Employment Rights Act 2025

A consultation has been published on informing workers of their right to join a union.

The Employment Rights Act 2025, s. 58 creates a new requirement for employers to provide workers with a written statement of his or her right to join a trade union. The specific content and form of this statement and how and when it must be given will be set out in future secondary legislation.

The government’s preferred approach (as set out in its consultation) is that:

• the statement should include a brief, neutral overview of the functions of a trade union, a summary of the statutory rights in relation to union membership, a list of all trade unions that the employer recognises (if any), and a signpost to a GOV.UK website with a list of trade unions
• it will produce a single, standard written statement, to which employers would only need to add any further information that is specific to their organisation
• for new workers, the statement should be delivered directly alongside the statement of employment particulars
• for existing workers, the statement could be delivered indirectly or directly. Indirectly could involve posting it on a notice board or the staff intranet with government guidance expected on how to make the information easy to access
• for enforcement, it's likely 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

The consultation closed on 18 December 2025, and the relevant changes will be brought into force by 30 October 2026.