Under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (the Act), employers will have a new obligation to give workers a written statement advising them that they have the right to join a trade union. According to the Government’s updated implementation timeline, this new duty will take effect from 1 January 2027 (postponed from 30 October 2026).

The Government has not yet published the exact wording of the standardised statement that employers will need to issue to workers. However, the Government’s consultation response (published on 25 September 2026) and section 58 of the Act provide useful insights on what compliance with this new duty will look like.

Below, we outline key points employers need to know.

What information will the written statement include?

According to its executive summary, the Government will provide, as part of regulations, a standardised statement that employers will need to issue to workers. This written statement will provide clear, neutral information on the right to join a trade union. It will include a brief explanation of the function of a trade union, details of any trade unions which are recognised by the employer and/or relevant statutory access agreements, and a summary of the worker’s statutory rights in relation to union membership. (Note that the consultation response indicates that, in the case of recognised unions, employers will need to include additional workplace specific factual information such as the applicable staff group, grade and workplace location represented by the recognised union, which could raise issues for employers with multiple sites and/or different individual recognition arrangements).

Employers will not be able to amend the standardised statement except to add specific workplace information. When issuing the statement to workers, employers will also need to include a link to (or copy of) the Certification Officer’s list of trade unions.

When and how must the statement be given to workers?

Employers will need to issue the statement to both new and existing workers, as follows:

  • New workers

    From 1 January 2027, employers will need to provide the written statement directly to all new workers at the same time as providing workers with their section 1 statement of employment particulars. The employer might do this via email, delivery in person or post.
     
  • Existing workers

    By 5 April 2027, employers will need to give the written statement to any workers who were already employed by them on 1 January 2027 (when the duty comes into force) and who remain employed on 5 April 2027. The employer will be able to do this either directly by giving the statement to the worker, or indirectly by making the statement continuously available to the worker (for example, on the company intranet or noticeboards).

If the employer chooses to deliver the statement to existing workers via a direct method, it will need to reissue the statement on an annual basis (i.e. by 5 April in the following year and annually thereafter).

If the employer chooses to provide the statement to existing workers via an indirect method, the information will need to remain continuously and reasonably accessible to workers, and the employer will need to issue an annual reminder by 5 April that the statement is available and where to find it. If the written statement is made available to existing workers indirectly and its location changes, the employer will need to tell workers about the new location within one month.

Note too that, if there is a change in the identity of the recognised trade union(s) or union(s) with a statutory access agreement at the workplace, the employer will be required to provide an updated statement within one month of the change taking effect.

Other points to note

This new duty will apply to all employers in relation to all “workers” - not just “employees” - who are based in Great Britain (those employed outside Great Britain will be exempt).

Failure to provide a statement will be addressed in the same way that failure to provide a section 1 statement is addressed currently (i.e. a worker will not be able to bring a standalone employment tribunal claim for a breach of this right, but if they succeed in another claim, they may be awarded an additional payment of between two and four weeks’ capped pay).

Next steps

Employers cannot yet draft the written statement, as the Government intends to publish the standardised wording in due course. (We are expecting that regulations may be laid before Parliament in November 2026 and that non-statutory guidance will be published in 2027.) That said, now is a good time to consider where you will host your written statement when the wording is known. It is also worth taking stock of the communications you typically send to new recruits when they join your organisation, and of any annual reminders you send to existing workers (for example, perhaps about employee forums). You will need to consider how these will sit alongside the new written statement about a worker’s right to join a union once the new duty takes effect.

It is also worth taking steps to understand which groups of workers and/or workplace locations are covered by any recognition agreement(s) your organisation has in place currently. In our experience, where an organisation has had a long-standing union relationship (or multiple), the relevant agreements can have been lost and/or evolved over time. This could also be relevant in relation to the new rules on trade union rights of access which took effect from 30 October 2026 (see New trade union access rights: key points employers need to know for further details).

How we can help

With so many Employment Rights Act changes on the horizon (see our Knowledge Base for information on the key reforms), it is worth taking steps now to prepare your managers and HR team for the changes that lie ahead.

If you are a Make UK subscriber, you can speak to your regular adviser for guidance and access information (including template policies and drafting guidance) our HR & Legal Resources.

Our HR consultancy team also has a wealth of experience in this area (see Prepare your business for new trade union access rights and Working Successfully With Trade Unions for further details).

If you are not a Make UK subscriber, you can contact us for further support. Please click here for information on how we can help your business.