Union Knocking? What the Government's Access Rights Response Means for Employers

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced a statutory right for independent trade unions to access workplaces (which includes both physical and digital access).  

On 8 April 2026, following a public consultation regarding this new right of access, the government published its response. This response confirms some further operational detail of how this new right will function in practice, although full details are still to follow.  

Key points from the Government’s response

• Access requests and responses must be made in writing, with email as the preferred method. Standardised templates for the access request and employer response will  be issued and parties shall be encouraged to use these, although use does not seem to be mandatory.
• A new statutory Code of Practice setting out how the right of access will operate shall be published (and shall include the templates). The draft Code of Practice is currently subject to public consultation until 20 May 2026.
• A number of changes have been made to the proposed information requirements, including:
  • Unions will not be required to provide workplace-level membership figures as originally proposed  given  the “sensitivity of this information and the potential risk of identifying individual members” (employers will potentially lose a useful insight when formulating their response to an  access request).
  • Unions will not be required to specify the date of access in the initial request; this is to be agreed between the parties, subject to a minimum notice period of no less than five working days. 
• Despite resourcing concerns regarding the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) raised during the consultation, parties will  be required to notify the CAC when an access agreement has been reached or revoked.  A further template for such notifications will be published, and notifications are to be made on an agreed basis.
• The Government has recognised that the originally proposed timescales were too short and has confirmed significantly extended periods:
  • Employers shall have 15 working days (up from 5) to respond to an access request.
  • The negotiation period shall be 25 working days (up from 15).
  • The period for referral to the CAC shall be 55 working days (up from 25).
  • Mutually agreed extensions will also be possible. 
• Employers with fewer than 21 workers will be excluded from the access right provisions, though  this will be kept under review.
• Weekly access is the appropriate level of regularity to support effective engagement, whilst recognising that the appropriate level of access shall depend on the specifics.
• Access agreements will  expire after two years.  However, parties can apply to the CAC for them to be extended as appropriate.
• Recognition of a union will  be a valid reason for the CAC to refuse an access request from another union.  This means “that an employer may decline an access request where it already recognises an independent union for that specific group of workers, unless the union requesting access is the recognised union”.  The presence of an access agreement with another union (even if not recognised) is also a relevant factor.
• Employers must take reasonable steps to facilitate access, but should not be required to make significant, structural, technological, or operational changes solely for that purpose. Access should ordinarily be facilitated using existing facilities and systems.
• The proposed three-tier enforcement model will proceed, with maximum penalty caps available to the CAC (with a penalty of £500,000 for third and repeated breaches).

What Employers should do now

The Government is currently consulting on the draft Code of Practice and templates.  Employers wishing to help shape these should consider responding before the deadline of 20 May 2026.  

The right to access is expected to come into effect in October 2026.  Employers with more than 21 workers should prioritise their trade union strategy, proactively engaging with a particular union may be strategically beneficial, not least because this could shape the employer's response to requests from other unions. Whilst highly fact specific, this may represent an opportunity to build effective and collaborative working relationships with a union or unions of choice as part of an overall employee engagement strategy. 

Employers should also familiarise themselves with this new right and establish clear internal processes for identifying and escalating access requests to ensure the statutory 15 working day deadline for responses is met.  

Training key staff will be essential to ensure access rights are understood and the risk of liability for breach is mitigated as far as possible. 

We will be keeping a close eye on the draft Code of Practice consultation and will publish further updates in due course.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 Hub

With further reforms still to come throughout 2026 and 2027, now is not the time to stand still. Keep your organisation informed and prepared by visiting the Bevan Brittan Employment Rights Act 25 Hub.

For further information or an initial discussion, please contact our Industrial Relations specialists at Charlotte Rose or Heather Stickland.