Procedural barriers to organising industrial action are reduced under Employment Rights Act reforms coming into force today
A slew of changes to trade union regulations are set to come into force today (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Under the reforms, much of the Trade Union Act 2016 has been repealed, making it simpler for unions to trigger industrial action.
The legislation reduces the notice period for strikes from 14 days to 10 and removes 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 have also simplified, with the legislation reducing the amount of information unions must include. Ballots approving strike action will now have a 12-month mandate, an increase from 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 are legally protected regardless of how long they strike for.
Monica Atwal, managing partner at Clarkslegal, said the changes...
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