Big changes are on the horizon for trade unions. From 18 February 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA) will overhaul existing legislation, repealing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and most provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016. These reforms aim to modernise union rights and simplify processes. If you’re an employer, HR professional, or business leader, these changes will reshape how you manage workplace relations.
Headline Reforms
Effective from 18 February 2026:
- Industrial Action Notice Period: Cut from 14 days to 10 days – meaning less time to prepare.
- Ballot Mandate: Extended from 6 months to 12 months, giving unions longer to act.
- Simplified Notices: Less bureaucracy for unions when notifying of industrial action ballot and notice of action.
- Dismissal Protection: removal of 12-week protection period from unfair dismissal for taking part in industrial action.
- Picket Supervisors: removal of requirement to have these.
- 10-year ballot requirement: removal of the requirement to have this for trade union political funds.
Effective from 6 April 2026:
- Collective Redundancy Awards: Maximum protective award period doubled from 13 to 26 weeks.
- Recognition Process: Easier for unions to gain recognition and challenge unfair practices, including providing better access arrangements for unions and dealing more effectively with unfair practices.
Effective from 7 April 2026:
- The establishment of the Fair Work Agency.
Effective from August 2026:
- Electronic and workplace balloting for Statutory Trade Union Ballots.
Effective from October 2026:
- Duty to inform: members will be under a duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union.
- Workplace Access: Greater rights to unions to access workplaces to increase membership. Unions can negotiate workplace access in an access agreement, which includes physical access and communications with workers for the purposes of meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting or organising workers, or to facilitate collective bargaining. The Central Arbitration Committee can enforce access if conditions are met and make an order for payment of a prescribed amount (still to be determined).
- New Rights and protections for Union Reps: Stronger protections and broader anti-blacklisting measures.
- Industrial Action Protections: Enhanced safeguards against detriment and unfair dismissal for taking part in industrial action.
The removal of most ballot provisions under the Trade Union Act 2016 introduces major changes:
- Ballot thresholds scrapped – industrial action will now require only a simple majority of those who vote, rather than meeting set turnout or support thresholds.
- No extensions beyond 12 months – once a ballot mandate expires after a year, unions must hold a fresh ballot; employers and unions can no longer agree to extend the mandate.
- Blacklisting Protections – further extension of blacklisting protections.
The Government has released a series of supporting documents to accompany the upcoming trade union reforms:
- Updated draft Picketing Code of Practice – this reflects the removal of the requirement for unions to appoint a picketing supervisor.
- Revised draft Code of Practice on industrial action ballots and notice to employers – this incorporates changes to the rules on industrial action support and streamlines the information unions must provide when notifying employers of planned action.
In addition, transitional and saving regulations set out how the law applies during the changeover period, particularly for cases that started under the Trade Union Act 2016 but remain unresolved when the Employment Rights Act 2025 comes into force. The Government has issued guidance on these transitional rules in Trade Union Law: Transition to Employment Rights Act 2025.
Why It Matters
These changes give unions more power and flexibility than they’ve had in years, which was restricted under the last Conservative Government. Employers need to be proactive - review policies, update procedures, train managers and prepare for a more dynamic industrial relations landscape and be aware of the shorter notice periods for industrial action and the extended period over which it may be called. This will require more proactive contingency planning. Staying ahead of these changes will help to avoid costly disputes and maintain positive workplace relations.
