Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025, s. 58 requires employers to provide workers with a written statement of their right to join a trade union. Originally scheduled to be in force in October 2026, this has been put back to a January 2027 operative date.

The government’s response to its 2025 consultation confirms that:

• The government will provide a standardised statement for employers to issue, which employers may not amend except to add specific workplace information. Employers must also either include a link to the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions within the statement or provide a copy of the list alongside the statement.
• The written statement will provide clear, neutral information on the right to join a trade union. It will include a brief explanation of union functions, a list of and information on recognised trade unions and/or statutory access agreements (where applicable) and a summary of statutory rights.
• The statement will be delivered directly to new workers at the same time as the written statement of employment particulars. For existing workers, the statement may be delivered through either direct methods, or indirect methods, provided in the latter case it remains reasonably accessible to the worker. Where indirect methods are used, the worker must be informed of where the statement is located and thereafter receive an annual reminder informing them that the statement is available and where to find it.
• Where employers choose to deliver statements to their existing workers directly, they must do so annually by 5 April. Where the employer uses indirect methods to deliver the statement, the employer will have to ensure that the statement remains continuously and reasonably available to the worker and must issue an annual reminder that the statement is available and where to find it. The employer will have to inform their workers directly if the location of the statement changes where indirect communication is relied upon. Where there is a change to the identity of unions which have recognition or statutory access agreements, the statement must be reissued within one month of the change.

It appears that workers won’t be able to bring a standalone claim in the tribunal, but if the worker wins another claim, breach may result in an award of between two and four weeks’ (capped) pay.

Further details will be set out in secondary legislation.