Trade Union Law Changes from April 2026

April brings the next tranche of reforms under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (which received royal assent on 18 December 2025) including changes to the statutory recognition scheme making it easier for trade unions to be recognised in the workplace.

What is Statutory Recognition?

Employers can formally recognise trade unions to collectively bargain on behalf of their employees (in whole or in part).  Statutory recognition is a legal process whereby a trade union can apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for such recognition.

What’s changing in April?

Initial Support Thresholds

Under the statutory recognition scheme, prior to 6 April 2026, to start an application to the CAC for statutory recognition, the trade union in question has to be able to demonstrate that:

• At least 10% of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit are union members.
• The majority of workers in the bargaining unit are likely to favour recognition.

From 6 April 2026, the second of these requirements will be removed.  In terms of the first, the government has the power to make regulations reducing the 10% threshold to somewhere between 2-10% through this has not been amended yet.

Ballot Threshold

Once the CAC has accepted an application, it will need to decide whether to order recognition.  If the majority of workers in the bargaining until are members of the union, this may be enough, but if not, the CAC will hold a ballot to ask the members of the bargaining unit whether they want the union to be recognised.

Prior to 6 April 2026, the CAC recognise the union if it has the support of:

• A majority of the workers voting; and
• At least 40% of the workers constituting the bargaining unit

From 6 April 2026, this 40% requirement will be removed.

Provision of Information

From 6 April 2026, an employer who is notified by the CAC of an application for recognition by the union, will need to, within five working days, provide particular information about its workers in the proposed bargaining unit, namely their names, dates of birth and the category of worker to which the worker belongs. Failure to do so can result in a remedial order from the CAC and, if that is not complied with, ultimately recognition of the union.

Access to workers in proposed bargaining unit

From 6 April 2026, there is a statutory timetable for the parties to agree terms on which the union can access the workers in the proposed bargaining unit during the recognition application process.  Essentially the union is required to give notice of its wish to access the workforce within 5 working days (starting the day after it has been notified by the CAC that its application has been accepted), the parties can negotiate (with the CAC’s assistance) for up to 20 working days (which can be extended by the CAC) and after this time if no agreement is reached, the CAC may impose terms.  A failure to comply can result in union recognition being awarded (if the fault is on the part of the employer) or the application being unsuccessful (if the fault is on the part of the union).

It remains likely that a trade union seeking recognition will attempt to do so on a voluntary basis first.  However, where this cannot be agreed, these provisions make the statutory process easier for trade unions and are therefore likely to lead to more applications in the future, marking a significant change in employee relations matters.  Organisations should review their existing employee engagement processes and forums now in readiness for these changes.

Contact our employment team.