Trade Unions and Industrial Action
Minimum service level rules for strikes – now removed
Rules around ‘minimum service levels’ for strikes were removed on 18 December 2025. These rules were about keeping services running when there’s a strike.
February 2026 changes
These changes will happen on 18 February 2026.
Increased dismissal protection for industrial action
Dismissal for taking part in industrial action will become ‘automatically unfair’. This will remove the current 12-week limit on protection for claiming unfair dismissal – after which an employer could previously have dismissed striking union members. This will change on 18 February 2026 in relation to strike action taken after that date.
Trade union activity
These changes will happen on 18 February 2026:
- the time needed for a union to give notice of taking industrial action will reduce to 10 days, instead of 14 days
- unions will only need more votes in support of industrial action than against – the extra rules for public sector employment will also be removed
- picket supervisors will no longer be required
- industrial action mandates will last for 12 months, instead of 6 months
- industrial action and ballot notices will be simplified
- political fund rules will change – members will be presumed to have agreed to contributing to union political funds unless they opt out.
Collective redundancy protective award increased
Employers failing to consult a recognised union when more than 20 employees are to be made redundant in a 90 day period will be penalised by an Employment Tribunal (ET) awarding every employee affected (not just union members or those with two years’ service) a ‘protective award’ of full pay for a prescribed period. This is in addition to a Statutory Redundancy Payment if the employee qualifies – based on age, length of service and the amount of a week’s pay (currently capped at £719 pw).
For employees made redundant on or after 6 April 2026 the maximum ‘protective award’ for failure to consult in a collective redundancy will double from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay.
April 2026 changes
These changes will happen on 6 April 2026:
1. Simplified statutory recognition process
- The statutory procedure for a trade union to be recognised for collective bargaining will be made easier.
- The required percentage of workers in a bargaining unit who must be union members before the union can apply for statutory recognition will be lowered. Regulations will set this figure somewhere between 2 % and 10 % (down from the current 10 %).
2. Removal of support requirements at ballot stage
- The current requirement that at least 40 % of eligible workers in the bargaining unit must vote in favour in a recognition ballot will be removed.
- In the future, unions will generally only need a simple majority of votes cast in a ballot for recognition.
3. Electronic balloting introduced
- Electronic voting for statutory union recognition ballots is expected to be permitted from April 2026, modernising the voting process and potentially increasing participation.
4. Employer responsibilities once recognition proceedings begin
- Employers will face restrictions on unfair practices once the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) accepts a union’s application — for example, limits on the employer altering the composition of a proposed bargaining unit.
The requirement for a 50% turnout for industrial action ballots will be removed. This is expected to happen some time in April, shortly after the changes to electronic voting.
October 2026 changes
Important: In most cases, how these changes will precisely be implemented is subject to government consultations.
Dismissal and rehire
Dismissing someone then rehiring them on worse terms and conditions will become an automatically unfair dismissal in most cases. This is sometimes known as ‘fire and rehire’. This will change in October 2026.
The only limited exception to this change will be if an employer can successfully argue that, if the proposed changes cannot be made to contracts of employment, the viability of the business will be in question. In that case if dismissal(s) take place, the normal rules relating to unfair dismissal will apply.
More changes to trade union rules
These trade union changes will happen in October 2026: (details to be subject to consultations by Government)
- a new duty for employers to inform workers of their right to join a trade union
- updated rules on a trade union’s right of access to the workplace
- a new right to reasonable accommodation and facilities for trade union representatives carrying out their duties
- a new right to time off for union equality representatives to carry out their duties / receive union training
- Increased protection against detriment for industrial action. Workers taking part in industrial action will be protected against detriment, in addition to unfair dismissal. ‘Detriment’ is when someone is treated less favourably by their employer.
2027 changes
Collective redundancy
These collective redundancy changes will happen in 2027:
- employers will need to consider the total number of redundancies across their whole organisation, not just individual workplaces – currently, collective redundancy rules only apply to individual workplaces. Previously some employers have divided up their organisation into smaller units of staff, thus avoiding a collective consultation obligation. This change will prevent that practice.
- increased collective redundancy protection for workers on ships that regularly operate from British ports but are registered outside Great Britain
2027 trade union changes
These trade union changes will happen in 2027:
- extending laws that protect trade union members from discrimination and being ‘blacklisted’
- a new industrial relations framework, to help employers and trade unions work together