Employment Rights Act 2025

The Employment Rights Act 2025 makes extensive changes to the law on trade union rights and industrial action.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which allowed employers to set minimum service levels that had to be maintained during strikes in certain key sectors such as health, transport and education, was repealed when the ERA25 came into force on 18 December 2025.

18 FEBRUARY START DATE

The following came into force from 18 February 2026, principally repealing the Trade Union Act 2016.

Balloting

Previously, to obtain a mandate for industrial action, at least 50% of members who are entitled to vote in the ballot had to do so (the turnout threshold). And a majority of the votes cast had to have been in favour of industrial action for it to succeed (the support threshold). There was an additional requirement in industrial action ballots in what are defined as ‘important public services’ for at least 40% of those who are entitled to vote actually to vote in favour of action.

The support thresholds which were introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 are repealed from 18 February.

The turnout thresholds will also be repealed, but this will not come into force until the introduction of e-balloting.

Once a mandate has been obtained, the period for which it will be valid will be increased from six to 12 months. There is no option for an employer and a union to agree to an extension of the mandate beyond the 12-month period.

Ballot and industrial action notices

The amount of information unions must include in ballot notices provided to employers has been reduced. From 18 February, the notice need only include:

• the categories of employees being balloted
• workplace locations, and
• the total number of employees concerned

In addition, the notice of industrial action that unions must provide to employers has been reduced from the current 14 days to 10 days.

Protection from dismissal

The ERA25 introduces, from 18 February 2026, new protection for workers against detriments short of dismissal for taking part in protected industrial action, correcting the gap in existing protection confirmed in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer.

The ERA25 also introduces protection against detriment for taking (or to deter an employee from taking) protected industrial action. However, these provisions will not give rise to enforceable rights until further regulations are made setting out a ‘prescribed description’ of the detriments that will be unlawful, and will not come into effect until October 2026, following a period of consultation.

Picketing

The requirement for union supervision of picketing (by a union official either present at the picket line or readily contactable) for industrial action to be protected, is repealed from 18 February - see updated code of practice.

Check off

The public sector check-off rules introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016 are also repealed from 18 February 2026. These only allowed public sector employers to provide a check off service for paying union membership subscriptions if their workers had the option to pay their subscriptions by other means and arrangements had been made for the union to make reasonable payments to the employer for making the deductions.

6^TH APRIL START DATE

The following will come into force from 6 April 2026.

Union recognition

Previously, to apply for recognition, a union had to show that at least 10% of a proposed bargaining unit were union members and that the majority of them were likely to support recognition. The CAC could only then order recognition if, either:

• at least 50% of the bargaining unit are union members or
• a ballot is held, in which a majority of votes cast are in favour and at least 40% of all workers in the bargaining unit vote for recognition

The Act simplifies this process by removing the requirement at the application stage for a union to demonstrate that there is likely to be majority support for trade union recognition, removing the 40% support threshold at the recognition ballot stage, and consulting on reducing the 10% application threshold for the CAC to accept a trade union recognition case.

Electronic balloting

Currently, trade union ballots are conducted exclusively by post. However, the government is expanding the available methods by introducing electronic and workplace balloting, supported by a new Code of Practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots setting out how these processes will operate in practice.

The government originally stated that electronic balloting would take effect in April 2026, but its updated timeline now states that this will come into force ‘no earlier than August 2026.

OCTOBER 2026 START DATE

The following will come into force from October 2026.

Right of union access

The Act gives trade union officials a wider right to access workplaces for recruitment, organising (not including organising industrial action) and collective bargaining purposes, subject to following a statutory process. Employers with fewer than 21 workers will be exempt from the trade union right of access framework. 

The union would give the employer an access request. Employers could then either choose to negotiate the terms of legally enforceable ‘access agreements’ or, should the employer not respond to the request, the union would be able to apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for it to order access.

To determine any such application, the CAC will take into account that:

• union officials should be able to have workplace access in a manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the employer’s business
• an employer should take reasonable steps to facilitate union access to a workplace, and
• access should be refused entirely only where this is reasonable in all the circumstances

There is no requirement in the Act for a union to have any particular level of membership before seeking access and there is no limit on the overall number of unions that can seek access. However, the Secretary of State can prescribe circumstances in which it is reasonable to deny access. These factors include the number of union members and the total number of workers in the workplace. Where an access agreement is concluded, the CAC will also have powers to enforce access agreements. The CAC will be able to issue penalties with maximum limits of:

• up to £75,000 for a first penalty
• up to £150,000 for a second penalty, and
• up to £500,000 for the third and subsequent breaches

The government has published a draft code of practice which amplifies the statutory requirements. It covers:

• how access requests should be made;
• how access agreements should be negotiated and implemented across different types of workplaces
• how and when an application may be referred to the CAC if negotiations on access terms are unsuccessful, and
• how the CAC will make decisions on whether access should take place, including the principles it must apply and the factors it will consider

Notifying workers of their right to join a trade union

The Act creates a new requirement for employers to provide workers with a written statement of his or her right to join a trade union.

Details of the content and form of the statement, and the way it must be provided, will also be specified in secondary legislation. The penalties for failure to comply with this new requirement will be aligned with those that apply to a failure to provide a statement of employment particulars.

A consultation paper asks for views on:

• The content of the statement: what exactly should the employer’s statement say
• The form of the statement: should it be a separate document or part of the written particulars of employment
• The manner and timing of delivery: when and how should the employer deliver the statement
• The frequency of re-issuance: how often should the statement be reissued after initial issue