New rights for trade unions to access workplaces

The Employment Rights Act 2025  introduces a new obligation on employers to reach agreements with trade unions to allow them to access the workplace. This affects public and private sector employers, including those who do not recognise a union and have never had a union presence in the workplace.

This article explains the new right, how employers should prepare and why non-compliance could be costly.

The draft Code of Practice on trade union workplace access was published in April and put out for consultation. Now that the consultation has closed, the Government will publish a final version ahead of October 2026, which is when the new right will come into force.

This has prompted significant discussion, particularly because of the scale of financial penalties that will apply for non-compliance.

Access requests

Currently there is no right for trade unions to access workplaces, unless this has been agreed as part of a collective agreement with the employer or is ordered as ahead of a statutory recognition ballot.

From October 2026 unions will have the right to request access to any workplace to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers (regardless of whether they are members of a trade union) or to facilitate collective bargaining. The request cannot be made for the purposes of organising industrial action.

Employers have 15 working days to respond to an access request. The employer can agree with the request or disagree (in whole or part).  If the latter, the employer then has 25 working days to negotiate access terms with the union.

If terms cannot be agreed in that timeframe, the union can apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for the access request to be granted. The CAC will then decide whether to grant the request and on what terms.

The CAC’s judgment must be consistent with the new “access principles”. These include that:

1. Union officials should be able to enter a workplace or communicate with workers in any manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the employer’s business
2. An employer should take reasonable steps to facilitate access by union officials
3. Access should be refused entirely only where it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.

So overall the principles lean towards granting access in some form.

Model terms

The Government will publish ‘model terms’ for access agreements.  The CAC will take these into account in determining disputed access arrangements. The model terms will include:

1. Access frequency of up to once per week
2. Two working days’ notice from the union for each visit
3. Employers must provide meeting spaces and facilities where reasonably possible
4. Employers must ensure, as far as reasonably possible, that direct communications between workers and the union remain private
5. Union officials must comply with all reasonable employer instructions, such as health and safety inductions, safeguarding measures, or signing in.

We expect to see such terms as becoming commonplace in access arrangements.

Penalties for non-compliance

Once terms are in place, any breach by the employer, whether intentional or accidental, can trigger escalating penalties. The structure is stark: a penalty of up to £75,000 for a first breach, up to £150,000 for a second, and up to £500,000 for a third and each subsequent breach.

Because each breach is treated separately, continued non‑compliance could result in repeated high value penalties. This is the scenario that has been widely referenced in commentary: not a decided case, but a realistic illustration of how quickly liability could escalate.

Actions for employers

The potential penalties highlight how important it is for employers to prepare before the regime goes live.  The right of access applies to employers in all sectors, whether or not you recognise a union and whether or not any of your employees are union members.  Only employers with fewer than 21 employees are exempt.

An employer receiving an access request for the first time will need to act quickly, take advice and respond within three weeks.

To prepare, employers should:

1. Put in place a process that will kick in if an access request is received. It needs to go to the right person(s), who have been trained on how to handle a request and can access advice
2. Plan how an access request, based on the model terms, might be responded to. If it cannot be agreed by negotiation, the CAC will impose an access agreement in some form, so a blanket refusal will not get the employer very far
3. Review your existing means of communicating with employees or employee groups. Consider making changes to make employees feel more heard, and so less amenable to any alternative communications from unions.

Although it will take some before the enforcement regime is tested in practice, the direction of travel is clear. The new regime is designed to have real impact, and employers who prepare early will be best placed to avoid costly disputes once the new rights take effect. Our expert Employment team is well placed to support organisations here. Get in touch if we can assist you.