How new laws have tipped the balance back in workers' favour
Paul Deans hails a decisive recalibration of UK employment law in favour of trade unions and their members
The Employment Rights Act 2025 represents the most significant overhaul of UK employment law for a generation. It seeks to rebalance trade union and collective bargaining rights a decade after being defenestrated by the Conservative government.
The Act introduces a series of reforms aimed at simplifying processes, lowering procedural barriers, and strengthening worker protections. Among the most notable developments are the simplification of industrial action balloting, enhanced protection against unfair dismissal, substantial reforms to statutory recognition of unions and expanded rights of union access and presence within the workplace.
For industrial action, the ballot and notice requirements have been streamlined, thus reducing the potential risk of challenges by employers on technical grounds. This is complemented by the reduction in the period of notice (previously 14 days, now ten days) a union is required to give an employer before taking industrial action.
A successful ballot now gives a full-year mandate for strike action rather than the previous position of a six-month mandate. Equally significant is the strengthening of protection against unfair dismissal in the context of industrial action. Under previous legislation, employees could lose protection after a limited period (12 weeks) of participation in strikes whereas the new Act ensures that workers are protected from unfair dismissal for the full duration of lawful industrial action.
Perhaps the most transformative changes arise in relation to statutory trade union recognition through the Central Arbitration Committee. Most notably, the requirement that at least 40 per cent of all workers in the bargaining unit must vote in favour of recognition has been removed. Instead, a simple majority of those voting will now suffice.
In addition, unions are no longer required to demonstrate that there is likely to be majority support within the bargaining unit at the application stage. These reforms mark a decisive shift away from evidential and turnout-based barriers that historically hindered recognition campaigns.
In parallel, the Act introduces important progress in relation to trade union access to workplaces. Upon implementation, unions will be granted better access rights to workplaces in order to recruit and organise. In the first instance, the employer and union will seek to agree access rights. However, where these cannot be agreed, or the employer refuses access, the Central Arbitration Committee will have power to decide whether and on what terms the union should have access. Improved access rights are likely to facilitate more effective communication between unions and workers, thereby strengthening representation.
Finally, although there has been much hype about a potential ‘day one’ right to protection from unfair dismissal, it seems likely that from January 2027 new employees will only require six months’ service in order to obtain protection from unfair dismissal, rather than the current two-year qualifying period.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 marks a decisive and positive recalibration of UK employment law. By simplifying balloting procedures, strengthening unfair dismissal protections, lowering barriers to statutory recognition, and enhancing union access to workplaces, the Act significantly empowers trade unions and the workers they represent. These reforms not only modernise the legal framework but also reinforce the role of collective bargaining as a cornerstone of fair and effective employment relations in the UK.
Paul Deans is a Partner at Thompsons Scotland