The new trade union rights introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 will come into force on 18 February 2026. These changes are expected to make strikes easier to organise and will extend protections for striking workers. Monica Atwal comments on the implications of these reforms in People Management magazine.
Read full Article – People Management
Under the reforms, much of the Trade Union Act 2016 will be repealed, making it simpler for unions to trigger industrial action.
The legislation will reduce the notice period for strikes from 14 days to 10 and remove the 40 per cent support requirement for industrial ballots in six public services – fire, health, education, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning sectors.
Industrial action notices are also set to be simplified, with the legislation reducing the amount of information unions must include. Ballots approving strike action will have a 12-month mandate, an increase from the current six months.
The government said the changes would remove “unnecessary restrictions and red tape” on union activity.
Automatic protection from unfair dismissal for employees undertaking industrial action will no longer be limited to a 12-week period of entitlement. This means employees will be legally protected regardless of how long they strike for.
Monica Atwal, managing partner at Clarkslegal, said the changes “mark a shift in the balance of industrial power”.
“By lowering the procedural hurdles for unions to organise industrial action, employers will face industrial action that is both easier to trigger and harder to plan around,” she added.
Read full Article – People Management
Monica Atwal, managing partner at Clarkslegal, said the changes “mark a shift in the balance of industrial power”.
