Employers are becoming increasingly anxious about how the trade union right of access could affect the culture within their workplace, an employment law firm has warned.
A key part of the Employment Rights Act 2025, trade union access rights take effect on 30 October 2026, with fines for non-compliance potentially reaching up to 500,000.
From that date, trade unions will have a new right to access workplaces and engage with workers, either in-person or digitally, even if they currently have no members in the workforce. Employers and unions will be able to negotiate access agreements into workplaces under a new statutory framework.
Chris Coombes, senior associate at the law firm Littler, said: “Employers are uneasy about unions setting up a physical or digital presence in their workplace to recruit workers and think it is going to be very disruptive.
“They are also worried that unions, by inserting themselves between the employer and employees, are going to have a negative impact on that relationship.”
Coombes expressed that there are “valid concerns” over the inflexibility that might come with a union that achieves collective bargaining powers as a consequence of building up membership through the right of access.
“Very few employers like the idea of having to negotiate with unions over pay, training and working hours,” he explained. “Some employers will also be very surprised to hear that they can’t have their own representative attend these meetings even though it is at...
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