Reform of trade union laws - phase three

Implementation date: October 2026

The Employment Rights Bill includes various provisions to reform industrial relations law.

The Government has indicated, in Implementing the Employment Rights Bill: Our roadmap for delivering change, that the following measures will take effect in October 2026:

• a new right of union access to the workplace (both physical and virtual), to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers and to facilitate collective bargaining;
• employers required to provide their workers with a written statement that they have the right to join a trade union;
• employers required to provide trade union representatives with reasonable accommodation and facilities;
• a new right to time off for trade union equality representatives; and
• strengthened protection from dismissal and detriment for union members and their representatives taking protected industrial action.

On 23 October 2025, the Government launched a consultation on the Right of trade unions to access workplaces. The consultation includes proposals on:

• the information to be included in access requests and employers' responses, and the timescales involved;
• the factors the Central Arbitration Committee should consider when making decisions on access requests; and
• whether employers with fewer than 21 workers should be excluded from the right of access.

The Government will consult on a code of practice for the right of access in Spring 2026.

Also on 23 October 2025, the Government launched a separate consultation on the Duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. The consultation includes proposals on the information to be included in a statement and how frequently the statement should be delivered to existing workers. 

See Reform of trade union laws - phase one and Reform of trade union laws - phase two for details of reforms to be implemented at different times.