From 30 October 2026, qualifying trade unions will have a new statutory right to request physical and digital access to your workplace and workforce for purposes including recruitment, organisation and collective bargaining. The government has now published its response to the consultation on the new statutory Code of Practice, alongside a revised draft Code and accompanying regulations, confirming how the regime will work in practice.
How will the new right of access work?
The new framework will allow an independent trade union to make a formal request for access to a workplace to meet, represent, recruit or organise workers, facilitate collective bargaining or communicate with workers in connection with those purposes.
Access may be physical, such as through meetings between union officials and workers at the workplace, or digital. Employers with remote, hybrid or geographically dispersed workforces will therefore also need to get to grips with the requirements.
A union will need to submit a formal access request containing prescribed information, including the purpose of the request, the workers to whom access is sought and the proposed form and frequency of access. The employer will have 15 working days to respond. If it does not agree to the request in full, it will need to identify the areas of disagreement and explain its reasons. The parties will then have a further opportunity to negotiate the proposed arrangements.
Unions will not have an unrestricted right to enter workplaces or contact workers. Instead, the legislation creates a framework within which the parties are expected to seek to agree reasonable arrangements. The Code recognises that arrangements may need to take account of matters such as the location, timing and duration of access, working patterns, health and safety, security and confidentiality, digital communication methods and the need to minimise disruption to the employer’s operations.
What happens if parties cannot agree?
Where agreement cannot be reached, the dispute may be referred to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC will be able to determine the terms on which access should take place. It will also have a role in considering complaints where a union or employer fails to comply with an access agreement or determination.
The enforcement framework includes financial penalties of up to £75,000 for a first breach of an access agreement and up to £500,000 for repeated breaches. The revised Code gives further guidance on how the CAC will assess the seriousness of a breach and distinguishes between more serious or deliberate non-compliance and lower-level breaches.
Changes following consultation
The government has made several changes to the draft Code following consultation.
These include further clarification on how unions should make, and employers respond to, access requests and confirmation that minor administrative errors should not in themselves invalidate a request.
The revised Code also provides additional guidance on:
- where and when access should take place;
- workers with irregular or non-standard working patterns;
- workplaces which the employer does not control;
- digital access;
- financial penalties; and
- the standard forms and templates used under the regime.
The additional guidance on digital access is likely to be particularly relevant for employers whose workforces communicate through email, intranets or workplace messaging platforms. Requests for digital access may raise practical questions around data protection, cybersecurity, confidentiality and acceptable use policies. Physical access may similarly require particular arrangements where workplaces contain sensitive information, restricted areas or specific health and safety risks.
Practical considerations for employers
There are several practical steps you can take now to prepare for the new right of access regime:
- Handling an access request: Identify who will be responsible for receiving and responding to any access requests and who will have authority to negotiate access arrangements.
- Map your workforce: Consider what forms of physical and digital access you could accommodate across different parts of the workforce, particularly where workers work remotely, work shifts or work from premises controlled by third parties. Understanding these variations will help you respond to requests more quickly and propose workable arrangements.
- Review your existing agreements: Check whether you need to update current recognition agreements, collective bargaining arrangements or facilities agreements. The new statutory framework may overlap with or supplement existing arrangements, so it is worth understanding how they interact. If you already have informal access arrangements with a union, consider whether you should formalise them.
- Audit digital platforms: Assess whether union access to email, intranet or workplace messaging platforms raises data protection, cybersecurity or acceptable use concerns. Consider what safeguards you may need to put in place, such as limiting access to specific channels, requiring messages to be clearly identified as union communications, or ensuring that the union handles contact lists in compliance with GDPR. Involve your IT and data protection teams early.
- Identify sensitive areas: Consider whether any parts of your workplace contain confidential information, restricted areas or specific health and safety risks. You may need to plan physical access to avoid disruption to operations or exposure of commercially sensitive material. Document these areas in advance so you can explain any restrictions clearly if you receive a request.
- Prepare template responses: Consider drafting standard responses for different types of access request to ensure consistency and help meet statutory timescales. Templates can cover full agreement, partial agreement with proposed modifications or requests for further information. Having these ready will reduce the risk of missing the 15-working-day deadline.
- Establish an internal process: A clear procedure for handling requests will help you respond promptly and flag any operational, confidentiality, security or health and safety issues at an early stage. The process should set out who receives requests, who has decision-making authority, what internal consultations are necessary and how you document responses.
How the new regime affects your organisation will depend on your particular workplace(s) and workforce. With the 30 October 2026 implementation date fast approaching, now is a good time to review your arrangements and identify any gaps.
