Trade Union Reform 2026: What Employers Need to Do Before 30 October

Two significant changes take effect on 30 October 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025), and most employers are not yet ready for either of them.

The first is a new duty to tell workers about their right to join a trade union. The second is a legal right for independent trade unions to request access to your workplace, physically or digitally, even where no union currently has a presence. Together, they mark one of the more operationally significant shifts in UK employment law this year.

1. The duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union

From 30 October 2026, employers must provide workers with a written statement setting out their right to join a trade union. This will sit alongside the existing statement of employment particulars and must be issued at the start of employment, as well as at other points set out in secondary legislation.

The detail, including exactly what the statement must say and when else it must be provided, is still to come. Further guidance was expected in September 2026.

What to do now: there isn't much to action yet beyond staying alert. Once the secondary legislation and guidance are published, this will need building into onboarding documentation and HR processes.

2. Trade union right of access, for employers with 21 or more workers

This is the change with real teeth. From 30 October 2026, subject to parliamentary approval, independent trade unions gain a legal right to request access to a workplace, physically, digitally, or both, in order to recruit, organise and represent workers. This applies whether or not your workforce currently has any union members or union presence at all.

Employers with fewer than 21 workers across all workplaces are exempt from the CAC's power to impose an access agreement.

The process, step by step:

A few details worth flagging:

• An access agreement cannot run longer than two years unless both parties agree to extend it.
• Unions must give at least five working days' notice before the first access visit, and at least two working days' notice before each routine visit after that.
• Breaching an agreed access agreement carries escalating CAC penalties: up to £75,000 for a first breach, up to £150,000 for a second, and up to £500,000 for a third or subsequent breach. These can apply cumulatively across multiple sites under one agreement.

What employers should do before 30 October 2026

1. Make sure your senior team knows this is coming, and agree who owns the response if a request lands.
2. Decide who negotiates terms before you're under a 15-working-day clock to figure it out.
3. Get legal advice lined up so you're not starting from zero if a request arrives.
4. Build the 25-day negotiation window into your planning now, not when the clock has already started.