Duty to inform workers of right to join a trade union

The government have now published their response to the consultation on this new duty

Delay in implementation

This new duty was due to come into effect on 30 October 2026 however, the timeline for implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 has been updated and this is now expected to come into force in January 2027.

Whilst we are awaiting regulations which will set out the new duty, the key points to note and prepare for are as follows:

Form

• The government will provide a standardised statement for employers to issue which employers may not amend except to add specific workplace information.

• The statement will provide “clear, neutral information the right to join a trade union”.

• Employers will need to add details of any recognised trade unions or unions with statutory access agreements, including contact details in both cases.

They must also either include a link to the Certification Officer's list of trade unions or give workers a copy of that list with the statement.

Content

The statement will cover:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

• A brief overview of what trade unions do as set out in the standardised template

• Details of any recognised trade unions, with their contact details which shall need to be inputted by the employer. Where a recognised union does not cover the whole workforce, employers will have to say which staff groups, grades or locations it covers. The contact details should be for the union itself and not a named individual, to that the statement is less likely to change over time.

• Details of any unions with statutory access agreements, with their contact details which shall also be inputted by the employer. The contact details should be for the union itself and not a named individual.

• Information on the Certification Officer's list of trade unions shall be inputted by employerA short summary of statutory rights relating to union membership, which shall form part of the standardised template

The standardised template will also say that unions may charge a membership fee, and it will make clear that workers can choose whether or not to join a trade union.

Employers can share further information through separate channels if they want to.

Delivery and Frequency

New workers must receive the statement directly, for example by email, in person or by post, at the same time as their written statement of employment particulars.

For existing workers, employers can deliver it directly or indirectly, for instance through an intranet or noticeboard.

• If they provide the statement directly, the statement must be reissued by 5 April the following year.

• If they go the indirect route, the statement must stay continuously and reasonably accessible all year, and the employer must issue an annual reminder informing workers of the availability of the statement and where to find it by 5 April of the following year.

• If there is a change to the recognised unions, the unions with access agreements or their contact details, an updated statement must be issued within one month.

• If the statement is held indirectly and its location changes, workers must be told the new location in writing within one month.

Enforcement

There will be no new regulatory regime and the duty will operate within existing employment law enforcement frameworks.

A failure to comply will be treated in the same way as a failure to provide written particulars of employment. This means that there is no freestanding claim for simply failing to provide the statement. A claim would only be successful if the worker was also successful in a substantive employment tribunal claim and the employer was still in breach of the duty when the proceedings commenced. Where the tribunal finds a breach, it must award two weeks’ pay (capped at the statutory one week’s pay, currently £751) although it can award up to four weeks’ pay if it considers it just and equitable.

What action should be taken?

Whilst the implementation has been delayed, organisations should start to prepare for the changes now.

An audit of onboarding processes should be undertaken to ensure that the statement is ready to be issued to all new workers alongside their written statement of employment particulars from the commencement date in January 2027. It will also be important to plan how the statement will be provided to existing workers (directly or indirectly) by 5 April 2027.

Organisations should also map all recognised trade unions and any unions with statutory access agreements, identifying the staff groups and locations they cover, and obtain current contact details for each union (not named individuals).

Processes should be established / reviewed to help identify any changes to the identity of a recognised union, a union holding a statutory access agreement, or their contact details, given the requirement to provide an updated statement within a month of such changes. 

The Senior Leadership Team and those in management positions should be trained on the new duty and the importance of remaining neutral. Conduct that could be seen as discouraging trade union membership could give rise to a separate trade union membership detriment claim. 

Organisations should monitor for the publication of the final regulations, the standardised template and any non-statutory guidance. Once the final form is confirmed, organisations will need to act quickly.