If your organisation has never dealt with a trade union, it would be easy to assume that the Employment Rights Act 2025's trade union reforms are not really your concern. They are.
Two of the changes coming into force this October will affect every employer, including those with no history of union engagement whatsoever. The time to prepare is now, not when the first access request lands on your desk.
What is changing, and when?
Subject to the Government holding to its current implementation roadmap, two significant reforms take effect in October 2026.
First: a statutory right of access
Trade unions will have a statutory right to request access to workplaces, both physically and digitally, to communicate with workers about membership and representation. This right applies regardless of whether a union is already recognised by the employer.
The Government has recently consulted on a draft Code of Practice to sit alongside this change. The Code is clear: where an access request is made, there is a presumption in favour of granting it. The burden falls on the employer to show it would not be reasonable to do so. Blanket refusals will carry legal risk, including the possibility of the Central Arbitration Committee stepping in to impose terms.
For employers who have never had any union engagement, this is a genuine shift. Previously, unions had limited grounds to interact with your workforce unless they were already recognised. That is no longer the position.
Second: a duty to inform employees of their right to join a union
From October 2026, employers must actively inform employees of their right to join a trade union. The expectation is that this will be done in writing, most likely at the start of employment. We are still awaiting government guidance on the precise form this statement must take.
This might sound minor. It is not. The move from "employees have the right to join a union" to "employers must tell them they have the right" is a meaningful one. It increases the likelihood that employees who had never previously considered union membership will start to think about it. Over time, that leads to more members, more collective voice and, for some employers, more recognition requests.
Why this matters beyond the immediate obligations
These two changes do not sit in isolation. They are part of a deliberate policy direction from this Government: reducing the barriers to union organisation and increasing union visibility across the workforce.
The realistic trajectory, particularly in sectors that have historically been lightly unionised, is more membership over time and more requests for formal recognition. Employers who are unprepared for that shift, who have no established processes, no briefed managers, and no understanding of where their employee relations baseline actually sits, will find themselves reacting rather than managing.
What to do before October
You do not need to wait for the guidance to be finalised before taking practical steps.
Audit your onboarding documentation. Decide where the right-to-join notification will live, whether that is in contracts of employment, a standalone letter, an employee handbook, or onboarding materials. Build in time to draft and review the language before October arrives.
Establish an internal process for handling union access requests. Who in your organisation would receive one? Who decides whether the request is reasonable? What would a reasonable response look like, and what steps would you take before declining? These questions need answers before the first request arrives, not after.
Brief your managers. Employees will start asking questions about union membership. Some out of curiosity, some because they have been actively encouraged to by a union. Managers need to know what to say and, equally importantly, what not to say. Getting this wrong can create additional legal exposure.
Review your employee relations baseline honestly. Unions gain traction where employees feel that their concerns are not being heard through existing channels. If you have a high-performing HR function and strong management relationships with your workforce, the impact of these changes may be limited. If there are underlying issues around workload, pay, communication, or trust, those are the vulnerabilities that will matter most.
The bigger picture
None of this means that working with a trade union is inherently a bad outcome. Many employers have constructive, professional relationships with recognised unions, and collective bargaining can provide structure and certainty for both sides. But the starting point matters enormously.
Employers who engage with these changes proactively, and who have clear processes, well-briefed managers and a genuine grip on their employee relations position, will be far better placed to manage whatever comes next than those who simply wait and see.
October is not far away.