Trade union access rights: a guide for small employers
Updated: Oct 15
Guidance from an HR consultancy in Harpenden and St Albans on the two trade union duties heading for small employers, and how to get ready for each.
Once new rules take effect, a trade union would be able to make a formal request for access to your workplace.
Breach an access agreement more than once and the fines could climb as high as £500,000.
That figure is correct, and quietly sitting this one out is not an option.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates two distinct trade union obligations. The plan is for workplace access to begin on 30 October 2026, provided Parliament approves it, and for the written statement duty to follow on 1 January 2027.
One of the two applies to every employer in the country, whatever its size.
The two duties and their start dates
1. A union's right to ask for workplace access
The new rules would let trade unions ask for access to your workplace. Where an employer has 21 or more workers and the two sides fail to agree, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) could impose access terms. That headcount is taken across your whole business, not site by site, and "worker" has a wider legal meaning than "employee".
No existing members are needed at your workplace for a union to make a request, and no minimum level of membership applies. Any business with the qualifying headcount can be approached by a union seeking access so it can recruit and organise workers.
Access may be physical, digital or both. Physical means coming onto your premises. Digital can include virtual meeting platforms or your email system.
Once you receive a request, the timetable is:
15 working days for you to reply in writing.
A 25-working-day period then follows for negotiating terms with the union.
If no agreement is reached, either party can refer the matter to the CAC, and the CAC has power to impose terms of access on you.
There is one firm limit. The right of access cannot be used to organise industrial action.
This comes after the lower thresholds for union recognition that took effect in April. Many expect unions to use the access right to grow their membership in workplaces with no union presence and, in time, to press for formal recognition.
2. Telling workers they can join a union
Starting on 1 January 2027, all employers must give their workers written notice of the right to join a trade union.
The size of your business makes no difference, and nor does a complete absence of union involvement up to now.
The timings are:
New starters must be given the government's standardised statement together with the statement of employment particulars.
Existing staff must be given it, or told where to find it, by 5 April 2027.
After that, annual updates or reminders are required.
Failing to do this does not give rise to a tribunal claim in its own right. However, where a worker wins a qualifying employment tribunal case against you and you had also breached this duty, the tribunal can award an extra 2 to 4 weeks' pay. For a claimant's representative, it is a simple additional line to add.
Penalties built to bite
The penalties are structured deliberately so that employers cannot treat a fine as an acceptable price for ignoring the rules.
Where the terms of a statutory access agreement are breached, the penalties can escalate as follows:
First breach: up to £75,000
Second breach: up to £150,000
Third breach and each one after it: up to £500,000
Every breach is dealt with separately. Where one access agreement covers several workplaces, breaches at different sites count cumulatively, so the total can mount quickly.
Prepare before a request arrives
Fifteen working days is a tight window. If you only start working out your response once a request has landed, you have already lost time you cannot spare.
Four things to put in place now:
Onboarding. Plan to build the government's standardised statement on trade union rights into your onboarding process from January. Existing workers can be given it directly, or it can be made available in a handbook or on an intranet, as long as you tell them where it is.
An access request procedure. With 21 or more workers, you should draft an internal procedure now, setting out who deals with a request and the timescales for responding.
A manager briefing. Should a union official get in touch, you do not want anyone making an off-the-cuff remark that creates a legal problem.
Employee voice. Find out how your people feel about their jobs. The employers most exposed to union organising tend to be those where staff do not feel heard. Where the workforce genuinely has a voice already, an access request is much less likely to gain traction.
On that last point, see why your team's silence is costing you more than you think.
HR support for employers in Harpenden and St Albans
Progressive HR Solutions is an HR consultancy based in Harpenden, working with small businesses across St Albans, Hertfordshire and London.
Our support includes adding trade union information to your contracts and onboarding documents, drafting an internal procedure for access requests and advising you on your response should a union contact you.
If your business has 21 or more workers, contact us and we will help you get ready before the new access rules begin.
Written on 27 September 2026, when the workplace access rules had yet to receive parliamentary approval. This article sets out how they are expected to operate if they are approved. Get in touch for the latest position.
