Employment Rights Act 2025 - the trade union reforms reshaping industrial relations

The Bright Mind podcast. The theme of these reforms is clear in that the government really wants stronger unions, easier recognition and a more active union presence in the workplace. Hello and welcome to the Bright Mind podcast, formerly known as the Expert HR podcast. Bright Mind is a leading provider of people data, analytics and insight, offering employment law expertise, comprehensive HR resources and reward data to meet every HR and organisational challenge and opportunity.

You can find us any time of the day or night at brightmind.com. Hello everyone, my name is Robert Shaw and today we're going to be talking about one of the most significant shifts in UK employment law in recent years, that is the trade union reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 or the ERA. Organisations are now very much living in the ERA era, These reforms are part of a broader government agenda to modernise industrial relations, strengthen worker voice and rebalance the relationship between employers and trade unions.

What does that actually mean in practice? To help unpack it all, I'm joined by Lilia Dangy, a legal editor at Brightmine, who has many years experience working with HR as well. Welcome to the podcast, Lilia. Hello, Robert.

Thanks for having me. Right. So let's paint in the big picture to begin with. What is the government trying to achieve with these reforms?

So looking at the big picture, these reforms are about resetting and modernising the UK's industrial relations framework. The government wants to strip away what it sees as unnecessary restrictions on trade unions and give workers a stronger collective voice. It's a clear push towards more collaboration, more balance between employers and unions and essentially making it easier for unions to organise, recruit and represent workers. Yeah, so what we see there then is this isn't just a sort of technical legal change, there is really an underlying philosophical shift.

Absolutely, this truly marks a philosophical shift. We saw that as soon as the Employment Rights Act received royal assent last December. The government moved to repeal the strikes minimum service levels at 2023. Not that the act had been particularly impactful but it did set the tone by removing a restriction on strikes.

Then on the 18th of February this year the government rolled back many of the restrictions from the Trade Union Act 2016. Then again in April this year, we saw the first major wave of changes under the new Employment Rights Act, which made union recognition easier and loosened the rules around industrial action, which then results in fewer hurdles before a strike, shorter notice periods and simpler ballots. Right, so in brief, more strikes. Well, potentially, yes.

And if more strikes do happen, the new rules give workers stronger protections when they take action. Right. So how should HR be thinking about this? So HR should really focus on preparation and engagement.

In practice, that means being ready for these changes and investing in solid relationships with employees, because those relationships matter more now than they ever did before. The theme of these reforms is clear in that the government really wants stronger unions, easier recognition and a more active union presence in the workplace. So there, Lily, you've mentioned various changes that have already come into force. There are lots more to come, of course.

So let's move on to one of the most talked about upcoming changes. That's the new duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. What do HR teams need to do there? Right.

So this is one of the key reforms coming on the 1st of October this year. And under the new law, employers must provide a written statement telling new joiners they have the right to join a trade union. The notice must be given alongside the usual statutory written statement of employment particulars. So effectively, it becomes part of the paperwork for new starters.

So it becomes part of onboarding. It essentially becomes an onboarding requirement. We are awaiting the final drafting of the regulations but it does look like this will be a separate document given to new joiners at the same time as their standard contracts and particulars In short every new employee will be a separate document given to new joiners at the same time as their standard contract and particulars In short every new employee will be formally notified of their rights to join a union when they start.

And is there a requirement too in relation to existing staff? Yes, employers will also need to give this notice to existing staff at specified regular intervals, although the exact timing will come in the regulations as well. So how employees do this will depend on how they normally communicate with the workforce. It could be through the intranet, it could be in a firm wide email, in a social media post that colleagues would see, or it could be physical notice boards, or even all of the above, whatever ensures that everyone gets the message.

Yeah, so what's the wider effect going to be? Well, it's going to make employees more aware of unions, which is obviously the intention, and combined with other reforms like union access rights, which I guess we're going to discuss in a moment, it's fair to assume or even really expect that it could lead to higher union engagement and possibly more people joining unions. Right, as you predicted there, let's talk about union access rights now. This is a big shift, also slated to be introduced in October of this year.

