New Trade Union Rights Are Coming: A Plain-English Guide for Employers

If you employ people anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales, some important changes to trade union law are coming this autumn. This applies to you even if none of your staff currently belong to a union.

This guide explains what’s changing, in plain English.

A quick explainer of the terms you’ll see

Trade union — an organisation that employees can join, which represents their interests at work (for example, on pay, conditions, and disputes with their employer).
Employment Rights Act 2025 — a new UK law, often shortened to “the Act,” that made a wide range of changes to employment law. It became law (this is called “Royal Assent”) on 18 December 2025.
TULRCA — short for the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. This is the main existing law covering trade unions. The new Act adds to it rather than replacing it.
Regulations — detailed rules that fill in the practical “how it works” of a new law. A new Act often needs regulations before it can be fully put into practice.
Coming into force — the date a law actually starts applying and must be followed.
CAC — the Central Arbitration Committee, an independent body that resolves disputes between employers and trade unions when they can’t agree.

What the law already says

Every employee already has the legal right to join a trade union of their choice. As an employer, you cannot:

stop someone joining a union,
make “not being in a union” a condition of their job, or
treat someone unfairly because they’re a union member.

What you’ve never had to do is actively tell your staff that this right exists. That’s about to change.

Change 1: You’ll have to tell staff about their right to join a union

From 30 October 2026 (this date is expected but not yet 100% locked down — more on that below), you’ll be legally required to give every worker a written statement confirming they have the right to join a trade union.

What this means in practice:

New employees: you’ll need to give them this statement at the same time you give them their employment contract.
Existing employees: you’ll need to tell them too, before the rule takes effect, and then remind them again at least once a year after that.
This applies to every employer, no matter how big or small your business is, and whether or not you currently have any union members.
The exact wording you’ll need to use is still being finalised by the government. We expect more detail very soon.

Change 2: Trade unions can request access to your workplace

This is a bigger shift. From the same date, trade unions will — for the first time — have a legal right to ask to come into your workplace, either in person or digitally (for example, by email), to talk to your staff.

Important points:

This applies to employers with 21 or more staff, counted across your whole organisation (not just one site).
A union can request this even if none of your employees are currently members. The point of the request can be to recruit new members — it doesn’t mean anyone has necessarily joined already.
If a union sends you a request, you’ll have 15 working days to respond.
If you and the union can’t agree on the details (like when and how they can visit), either side can ask the CAC to decide for you — and they can order access on terms you might not have chosen yourself.
This part of the law has already been approved by Parliament, so it’s confirmed as happening on 30 October 2026.

Why this matters even if you’ve never dealt with a union before

Many employers assume that no union members means no risk of this. It’s actually the opposite — the whole point of the new access right is to let unions reach out to workplaces where they don’t yet have a presence. Don’t wait for a request to land before you’ve thought about how you’d respond to one.

What you should do now

Prepare a written statement telling staff about their right to join a union, ready to issue once the final wording is confirmed.
Update your paperwork — offer letters, contracts, staff handbooks, and induction materials — so the new statement gets issued at the right time, every time.
Plan how you’ll notify your current staff before the deadline, and build in a yearly reminder afterwards.
If you have 21 or more staff, decide now who in your business would handle a union access request, and how you’d respond within the 15-working-day deadline.
Check any existing agreements you have with unions, so nothing is out of date.
Keep an eye on final guidance. The government said more detail would be published in September 2026 — right around now — so this may be confirmed very soon.

Where things currently stand

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is law — that part isn’t in question.
The workplace access right has cleared its final approval in Parliament and is confirmed for 30 October 2026.
The written statement duty is expected on the same date, but the final detailed rules haven’t been formally approved yet. We’re monitoring this closely and will update as soon as it’s confirmed.

How Cheviot HR can help

You don’t need to become an expert in employment law to get ready for this — that’s what we’re here for. We can prepare your written statement, update your contracts and handbook, and set up a simple process for handling any access requests, so you’re fully ready well before October.

Get in touch at heidi@cheviothr.co.uk or visit https://cheviothr.co.uk to talk through what this means for your business.