New duty to inform of right to join a trade union: more detail but slight delay

The government has published more detail on the intended form, content, and manner and frequency of delivery of this information. The duty is due to come into force on 1 January 2027 (delayed from 30 October 2026). Employers should plan now for which manner of delivery is most appropriate for their workplace.
 

Background

The duty on employers to inform employees of their right to join a trade union is one of the many new rights and duties created by the Employment Rights Act 2025. The government consulted on the details of the duty between 23 October and 18 December 2025 and has now published its responses. These will be finalised in regulations.
 

New details

• Form: There will be a standardised statement for employers to issue. (The template has not been published yet.) Employers will not be permitted to amend it, except to add specific workplace information.

• Content: The prescribed statement will contain:

  - A brief overview of the functions of a trade union.

  - Information on recognised trade unions (where applicable), including their contact details.

  - Information on trade unions with statutory access agreements (where applicable), including their contact details.

  - Information on the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions. Employers will be required either to include a link to the list within the statement or provide a copy of the list alongside it.

  - A summary of statutory rights in relation to union membership.

• Manner of delivery:

  - For new joiners, the statement will have to be delivered directly, along with the written statement of particulars that all new employees are entitled to receive. It can be provided by email, in person, or by post.

  - For existing employees, employers have a choice of providing the statement directly to each employee or indirectly. No specific types of communication are mandated.

• Frequency:

  - Initial statement: as mentioned above, new joiners will be entitled to receive the statement on joining. For existing workers, employers will have to deliver the initial statement by 5 April 2027.

  - Subsequent statements: where the employer opts to provide the statement directly, it must do so by 5 April in the year following the initial delivery, and by 5 April annually thereafter. In the case of indirect provision, the statement will have to remain reasonably accessible and employers will need to send an annual reminder about where it can be found. If the statement’s location changes, employers will have to inform employees directly in writing of the new location within one month of the change taking effect.
    

Key takeaways

Employers have approximately three months, until 1 January 2027, to prepare the practicalities of complying with this new duty for new joiners. They have slightly longer, until April 2027, for the existing workforce. Although we don’t yet have sight of the template statement or the final implementing regulations, the government’s announcement has enough information to start those preparations. We suggest two main points:

1. For the existing workforce, decide whether you will provide the required statement directly or indirectly. The government has not prescribed specific types of communication, preferring to allow employers to integrate the statement into existing workplace communication practices. (Subject to the requirement that an indirectly communicated statement remains reasonably accessible.) Whether direct or indirect, an electronic method might be the simplest choice as it would allow you simply to include the link to the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions, rather than a print-out of the list. It could also help evidence compliance.

    
   Although this is not expressly stated, we think that employers will be able to use both direct and indirect methods. For example, a direct method might be best suited to office-based staff but indirect might be better for factory-floor staff.

2. Establish governance guardrails: in short, this is about ensuring your organisation complies with the duty. At its simplest, this could be a case of designating a person(s) who is expressly responsible for ensuring that the required statement is supplied to new joiners and that the annual copies / reminders are sent in time. As mentioned above, choosing an electronic method of delivery for the statement (or the annual reminder of where it can be found) could assist in establishing compliance.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries about the new duty, and please keep an eye out for our invitation to our autumn seminar on 3 November 2026, where we will also be discussing the duty and other ERA 2025 developments.

Source: Make Work Pay: duty to inform workers of right to join a union - GOV.UK