Absolutely. Trade unions are being given a statutory right to access workplaces, to recruit members and also to organise. Now, that doesn't mean that they can come in to plan a strike on your premises, but it does mean that they'll have a legal standing to talk to workers and encourage membership. OK, so what does that mean practically?

In practical terms, if a union wants to speak to your workers, it can now formally request access to your workplace. It can do so either in person or digitally. If the employer can't agree on how or when that happens, the union can ask the Central Arbitration Committee or the CAC to step in and decide. Digital access might operate along or even replace an on-site visit.

So, for example, an employer could share union communication via email or they could host virtual Q&A sessions. Unions might also get to contact workers directly, again, say by email, if employees give clear consent under data protection rules. And then in terms of physical access, employers will be expected to take reasonable steps to let union representatives on site, while of course, respecting health and safety requirements. And more importantly, an employer can't just attend these union meetings unless they've been explicitly invited by the union.

And also, employers shouldn't really be questioning workers afterwards about what was discussed in those meetings. Yes. Now, ideally, union and employer should try to agree voluntary access arrangements before a formal request is made. But as you say, if agreement isn't reached, then the CAC, the Central Arbitration Committee, will decide.

What are the criteria for its decisions? Well, the law sets up certain cases where the CAC must refuse a union's access request. For example, where an employer has fewer than 21 workers in total, and this is across the whole company, not just one site. Also, if a union's access agreement doesn't give at least five working days notice for the first visit, or if the proposed access agreement would last longer than two years, those requests will be turned down.

And I'm drawing on what's been published around the consultation process for the details here. The government made its response on the 6th of April, but we are still waiting on the final regulations for the full details. Are there any other circumstances when the CAC will refuse access? There are also a few situations where the CAC might use its discretion to refuse access.

So, for instance, where an employer already recognises an independent union or where a statutory recognition process is underway, then the CAC can say no if the union's request overlaps with the existing access agreement or if there are multiple unions making competing requests at the same time. Another factor is excessive burden. So if fulfilling a request would force the employer into something unreasonable like, for example building new facilities or buying special IT systems just for the union then the CAC could decide to refuse those cases too Okay so how can we sum up the overall implications of this So the bottom line here is that all employers need to be prepared, even those who currently have no union involvement.

The rules will apply across the board, so everyone should really plan ahead. So this is a question I've seen asked. Obviously, this is about union recognition. Do employers actually have to recognise a union?

Not automatically, no. So you're only required to formally recognise a union if it wins a statutory recognition ballot among your workers. I know that we've had some questions about whether having a staff council or employee forum could be an alternative to a union. The answer is no.

A staff forum doesn't replace a union. You can certainly, of course, have, you know, those forums for employee voice, but they won't exempt you from recognising a union that meets the legal requirements. Those are the big two things happening in October, but there are a couple more union-related ERA changes coming this autumn, aren't there? Well, yes, there are a couple of other union-related changes in October this year.

They are new rights and protections for union representatives, for example, making it easier for them to do their jobs without detriment. And another big one is an extension of protection from detrimental treatment for workers who take part in industrial action. So basically, stronger safeguards so workers can be penalised for going on strike. Yes.

And of course, you can find more details about those changes, all of these changes, in fact, on the Bright Mind website. where we have supporting materials. Now let's bring in another key element of the ERA, the Employment Rights Act 2025, the Fair Work Agency. So what is the Fair Work Agency?

Right, so the Fair Work Agency is essentially a new single enforcement body for employment rights that was launched on the 7th of April this year. It brings together several existing regulators into one organisation and the aim is to have a more consistent and effective enforcement system for employment rights. So instead of something patchy or fragmented which is basically what we've had in the past. So it simplifies enforcement?

Yes it simplifies enforcement and it also makes it tougher at the same time. So what's happening here is that we are moving from a traditionally reactive system where enforcement mostly happens only if an individual files a claim to a more proactive model led by the state. So in other words, the agency itself can step in to enforce the rules rather than waiting for employees to raise issues. Okay, why does that matter in practice?

