Workplace access

A union at your workplace from 30 October 2026

Updated 30 September 2026

If you work for a medium-sized or larger employer and have never had a union representative walk on site, that is about to change. From 30 October 2026 the Employment Rights Act 2025 gives eligible trade unions a new statutory right of access to workplaces, alongside the existing recognition and collective bargaining routes. The right is for meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting and organising workers. It cannot be used to organise industrial action.

What the new right of access actually is

The right sits in new Part 3A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, inserted by section 27 of the Employment Rights Act 2025. From 30 October 2026 an independent trade union can make a formal request to your employer to access the workplace to communicate with workers. The communication can be in person on the employers premises, or digitally through the channels the employer itself uses to talk to staff, or both.

The right sits next to, but is separate from, statutory recognition. Your employer does not need to recognise a union for the access right to bite. A statutory Code of Practice, published by the Department for Business and Trade and laid before Parliament, sets out how the regime is expected to work in practice.

Which unions can ask, and which workplaces it covers

Only independent trade unions can use the right. Independent means listed by the Certification Officer as independent under section 2 of the 1992 Act, and the public register at gov.uk lists every one of them along with the workers each is entitled to represent.

The employer must have 21 or more workers on the day the request is received. Workers count across associated employers, so two group companies with 12 workers each, owned by the same holding company, will usually be treated as one. Some places are off-limits entirely: a union cannot get access to a private home where you work, and the Central Arbitration Committee can refuse access where granting it would risk national security or prejudice a criminal investigation. Northern Ireland is not covered by this regime.

How often and on what terms: the model access terms

The regulations set model access terms. Where the union asks for those terms and the employer refuses, the Central Arbitration Committee is required to treat any term that matches the model as reasonable. The model terms are physical or digital access once a week, five working days of notice for the first occasion and two for each subsequent occasion, use of existing meeting rooms with privacy from management, and union officials following the employers reasonable instructions on identification and behaviour.

The Code adds that access should usually take place during normal working hours but at times that minimise disruption, with workers paid in full for time spent at meetings. A single cascaded email from the union does not count as a weekly access occasion. The union cannot demand your personal contact details; disclosure of staff data still requires your consent.

The negotiation: request, response, CAC if talks fail

The procedure starts with a written request from the union. The employer then has 15 working days to respond, naming a contact person, agreeing or disagreeing, and giving reasons if it disagrees. The union and the employer then have 25 working days to negotiate the access terms.

If there is no agreement at the end of that period, or the employer does not respond at all, the union can apply to the Central Arbitration Committee. In most cases the union has 55 working days from the original request to apply. The CAC will decide whether access should be granted and on what terms, and where the union has asked for the model terms the CAC usually imposes them. There is a narrow right of appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, but only on a point of law.

Where your employer can push back, and where it cannot

Your employer has to take reasonable steps to facilitate access, including by allowing the union to use existing facilities where reasonably practicable. It cannot refuse access just because it already recognises another union, or because it has never had one on site. Where another union is already recognised, the regulations make it reasonable for the CAC to refuse a second request, but only where there is genuine overlap, meaning at least one worker falls within both arrangements.

Your employer cannot refuse a request on the grounds that it does not like trade unions, that workers have not asked for one, or that it considers the unions politics unwelcome. The right exists independently of the employers preferences, and refusal on those grounds is precisely what the CAC power to grant an access order is designed to overturn.

Where this leaves you, the worker being approached

You are not required to speak to a union representative at work, attend any meeting they hold on site, read any message they send through your employers systems, or join the union afterwards. Refusing to engage with a union rep is not a conduct issue, and your employer cannot discipline, dismiss or otherwise penalise you for it. It is also already unlawful to refuse you a job, subject you to a detriment, or dismiss you because you are or are not a union member.

If you are asked by your employer to identify which workers attended a union session, the union cannot provide that information and the employer cannot demand it. Our guide to raising a workplace grievance covers what to do if an employer crosses that line.

What to do in the meantime

The access right starts on 30 October 2026. Until that date your employer is not obliged to allow union visits on this statutory footing, although it may agree to do so voluntarily or under an existing arrangement. If you are in a workplace with 21 or more workers and want a union to be able to come in, the practical steps are straightforward.

First, pick the union whose membership rules actually cover your role. The Certification Officers website lists every independent trade union and the workers it can represent. Second, ask the union to make a formal request once 30 October has passed. That starts the 15-working-day clock for your employers response. Keep any internal communications for the record.

Third, remember what the access right does not do. It does not let a union organise industrial action at your workplace, ballot you for strike action, or recruit you without your consent. The right is for representation, recruitment, support and collective bargaining. Our guide to joining a union sets out what the existing recognition and ballot rules already require.

This is a general summary of publicly announced timetable and Code of Practice changes, not legal advice. Implementation details can shift before each date takes effect; confirm anything time-sensitive with the Certification Officer, Acas, or a solicitor.