New rules would allow trade unions to formally request access to your workplace once they come into force.
If you repeatedly breach an access agreement, you could be looking at fines of up to £500,000.
That’s not a typo. And this isn’t something you can quietly sit out.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces two separate trade union obligations, with workplace access planned for 30 October 2026, subject to parliamentary approval, and the written statement duty planned for 1 January 2027.
One of them affects every employer in the country, regardless of size.
The two obligations and when they start
- Trade unions have a right to access your workplace
Under the new rules, trade unions would be able to request access to your workplace. If you employ 21 or more workers, the Central Arbitration Committee could impose access terms if no agreement is reached (in your entire business, not per site). And “workers” in the legal sense is broader than just employees.
A union doesn’t need existing members at your workplace to make a request. There’s no minimum membership threshold. They can approach any business that meets the headcount and request access to recruit and organise workers.
Access can mean physical entry to your premises or digital access, or both, including your email system or virtual meeting platforms.
When a request arrives, you have 15 working days to respond in writing. After that, there’s a 25-working-day window to negotiate terms with the union. If you can’t reach an agreement, either side can refer it to the Central Arbitration Committee, which has the power to impose access terms on you.
One hard boundary: the access right cannot be used for organising industrial action.
This follows the reduced union recognition thresholds that came into effect in April. The access right is widely expected to be the route unions will use to build membership in non-unionised workplaces and eventually push for formal recognition.
- Informing workers of their right to join a union
From 1 January 2027, every employer must inform workers, in writing, that they have the right to join a trade union.
It doesn’t matter how small your business is or whether you’ve never had any union involvement in your life.
New starters must receive the government’s standardised statement alongside their statement of employment particulars. Existing workers must receive it, or be told where they can access it, by 5 April 2027, with annual updates or reminders after that.
There’s no standalone tribunal claim for failing to do this. But, if a worker brings a successful claim against you in a qualifying employment tribunal case, the tribunal can add 2 to 4 weeks’ pay on top if you were also in breach of this duty. It’s an easy extra line for a claimant’s representative to include.
The fines are designed to hurt
The penalty structure exists specifically to stop employers treating fines as an acceptable cost of ignoring the rules.
If you breach the terms of a statutory access agreement, penalties can escalate:
- Up to £75,000 for a first breach
- Up to £150,000 for a second
- Up to £500,000 for a third and every subsequent breach
Each breach is treated separately. If your access agreement covers multiple workplaces, breaches across different sites count cumulatively. That adds up fast.
Sort this out before a request arrives
If you’re scrambling to respond after a request hits your desk, you’ve already lost time you can’t afford. The 15-working-day response window is tight.
Here’s what to get in place now:
- Plan to add the government’s standardised trade union rights statement to your onboarding process from January. For existing workers, you can provide it directly or make it accessible through a handbook or intranet, provided you tell them where to find it.
- If you employ 21 or more workers, draft an internal access request procedure now. Know who handles a request and what the response timelines look like.
- Brief your managers. If a union official makes contact, the last thing you need is someone saying something off the cuff that creates a legal problem.
- Look at how your employees feel about working for you. The businesses most exposed to union organising are usually the ones where people don’t feel heard. If your workforce already has a genuine voice, a union access request is far less likely to gain traction.
We can update your contracts and onboarding to include trade union information, draft an internal access request procedure and advise on how to respond if a union makes contact.
If you employ 21 or more workers, get in touch and we’ll help you prepare before the new access rules take effect.
At the time of writing (27 September 2026), the workplace access rules still require parliamentary approval. This article describes how they are expected to work if approved. Contact us for the latest position.