By Trade unions will gain the right to request access to workplaces from 30 October 2026 under the Employment Rights Act, according to HR Grapevine. The change affects employers across the UK, and the first request is unlikely to land with someone in HR who understands what it is.
Jenny Rimell, Head of HR Consultancy at Make UK, told HR Grapevine: “Most businesses assume a union access request will be handled by someone in HR who knows what it is.” Employers need to put processes in place now to avoid serious financial penalties, the report said.
What the new right covers
From 30 October 2026, subject to Parliamentary approval, independent trade unions are expected to gain a statutory route to request physical or digital access to workplaces in Great Britain, according to Rise HR. The purpose of access is meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting and organising workers, and facilitating collective bargaining. It is explicitly not for organising industrial action.
A qualifying independent trade union can make a formal access request. Access may involve an official entering a workplace, communicating with workers electronically, or a combination of both. The legislation does not create an unrestricted right to arrive without notice or disrupt operations. Access is governed by agreed or determined arrangements that take account of business needs, safety, security, privacy and practical workplace requirements.
The right applies even where the union is not recognised for collective bargaining. That is a significant shift for employers who have never dealt with a union presence on site.
How the process works
An employer must generally respond to a formal access request within 15 working days. After the response, the parties have a period to negotiate suitable terms. If no agreement is reached, the union may apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC may determine whether access should be granted and on what terms.
The CAC cannot impose an access agreement where the employer has fewer than 21 workers across all its workplaces. Rise HR describes the threshold as applying across all workplaces, but the captured research does not clarify how the headcount is calculated, whether part-time workers count as one, or whether associated employers are aggregated. Employers near the threshold should seek legal advice on their specific position.
Digital access raises practical questions that the current guidance does not fully answer. It is unclear whether employer email systems, intranets, Microsoft Teams or Slack are in scope, who pays for any setup, and what data protection constraints apply when a union is given digital access to worker contact details. Employers should treat GDPR and employee privacy as a central consideration when negotiating any digital access arrangement.
What HR teams should do now
The first practical step is to ensure that anyone who might receive a union access request, including reception staff, site managers and line managers, knows what one looks like and where to send it. A request that sits unanswered in a shared inbox for three weeks is a compliance risk.
Employers should prepare a short internal procedure: who logs the request, who acknowledges it, who leads the response, and how the 15-working-day clock is tracked. A model response letter and a checklist for handling a request within the deadline would help, but the captured research does not provide one. HR teams should draft their own before 30 October.
A separate duty begins on 1 January 2027, when employers must inform employees of their right to join a union. Full government guidance and wording are expected in November 2026, according to Rise HR. Employers can combine preparation for both dates, since the access right and the notification duty sit within the same legislative framework.
Other dates employers should watch
The 30 October 2026 commencement date is shared by other Employment Rights Act provisions, which could confuse internal compliance planning. Third-party harassment rules also take effect from 30 October 2026, according to Bhayani Law. The time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims doubled from three to six months from 1 October 2026. Fire and rehire protections have been delayed until March 2027, according to VWV.
| Date | Measure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 2026 | Tribunal claim time limit extended to six months | Bhayani Law |
| 30 October 2026 | Trade union workplace access right begins | Rise HR |
| 30 October 2026 | Third-party harassment rules begin | Bhayani Law |
| 1 January 2027 | Duty to inform employees of right to join a union | Rise HR |
| March 2027 | Fire and rehire protections | VWV |
The government updated the Employment Rights Act 2025 implementation timetable on 28 October 2026, according to VWV. Several reforms previously listed only as taking effect in 2027 now have confirmed dates, while timing for some measures remains under review.
Employers in Northern Ireland should confirm whether the access right applies there. Rise HR describes the right as applying in Great Britain, but the captured research does not explain the position in Northern Ireland.
Sources: HR Grapevine
Photo: Former Secretary of the Histadrut Workers Union, meeting with the young generati by Yoni Salinger, CC BY 4.0
