Did you know that from January 2027, any independent trade union has the legal right to request access to your workplace?
Not just businesses with existing union recognition. Any business with 21 or more workers including businesses that have never had a union anywhere near them.
This is one of the most significant shifts in UK employment law in a generation, and most business owners haven’t heard of it yet.
Here’s what it means in practice.
A union can submit a formal written access request to meet, recruit, organise and represent your staff even if there’s been no union presence in your business to date. Once that request lands on your desk, you have just 15 working days to respond. If you don’t respond, or refuse without good reason, the union can refer the matter to the Central Arbitration Committee, which can impose access terms and financial penalties for non-compliance.
And here’s the part that surprises most employers.
Some of your staff may already be union members through previous roles, for example, a nurse or clinician who has joined from the NHS, a driver who was previously in a unionised logistics firm, or a graduate who joined while at university. They don’t need to tell you. And the union doesn’t need your permission to ask.
There’s one more thing. From the same date, you will also be legally required to provide every worker with a written statement informing them of their right to join a trade union. Not optional. Not discretionary. Required.
More and more employees across all sectors are joining unions. No business is immune.
✅ 3 THINGS EVERY EMPLOYER NEEDS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
1. You have 15 working days to respond to a formal access request. If you have no policy and no HR support, that window goes very fast.
2. Access isn’t just physical. Unions can also request digital access through email, intranet or online meetings, and workers attending union meetings during working time must be paid in full.
3. From 30 October you must also give every worker a written statement about their right to join a union and most employers don’t know this is coming.
At People Vision HR we help businesses understand their rights and obligations under the new access regime, respond to requests properly and put the policies in place before a letter arrives that requires an immediate response.