New duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union delayed until Jan 2027

As part of the Employment Rights Act reforms, employers will be required to give workers a written statement explaining their right to join a trade union. The Government has now confirmed that it expects the duty to come into force in January 2027, rather than in October 2026 as previously indicated.

Alongside delaying the implementation date, the Government have also published their response to the public consultation on this change. Key points:

• There will be a standardised statement for employers to issue, set out in regulations. No amendments will be allowed, save where specific workplace information is added.
• The written statement will need to include a brief explanation of union functions, a list of and information on recognised trade unions and/or statutory access agreements (where applicable) and a summary of statutory rights.
• Employers must also either include a link to the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions within the statement or provide a copy of the list alongside the statement.
• For new workers, the statement will need to be provided directly at the same time as their written statement of particulars.
• For existing workers, the statement can be delivered directly or indirectly – but must be reasonably accessible.
• Where existing workers are informed directly, this must be repeated annually by 5th April.
• Where indirect methods are used, the employer needs to make sure the statement remains continuously available – and issue an annual reminder of where to find it. If the location of the statement ever changes then employers need to inform workers of this directly.
• Where there is a change to the identity of recognised unions or statutory access agreements, the statement will be required to be reissued within one month of the change.

The government’s updated timeline and links to consultations and Government responses can be found here.

The TUC response to the consultation can be found here.