Employment Rights Bill

A consultation has been published on electronic and workplace balloting.

Currently, the law requires almost all statutory trade union ballots to be conducted solely by post. The government will introduce (via secondary legislation) electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots.

While this is part of the Making Work Pay agenda it is not dependent on the Employment Rights Bill. The government is instead proposing to use a regulation-making power in s. 54 of the Employment Relations Act 2004. However, it’s included here as its part of the wider reform of union law included in the Employment Rights Bill.

The new law will be accompanied by a new statutory code of practice which will provide clear and detailed guidance on how electronic and workplace ballots should operate in practice. The government has published a draft code for consultation.

Among other things, the draft code sets out:

• the main responsibilities of each party involved in statutory ballots, including the union, scrutineer and employer, and (for statutory recognition/derecognition ballots) the CAC
• the standards and procedures for conducting electronic ballots, including security, distribution and audit requirements
• the standards and procedures for conducting industrial action ballots in the workplace, covering the required agreements between union and employer, site arrangements, and safeguards to ensure workplace ballots are secure and accessible
• key factors and criteria that the General Secretary or other ‘responsible person’ must consider when selecting the appropriate balloting method for a statutory union ballot
• reporting obligations for scrutineers, complaint procedures, and the roles of the relevant parties in addressing breaches or disputes during the ballot.

The government plans to permit three new voting methods, in addition to postal ballots, for certain statutory ballots:

1. ‘Pure’ electronic balloting (fully digital) – where the distribution of the voting pack, the casting and return of the votes, take place entirely through electronic means
2. Hybrid electronic balloting – where voting materials are distributed by post, with members able to return their vote either by post or electronically (i.e. casting their vote online in an internet portal or website administered by the scrutineer), and/or
3. Workplace balloting – where members cast their vote in person at the workplace, via a physical ballot box and paper, or at an off-site location (should it be infeasible to conduct the ballot on-site) with all balloting arrangements agreed in advance on a voluntary basis between the union, scrutineer, and employer

The proposed policy will enable trade unions to use electronic voting for certain statutory ballots, offering either fully online (‘pure’) or hybrid (online and postal) options, as alternatives, or alongside the current postal-only system. Legislation will enable unions to choose a combination of ‘pure’ electronic balloting and/or a hybrid format and/or a postal format for all statutory ballots - except for statutory recognition and derecognition ballots conducted by the CAC. For CAC ballots, both postal and workplace voting will remain available, and the option of hybrid electronic balloting will be introduced. Additionally, physical workplace voting will be permitted for statutory union industrial action ballots, alongside postal voting. However, workplace voting will not be allowed for other types of statutory union ballots.

The consultation is open until 28 January 2026. According to the government’s implementation timetable, April 2026 will be the start date (but this seems ambitious given that the consultation closes only a few months beforehand).