Trade Union Ballots - A Roundup of the Reforms

Introduction

Trade Unions carry out ballots in a number of different situations, for example, for trade union recognition and derecognition, for industrial action, for election of officials, and for mergers. The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 sets out that all such ballots must be postal. This is time consuming and can be costly.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 changes this and introduces electronic and workplace balloting. A draft Code of Practice has been issued, setting out how this will work and the changes to balloting will happen no earlier than August 2026.

Anyone who is involved with trade unions, either as part of a trade union or as an organisation which recognises a trade union, could be affected by the changes to balloting. In this webinar we explain all you need to know.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The different forms of balloting that will be allowed
• The roles of different bodies - for example, employers, trade unions and scrutineers
• Safeguards in process
• The balloting process that will be followed

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 21st August 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,400+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.