Trade Union Right of Access & the Code of Practice - What You Need to Know

Introduction

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a ‘right of access’ for trade unions to workplaces. From October 2026 a trade union will be able to request a right to access a workplace to talk to its members, to recruit new members and to consult with management. This will apply to all organisations and not just those that already recognise a trade union.

The government has issued a draft Code of Practice, which sets out how this will work. Organisations will not be able to ignore a request for the right of access, doing so could result in significant fines.

In this webinar we look at what is contained in the Code of Practice and how the right of access is likely to work. We will explore how organisations need to prepare for requests for rights of access.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• What a ‘right of access’ means
• How this will work in specific organisations, such as virtual organisations
• What process should be followed when considering a request
• The role of the Central Arbitration Committee
• Thinking ahead, how to prepare for a request (or even pre-empt a request)

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 21st September 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.