to have a significant impact on employers, especially those who don't currently recognise any unions, as they will lower the barrier for unions to be able to seek recognition, which, if successful, will oblige employers to negotiate on matters such as pay and hours.
  • New rights of access will provide "qualified trade unions" (those with a certificate of independence) with the opportunity to recruit and organise within a workplace with the aim of gaining recognition. Employers will need to be prepared to respond swiftly and meaningfully to "access requests" within the designated "response period" to avoid any financial penalties (subject to future consultation) and to avoid the time and cost of the matter being escalated to the CAC for determination.
  • Employers who have already established regular and effective channels of engagement within their workplace where workers can engage with management to discuss matters affecting the workforce will be best placed to offer a meaningful alternative to unions seeking greater involvement in workplace negotiations.

Next steps

If you'd like advice on any of the topics in this article, please get in touch with any member of our Employment and Immigration team.

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