There are big changes coming for employers as the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes the landscape for trade unions and rolls back changes made in previous years, resetting the clock on employer/union relations.
What changes are coming into force on 18th February 2026?
Let’s look more closely at what these changes might mean.
- Unions will have a 10-day notice period to inform employers of their intention to take industrial action (reduced from 14 days).
- Section 62 of the Act alters arrangements for new members joining a trade union, so they’re automatically opted in to contributing to the union’s political fund (if there is one), unless they expressly opt out.
- Section 61 of the Act removes the requirement for unions to ballot their members every 10 years on the maintenance of a political fund.
- Ballots approving industrial action will have a 12-month mandate (increased from 6 months). The mandate period is the period during which a ballot to support industrial action remains valid.
- Section 75 of the Act removes the requirement for unions to appoint a picketing supervisor to monitor picket lines.
- Section 77 of the Act removes the protected period (broadly, the first 12 weeks of industrial action) for automatic protection for employees from unfair dismissal for taking part in protected industrial action. This means that this protection applies irrespective of the length of the industrial action. However, that industrial action must have started on or after 18th February 2026.
- When issuing industrial action notices and ballot notices, unions won’t have to include as much information as they were previously required to do. From 18th February, all the union has to ask on the ballot paper is what type of industrial action they want to take part in (for example, full strike action or other options that fall short of this) However, these changes will apply only to notices, ballots and mandates that take place on or after 18th February. If they relate to dates before that, then the former legal position applies.
- Unions need a majority vote for industrial action – previously, there was a 40% threshold for in certain important public services.
- Public sector employers will no longer be required to publish facility time data. Facility time is when an employee takes time off from their normal role to carry out their duties and activities as a trade union representative.
What you need to do now
Before 18th February, you’ll need to check your policies and procedures to make sure that they’re compatible with what the law now requires.
The government has issued updated Codes of Practice detailing what’s going to happen and what you need to know. It’s a very good idea to read them, or to consult with your legal advisers to get clarity on how this will affect you.
