30th October 2026
New legislation gives trade unions greater access to workplaces, strengthens protection for workers taking strike action and makes it easier for unions to secure recognition from employers. The changes apply across Scotland, England and Wales.
Friday 30 October 2026 marks another important stage in the Government's overhaul of employment law, with a series of new rights for trade unions and their representatives coming into force.
The changes form part of the Employment Rights Act 2025, which is being introduced in stages. The Government says the reforms are intended to strengthen workers' rights, improve workplace representation and make it easier for employees to organise collectively.
For employers, however, they mean additional responsibilities and a need to review existing workplace policies and arrangements.
One of the most significant changes is that independent trade unions will have a new statutory right to request access to workplaces, even where an employer does not formally recognise the union.
Unions gain the right to access workplaces
Until now, an employer generally had considerable control over whether an outside trade union could enter its premises to speak to employees.
That position changes from today.
Independent trade unions will be able to make a formal request for access to a workplace. Access can be physical, digital or a combination of both.
The purpose is to allow union representatives to meet workers, explain their rights, offer advice and support, recruit members and organise workplace activities. Access can also help unions build support for collective bargaining with employers.
Digital access could involve an employer facilitating online meetings or distributing union communications to employees. It does not mean that unions will be given direct access to an employer's computer systems.
There are safeguards. Employers and unions will be expected to agree arrangements covering matters such as when access takes place, how often representatives can visit and what facilities are available.
If agreement cannot be reached, either side can refer the matter to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), which will have powers to determine an access agreement.
Employers with fewer than 21 workers across all their workplaces are exempt from these provisions.
This is a substantial change because it gives unions a formal route into workplaces where previously they might have been excluded simply because an employer did not want them there.
Stronger protection for workers taking strike action
Another important change concerns employees who participate in lawful, protected industrial action.
From today, employers will be prohibited from deliberately disadvantaging workers where the sole or main purpose is to penalise them for taking part in protected industrial action, or to prevent or discourage them from doing so.
Examples might include refusing training opportunities without good reason, overlooking an employee for promotion, reducing working hours or subjecting someone to bullying because they participated in a strike.
Workers who believe they have been treated in this way will be able to bring a complaint to an employment tribunal.
There is an important distinction, however. The legislation does not mean that employees must be paid for days when they are on strike. Employers can still proportionately withhold pay for time spent taking industrial action.
Nor does it provide protection for every form of workplace protest. The protection relates to lawful, protected industrial action.
More rights for workplace representatives
Trade union representatives will also benefit from stronger rights to paid time off and access to workplace facilities.
In particular, union equality representatives will have an entitlement to reasonable paid time off to carry out their duties.
Union representatives, including equality and learning representatives, will also have stronger rights to reasonable access to accommodation and facilities for specified union activities.
These changes should make it easier for representatives to deal with workplace concerns, support employees, discuss training and equality issues and communicate with management.
For larger organisations, particularly public-sector employers, this could mean more formal arrangements for dealing with union representatives and providing suitable facilities.
Easier for unions to obtain recognition
Some important changes to trade union recognition have already taken effect in April, but further changes begin today.
Recognition is particularly important because it gives a union the formal right to negotiate with an employer on behalf of workers over matters such as pay, working conditions and other employment issues.
Previously, the statutory recognition process required unions to demonstrate that they were likely to win a recognition ballot. There was also a requirement for at least 40% of the entire proposed bargaining unit to support recognition.
The new arrangements removed these requirements.
A union applying for statutory recognition now needs to demonstrate membership of at least 10% of the proposed bargaining unit. To win a recognition ballot, it generally needs a simple majority of those voting.
The changes taking effect today strengthen the procedures further.
They introduce clearer timetables for negotiating workplace access during a recognition application. Employers and unions will normally have 20 working days to reach an agreement, with the CAC having a further 10 working days to determine arrangements if necessary.
There are also measures intended to prevent employers from weakening a recognition application by recruiting additional workers into the proposed bargaining unit after the application has been submitted.
The bargaining unit is effectively frozen for the purposes of the recognition process.
The revised procedures also make it easier for complaints about unfair practices during recognition ballots to be considered.
Taken together, these changes could make it easier for unions to establish a formal presence in workplaces where employees want collective representation.
What does this mean for businesses?
For employers, the changes will require some preparation.
Businesses will need to consider how they respond to formal union access requests, whether existing employment policies need updating and how they provide facilities for union representatives.
They will also need to ensure that managers understand the stronger protections applying to employees who participate in lawful industrial action.
Larger employers are likely to have existing arrangements for dealing with trade unions, but smaller businesses may have little experience of formal collective representation.
The Government's new framework does not mean that every business will suddenly have a union operating on its premises. A union still needs to follow the statutory process, and access arrangements must be reasonable.
Nevertheless, employers will have less freedom simply to refuse to engage with a qualifying union.
More changes are coming in 2027
The reforms do not end today.
From 1 January 2027, employers will be required to give new workers a written statement explaining their right to join a trade union. Existing workers must receive the information by 5 April 2027.
The intention is to make sure that employees understand they have the right to join a union, rather than relying on individual employers to explain the position.
Other employment reforms under the Employment Rights Act will also continue to be phased in during 2027.
What might this mean for Scotland and the Highlands?
The changes apply in Scotland as well as England and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate employment and trade union legislation.
In Scotland, the impact could be particularly relevant to large public-sector employers, including councils, the NHS, education authorities and other organisations employing substantial numbers of people.
Highland Council and NHS Highland already have established relationships with trade unions, but the legislation reinforces the rights of representatives and the protections available to workers.
In smaller private-sector workplaces across Caithness and Sutherland, the impact may be less immediate. However, the ability of unions to seek access even where they are not recognised could make it easier for employees to organise and explore collective representation.
Whether this produces a significant increase in union membership will depend on whether workers choose to take advantage of the new arrangements.
A shift in the balance between employers and employees
Trade unions have historically played an important role in negotiating wages, working conditions, pensions and workplace protections. Their influence has changed considerably over recent decades as manufacturing employment has declined, private-sector employment has expanded and union membership has fallen in many industries.
The Government's reforms represent an attempt to strengthen collective representation and reverse some of that decline.
Supporters argue that workers need a stronger collective voice, particularly where individual employees have limited bargaining power.
Employers may have different concerns, including the additional administrative responsibilities, the possibility of more industrial disputes and the need to accommodate union activity within their businesses.
There is also a wider question about whether stronger trade union rights will help improve productivity and workplace relationships, or whether they will create additional tensions in some organisations. Much will depend on how employers and unions use the new arrangements.
What is clear is that the relationship between employers and trade unions is changing.
From today, unions have a stronger statutory route to reach workers, organise within workplaces and protect members who participate in lawful industrial action. For employers, the days of simply deciding whether an outside union can have any contact with their workforce are coming to an end.