Labour’s plans for industrial relations reform

Posted: 07/03/2025

The government has committed to both resetting and modernising the UK’s industrial relations framework. To set about achieving this, in the autumn of 2024 it ran a public consultation: ‘Making Work Pay: creating a modern framework for industrial relations’. On 4 March 2025, the government published its response to the consultation. The response is detailed; however, headlines for employers are:

Recognition process – unfair practices

The government will extend the application of provisions and the code of practice on access and unfair practices during recognition and derecognition ballots to cover the entire recognition process.

Within 10 working days of a statutory application being submitted, employers will be obliged to disclose the number of workers in a proposed bargaining unit. Employers would then be prevented from altering that number in relation to statutory recognition applications, preventing the employer from diluting union membership within the bargaining unit and defeating a recognition request. While an employer will be free to recruit more staff following the date on which the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) receives the union’s recognition application, these new staff will not count towards the number in the bargaining unit for the purposes of the recognition process and will not be entitled to vote in any subsequent recognition ballot.

There will be a maximum of 20 working days for an access agreement to be agreed and brought forward to the point where the CAC accepts the union’s recognition application. If no agreement can be reached, the CAC will resolve and issue an order requiring access to the workforce.

It will be easier for unions to bring successful cases where an unfair practice has occurred (as unions will only need to show to the CAC that the unfair practice has occurred and no longer need to show how it influenced workers’ votes).

The time limit for a complaint against an unfair practice will be extended until after the closure of the ballot. It will remain the case that unfair practices claims cannot be made once the parties know the ballot outcome.

Independent unions will be able to apply for recognition where an employer has voluntarily recognised a non-independent union, following receipt of a formal request for voluntary recognition by the independent union.

Right of access

‘Supporting a trade union member with an employment-related matter’ will become an access purpose/principle.

It will be possible to agree an access agreement covering solely digital access. Further detail on what virtual access entails, such as its definition and the functions it would cover will be set out in secondary legislation.

Strikes

The government will repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

Industrial action mandate – threshold

The government will repeal the 40% support threshold in the Trade Union Act 2016, and the 50% industrial action ballot turnout threshold, with effect from a date to be specified in regulations. The intention is that the removal of thresholds will be aligned with the introduction of e-balloting.

Simplifying industrial action notices

The government will reduce the information unions are required to provide employers in notices of industrial action. This will remove the requirement for a trade union to disclose the number of employees in each category that are expected to take part in the action, and will lead to a divergence in the information requirements for ballot (section 226A) and industrial action (section 234A) notices. The continued requirement for certain information (under section 234A) is justified by the greater importance of more detailed information to the employer at the point when industrial action is called, as opposed to merely being a potential outcome of a ballot.

The government will update the code of practice on industrial action ballots and notice to employers to recommend that email is used instead of first-class post, where possible.

Notice to employers

The notice period for industrial action will be extended from seven to 10 days, in order to allow employers to plan to mitigate the impact of industrial action, and reduce disruption and the knock-on impacts of strikes, while still respecting the right to strike.

Industrial action mandate

The government will extend the expiration date of a trade union’s legal mandate for industrial action from six to 12 months. There will not be any option for an employer and trade union to agree to an extension of the mandate beyond the 12-month period.

In summary

It is clear that the government’s proposals will have far-reaching consequences for many employers, not only those who are experienced in trade union matters, but also others who may face the possibility of union recognition for the first time. The industrial relations team will continue to monitor and report on these proposals as they take further shape over the upcoming months, as well as on the government’s further plans to consult on:

• lowering the admissibility requirements for the statutory trade union recognition ballot process;
• introducing secondary legislation that ensures that union members and workers can access a union at work;
• introducing greater rights and protections for trade union reps to undertake their work, strengthening protections against detriment and protecting union members from intimidation, harassment, threats, and blacklisting; and
• rolling out e-balloting and workplace balloting for trade union ballots.

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