New & extended rights about trade unions

New requirement: statement of right to join a trade union

Employers will be required to give workers (including employees) a written statement advising that they have a right to join a trade union and providing other required information.

A new regulation will be required, setting out the following details:

• The prescribed information (information that must be included in the statement)
• The form it must take
• How it must be given

The statement will need to be given at the same time as providing a section 1 statement, as well as at other (currently unknown) times.

Failing to provide a statement will incur the same penalties as failing to provide a section 1 statement (2-4 weeks' pay, subject to the weekly pay cap).

There is expected to be a government consultation about this before it becomes law.

New worker right: protection against detriment for attending a strike

Currently, there's no protection for workers against suffering a detriment because they took part in strike action against their employer.

A 2024 Supreme Court decision decided that the law fails to provide such protection except in cases of unfair dismissal (which only apply to employees) and, therefore, breached a worker's human rights.

The new requirement is set to give a worker the right not to be subjected to a detriment by any act (or any deliberate failure to act) by their employer, if it's done solely or mainly to prevent or deter them from taking lawful strike action, or penalising them for doing so.

It's not yet clear what types of matter the government intends to prescribe as detriments and these are expected to be set out in new regulations.

If an Employment Tribunal finds that an employer has taken detrimental action against a worker, it must make a declaration of that fact and can award compensation against the employer.

The amount of any compensation will consider the infringement and any financial loss suffered by the worker, such as any expenses they reasonably incurred because of the detriment and the loss of any benefit they could reasonably be expected to have had.

There is expected be a government consultation about this before it becomes law.

New right: trade union right of access

This is a new right for a trade union of physical and digital access to an employer's workplace. This would be to:

• Communicate to its workforce (directly or indirectly)
• Meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers (regardless of whether they are members of a trade union)
• Enable collective bargaining, but not to organise industrial action.

A trade union access request will be in a required (prescribed) form and must be given in a set way (to be confirmed in new regulations by the government). Employers will be able to respond (within a yet to be determined timeframe) using a prescribed form. The parties can then start negotiating the terms of access, which must be done within (a yet to be determined) timeframe.

They can then both agree to enter into an access agreement or, if the trade union's request for access is denied, the employer fails to respond to it, or negotiations are unsuccessful, the trade union can appeal to the Central Arbitration Committee.

A government consultation about this has ended and the outcome is yet to be announced.

Facilities provided to trade union officials and learning representatives

Currently, there's a right for recognised trade union members and learning representatives to receive paid time off to carry out their duties, and to be provided with access to facilities to do so.

This is set to be strengthened to require an employer, at the request of the trade union member/learning representative, to provide them with reasonable accommodation and other facilities in accordance with the Acas Code of Practice, to carrying out their duties or undergo the training.

Employers that fail to do this could face an Employment Tribunal claim against them.

There is expected to be a government consultation about this before it becomes law.

Time off and facilities for trade union equality representatives

Currently, some trade unions have equality representatives, but they don't have rights to time off or to be provided with facilities.

Equality means the elimination of discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and advancing equal opportunities and fostering good relations between those who share a relevant protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation) and those who don't.

Employers are set to be required to give an equality representative of a recognised trade union (i.e. someone who's appointed or elected via the union's rules) time off during their working hours to:

• Carry out activities for the purpose of promoting the value of equality in the workplace.
• Arrange learning or training on matters relating to equality in the workplace.
• Provide information, advice or support to qualifying members of the trade union in relation to matters relating to equality in the workplace.
• Consult with the employer on matters relating to equality in the workplace.
• Obtain and analyse information relating to equality in the workplace.

Before time off is given, a trade union must first give the employer a written notice stating:

• That the employee is an equality representative
• That they have already received sufficient training to carry out the listed functions (according to any relevant provision of the Acas Code of Practice), or that such training will be completed within the next 6 months (with a further notice being required confirming it's been done).

A reasonable amount of time off work can then be given (after considering any provision of the Acas Code of Practice) to undergo:

• The required training (having already given at least 6 months' notice of the need to complete it)
• Any training that's relevant to their functions as an equality representative.

An employer that permits an employee to take time off for the purposes of acting as an equality representative must, if requested by the employee, provide reasonable accommodation and other facilities for that purpose (after considering any relevant provisions of a Code of Practice issued by Acas). Failing to do this can result in an Employment Tribunal claim against the employer.

There is expected to be a government consultation about this before it becomes law.