So this matters because enforcement will be far more active and visible now. The Fair Work Agency has broad powers which consist of investigating employers, inspecting workplaces, demanding paperwork and taking enforcement action if something's not right. It can also bring employment tribunal claims on behalf of workers which is a massive shift from how things used to work. So risk increases?

Yes, absolutely. The risk of getting audited and penalised is higher now. The key point, though, is that your compliance needs to be solid. All your policies, processes and records should be ready to hold up under scrutiny because the chances of an inspection or an investigation are definitely going up.

Okay, and I know there are different views on what difference the Fair Work Agency is likely to make, what do you think? It really depends on the resources the new agency gets, right? So if the Fair Work Agency is well-funded and well-staffed, it could have a big impact and it could really change the enforcement landscape. But if the budget or the staffing is limited, then the impacts might be more muffled.

So there's a bit of a wait and see element to it all in terms of how much difference it would actually make in practice. Okay, does this link to the union reforms? You could say it's all part of the same trend really. So we're talking here giving workers a stronger voice, making union activity easier and enforcing rights more effectively.

All these reforms align with the broader shift in how the workplace is regulated. Yeah so let now think about some practical steps some takeaways for HR There a lot here Where should HR teams start Yes there a lot And all this can be overwhelming and feel like a lot to manage But the key is really to break it down in clear priorities. And I'd suggest focusing on five practical areas. So firstly, get your documentation in order.

This means adding the new rights to join a union notice in your onboarding materials, reviewing contracts and handbooks to see if they need updating and planning how you'll distribute that information to your existing staff as well as new joiners. This is one of the top priority because it's an immediate compliance obligation. Secondly, prepare for union access requests. And this means deciding who in your team is going to handle these requests, setting up a standard process for how you respond and also thinking through how access would work operationally.

For example, where would you hold an on-site visit or how would you manage a virtual meeting? The idea is once these access rights go live, employers won't have much time to figure it out. So having a plan ahead of time is really crucial. Moving on to number three, take a step back and review overall employee relations strategy.

With unions being more easily recognised and able to access workplaces, organisations want to make sure they have strong channels for employee voice internally. Also, ensuring employees have ways to raise concerns or feedback directly and trying to spot any issues early. We should think of this as preventative, right? So if your workplace feels heard and engaged, then disputes are less likely to escalate or push employees towards seeking union intervention.

I know we have five. So what's the fourth point, Lilia? Right. So the fourth point is to check your readiness for industrial action.

This includes updating business continuity plans, so how you'll keep things running if there's a strike, and also training managers on the right way to respond to strikes or picketing. Another thing is to review how your internal escalation processes would work if a strike seems likely. So with the legal barriers to industrial actions reducing, being well prepared here is really important. I can't stress it enough.

And then finally, organisations really need to do a thorough compliance audit, especially in light of the Fair Work Agency. So since enforcement will be more proactive, it's important that organisations and HR double check that they are compliant with all the key employment rights like pay, working times, holidays and so on. make sure your records are up to date and accessible and that your policies are actually being followed in practice and not just written down and forgotten about.

And the key shift here is moving from reacting to complaints to being ready for inspections before they even happen. Yes, I like what you said there as well about policies being followed in practice, not just being in written form. Right, so if you had to sum it all up, reduce it down to just, I don't know, 10 words. You can have a few more than that, but you know.

To sum it up, I'd say get your documentations right. That's number one. Prepare your processes and strengthen your employee relationship. The important thing to note here is that this isn't just a tick box legal change.

It's actually a genuine shift in how our workplaces operate. So HR needs to be proactively ready here. That's a great note to end on. Right.

The trade union reforms under the ERA, together with the introduction of the Fair Work Agency, mark a major shift in how unemployment relationships are managed and enforced in the UK. And of course, on the Bright Mind website, we have lots of supporting materials to help you navigate your way through all of these compliance changes. I'll put links to some of those in the show notes. And so now I just need to say thank you to Lilia for joining us today.

Thank you, Lilia. Thank you for having me. And thank you to everyone for listening. And until next time.

Thank you.