Employment Rights Act 2025: trade union recognition and access rights explained

While many of the April 2026 changes brought in by the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) centred on individual employment rights, important reforms to the statutory trade union recognition regime have also taken effect. These changes will make it easier for trade unions to secure recognition and are likely to have practical implications for many employers, even those with little or no previous experience of union engagement.

This article provides a focused summary of the trade union recognition changes that took effect on 6 April 2026. Other employment law reforms taking effect in April 2026 are covered in our separate article on the latest ERA 2025 changes and in our wider Employment Rights Act 2025 resources page.

Trade union recognition

What is trade union recognition?

Trade union recognition is the process by which an employer formally recognises a trade union as representing a defined group of workers (called a bargaining unit) which enables it to bargain on behalf of those workers on matters relating to their employment. Such matters can be workers' pay, hours, holiday, pension, and/or family rights etc.

Trade unions can be recognised via two routes:

• Voluntary recognition: where the employer agrees to recognise the union on agreed terms.
• Statutory recognition: where recognition is imposed by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) according to a statutory regime following a successful application by the union.

Unions are obliged to first seek recognition with an employer on a voluntary basis however they can rely on the statutory process if this is not possible.

There are several differences where a union has statutory or voluntary recognition. The main one being that where a union gains recognition through the statutory process, their rights to bargain collectively on behalf of workers are limited to pay, hours and holiday. Whereas under voluntary recognition, the scope can be broader and may include additional issues such as maternity and paternity leave.

Further, the only way for an employer to unilaterally reverse statutory recognition with a union is to apply to the CAC for de-recognition. Such an application can only be made after at least three years following statutory recognition and will only be successful in limited circumstances, such as where the employer is able to show that there is no longer a majority of employees in support of union recognition.

However, when negotiating a voluntary recognition agreement, parties usually agree to a termination date or termination mechanism.

How the statutory process worked before April 2026

Before the April 2026 changes, the statutory recognition regime imposed several hurdles for trade unions seeking statutory recognition. In particular:

• A union had to demonstrate at least 10% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit were members before the CAC would consider their statutory recognition application.
• The union also had to show that it was likely to secure majority support for recognition from workers in the bargaining unit.
• Where the CAC ordered a recognition ballot for the purposes of determining the union's application, the union needed both:
  • a simple majority of those voting in the ballot; and
  • at least 40% of workers in the bargaining unit to vote in favour.

These requirements meant that employers could, in practice, seek to defeat recognition applications through low turnout or worker disengagement.

What has changed

A number of key reforms to the statutory recognition process took effect on 6 April 2026. Together, these changes significantly lower the barriers to recognition.

Key changes now in force include:

• Lower and more flexible membership threshold: the fixed requirement for a union to demonstrate 10% membership has been replaced with a new 'required percentage' test. This is initially set at 10%, but secondary regulations can reduce it to as low as 2% of the bargaining unit.
• Removal of the 'likely majority support' requirement: unions no longer need to demonstrate that they are likely to win a recognition ballot.
• Simpler ballot outcome: recognition now requires only a simple majority of votes cast. The previous requirement for at least 40% of the entire bargaining unit to vote in favour has been repealed.

What this means for employers

The April 2026 changes mean that it is now significantly easier for trade unions to secure statutory recognition.

The practical impact is that employers are now unlikely to be able to rely on a lack of worker engagement to avoid recognition applications, given that a relatively small but organised minority of union members may be sufficient to achieve recognition. As a result, employers with little or no history of union engagement may face recognition requests for the first time.

While statutory recognition does not expand the scope of collective bargaining beyond pay, hours and holiday, these are still key employment terms and so it nevertheless precipitates a significant shift in employee relations and management practice.

Practical tips for employers

Given the new landscape, employers may wish to consider whether a more constructive and proactive approach to employee relations is now preferable. In particular:

• Early and meaningful engagement with employees may reduce the likelihood of adversarial statutory recognition processes.
• Where recognition is inevitable, a voluntary approach may offer greater flexibility than the statutory framework.
• Employers should ensure they understand the practical consequences of recognition and have appropriate governance and communication processes in place.

More broadly, working with trade unions rather than against them, in many cases, will be a more effective response to the lowered thresholds for recognition.

Looking ahead

Not all trade union reforms under the ERA 2025 are yet in force. Further changes are due to take effect in the coming months including:

• Rights in relation to access agreements.
• Changes to the CAC's Code of Practice on Access and unfair practices during recognition and derecognition ballots.
• A right for workers to receive a statement of trade union rights.
• Changes to facilities and time-off arrangements for trade union activities.
• Electronic balloting for statutory trade union ballots.

Union rights of access

The ERA 2025 introduces a statutory right for independent trade unions to access workplaces both physically and digitally, for the purposes of meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting or organising workers and facilitating collective bargaining. The government has published a draft Code of Practice on trade union access, alongside a consultation which is open until 20 May 2026. The Code is intended to guide how unions may access workplaces to recruit, organise and communicate with workers, and how employers should respond.

The draft Code addresses the scope and purpose of access, expectations around timing, frequency and facilities, and the need for access arrangements to be reasonable and proportionate. It also explains the role of the CAC in resolving disputes and the potential consequences of non compliance, signalling that access rights are intended to be meaningful rather than purely formal.

Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the new statutory right of access has the potential to represent a meaningful shift for employers, particularly those without recognised unions, by lowering barriers for trade unions to engage directly with workers on site. In practice, this is likely to increase union visibility and organising activity, and may require employers to think carefully about how access is managed alongside operational, security and employee relations considerations. Although the framework allows employers to impose reasonable conditions and emphasises proportionality, it also limits an employer’s ability simply to refuse access. As a result, many employers will want to put in place clear, lawful access protocols and ensure managers are equipped to handle requests consistently, to minimise the risk of disputes being escalated to the CAC.

Many thanks to recent vacation scheme student Tamsin Ivory for their help in writing this article.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

© Farrer & Co LLP, April 2026