Trade union rights
Immediately on the ERA 2025 coming into force on 18 December 2025, the previous Conservative government’s Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 was repealed. This pernicious provision constituted a direct attack on the trade union movement requiring workers in certain public services to cross picket lines and work if they were identified in a “Work Notice” in circumstances where there was a lawful mandate for industrial action.
The following key changes then took effect from 18 February 2026:
- Unions will not be required to secure 40% support in favour of industrial action in ballots in key public services such as fire, health, education, transport, and border security.
- The information that unions are required to include in Notices of Ballot and Notices of Action are simplified. In broad terms what this means is that the Notice of Ballot will only have to give lists of the categories of workers and workplaces (not the numbers in each) and the total number of workers concerned in regard to non-check-off members. The Notice of Action will require numbers for the workplaces but not the categories.
- The Ballot Paper will no longer require a summary of the trade dispute, the dates of when it is envisaged the action will be called or the types of industrial action short of a strike that are being called.
- Ballots approving industrial action will have a 12-month mandate.
- Unions will have a 10-day notice period to inform employers of their intention to take industrial action (reduced from 14 days).
- Unions will no longer be required to appoint a picket supervisor.
- There will be enhanced protection for those dismissed for taking part in strike action.
However, the 50% turn-out requirement will remain until the advent of electronic balloting currently anticipated to take effect in August 2026.
There are also a number of key changes to institutional trade union law such as the removal of the 10-year ballot requirement for trade union political funds and an automatic opt-in to a union’s political fund on joining a union.
From April 2026 the process for a trade union to obtain statutory recognition will be simplified. At the application stage there will be a removal of the requirement for the union to demonstrate that there is “likely” to be majority support for trade union recognition and the requirement for the union to have 40% of the balloted constituency voting in favour of recognition in a recognition ballot will also be repealed. Under the ERA 2025, a simple majority is all that will be required.
The Act also gives the government the power to reduce the required threshold for union membership to as low as 2% of the proposed bargaining unit, through future secondary legislation. Finally, employees recruited after the CAC receives the union’s application will not be eligible to vote in the recognition process or be counted towards the number of workers in the bargaining unit for recognition purposes.
The following changes will take effect from October 2026:
- Introduction of a new right for trade unions to access the workplace either physically or digitally to meet, support, represent, recruit and organise workers.
- Introduction of a new right for all workers to be given a written statement confirming they have a right to join a trade union. This is to be provided at the same time as the statement of particulars required by Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or at any other prescribed time (to be set out in regulations)
- Workers will also have a right not to be subject to a detriment for taking part in industrial action as the ERA will put into law the decision of the Supreme Court in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer [2024] UKSC 12.
Consultations on the new rights of access and to a written statement ended on 18 December 2025, the day that the ERA 2025 came into force. A consultation on a new statutory code of practice on electronic and workplace ended on 28 January 2026.
Visit our main Employment Rights Act Hub for further information.