The Right to be Informed You Can Join a Trade Union

By Amber Davies - Trade Union Law Group Solicitor 

The current position  

Employers are under an obligation to provide employees and workers with a written statement of particulars of employment either before or at the start of their employment, in accordance with Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) - often referred to as a ‘Section 1 Statement’. However, currently there is no obligation for an employer to inform employees and workers of their right to join a trade union, either at the start of their employment or on an ongoing basis. 

Changes  

Section 58 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, inserts a new section 136A into TULRCA 1992 which will require employers to give workers a written statement advising that they have the right to join a trade union. The statement must be provided at the same time as providing the worker's section 1 statement and at other prescribed times (which will be set out in regulations). 

The details of what is to be included in the statement as well as the form and manner in which it must be given is to be set out in regulations.   

The government launched a consultation on how the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union should work in practice, between 23rd October 2025 and 18th December 2025. While regulations will set out what is to be included in the statement of trade union rights, the content of the consultation gives an indication of what the Government considers it should include: 

• A brief overview of the functions of a trade union. 

• A summary of the statutory rights union members have which are set out in Part III of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 19925 including that workers should not suffer any detriment based on their decision to join or not join a trade union. 

• A list of all trade unions that the employer recognises (if any). 

• A signpost to a Gov.uk page with a list of current trade unions (with some information about the union to help workers identify relevant unions)  

The Governments preferred options are that employers issue a standard ‘model' statement directly to new workers alongside the Section 1 statement, as opposed to employers drafting their own statement which could be posted on a staff portal on the intranet.  If this is reflected in the regulations it would be more likely to ensure that workers are aware of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment.  As for existing workers, the Government proposes that employers deliver the statement directly or indirectly with reminders being issued annually.    

Remedy for a breach  

In terms of the remedy available, if the employer fails to provide a written statement of trade union rights this is to be dealt with in the same way that failure to provide a Section 1 Statement is under Section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 (EA 2002).    

This means that while a worker cannot bring a stand-alone claim in the Employment Tribunal for breach of the duty, the Tribunal will have jurisdiction to hear the breach where it is included with another substantive claim as set out in schedule 5 of the EA 2002.   

The schedule includes most employment tribunal claims relating to such as inducements and detriment concerning trade union membership and activities; unauthorised deductions from wages; detriment in employment; unfair dismissal; redundancy payments; national minimum wage detriment; discrimination and equality matters in work cases. Where a tribunal upholds the substantive claim then provided the claim for breach of the failure to provide a written statement is included as part of that claim, it can make an award equivalent to either two weeks’ or four weeks’ pay to a statutory maximum of a week’s pay which is currently £751.  

Impact of the changes 

The right is expected to be introduced in October 2026. 

It is hoped that the requirement on employers to provide a written statement informing employees and workers of their right to join a trade union will lead to an increase in trade union membership. In 2024, the proportion of UK employees who were trade union members fell to 22%, which is the lowest union membership rate since records began, with union density in the private sector being just 11.7% compared with 49.9% in the public sector.  

In polling carried out by YouGov for the TUC, it found that one in five workers had either not heard of a trade union or did not know what they do, with this rising to as high as one in three among workers aged 18 to 24. However, this same poll found that 62% of workers would support a union negotiating on their behalf on pay and working conditions. 

Depending on what the regulations provide the statement to cover, it should go some way to addressing the knowledge gap that exists particularly amongst young workers about what trade unions are and what they do, with the expectation of improved trade union recognition in the workplace.