Procedural barriers to organising industrial action will be reduced under Employment Rights Act reforms coming into force next week
12 February 2026
A slew of changes to trade union regulations are set to come into force next week (18 February) as part of the first phase of changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Under the reforms, much of the Trade Union Act 2016 will be repealed, making it simpler for unions to trigger industrial action.
The legislation will reduce the notice period for strikes from 14 days to 10 and remove the 40 per cent support requirement for industrial ballots in six public services – fire, health, education, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning sectors.
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Industrial action notices are also set to be simplified, with the legislation reducing the amount of information unions must include. Ballots approving strike action will have a 12-month mandate, an increase from the current six months.
The government said the changes would remove “unnecessary restrictions and red tape” on union activity.
Automatic protection from unfair dismissal for employees undertaking industrial action will no longer be limited to a 12-week period of entitlement. This means employees will be legally protected regardless of how long they strike for.
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