Trade unions have new rights to access your workforce and collectively bargain: are you ready?

 

New trade union rights in the ERA 2025 (ERA) will have a significant impact on the care sector and  fundamentally reshape your workforce strategy.

From October 2026, trade unions will have new statutory rights to request physical and digital access to your workforce for the purposes of representation, recruitment of members, and to facilitate future collective bargaining.  The aim is to give trade unions a foot in the door to enable them to secure formal recognition with your organisation so that they can collectively bargain on behalf of workers over pay and terms and conditions (in addition to their sectoral collective bargaining through the Fair Pay Agreement process).

Trade unions are already actively approaching care providers and requesting access and formal recognition to collectively bargain. As expected the largest providers are being prioritised at a national level but regional trade union representatives are also approaching small and medium sized providers in their area.  

It is imperative that you are prepared for an approach so that you are adequately equipped to respond in a strategic and planned manner that is in your organisation’s interests. With limited deadlines to respond, being on the backfoot will be detrimental and any decisions you make will likely have a long term impact.

Careful consideration is required as to how you will respond to an access request, which trade union you may (or may not) wish to grant access to, what the terms of any access agreement may be, and whether you wish to go further and formally recognise a union and commit to inform and consult and collectively bargain with them.  If you don’t agree voluntarily, unions will have the right to make a statutory application for access to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), which needs to be factored into your strategic thinking. 

If you refuse a request for voluntary recognition, and the union has sufficient support amongst the workforce, it could apply for statutory recognition to the CAC, which if successful would require you to collectively bargain with the union.  The ERA has reduced the thresholds for unions to obtain statutory recognition. Currently 10% of the bargaining unit must be trade union members but the ERA provides for this to be reduced to just 2%. If a ballot on recognition is required, only a majority of those voting now need to be in favour of recognition, rather than a majority of those in the bargaining unit. These changes (introduced in April) make it much simpler for unions to obtain statutory recognition.    

For providers, the practical impact will extend beyond negotiations over pay and terms and conditions. Greater union activity is likely to increase HR, compliance and management demands, especially for organisations with limited experience of collective bargaining.   

Providers should decide their approach to union access and recognition, research the unions and representatives active in their area, strengthen employee communication channels, train HR and senior leaders, seek legal advice on access and recognition agreements, and ensure the terms of any such agreements are negotiated effectively to meet organisational requirements.

Key takeways

  • Receiving an access or recognition request from a trade union is a matter of when, not if.

  • If you operate multiple locations, you are at risk of receiving multiple applications from different trade unions. You need to actively plan how to manage this.

  • There are limited grounds for rejecting a statutory access request and thresholds for statutory recognition have been reduced. This makes it easier for trade unions to secure access and recognition.

  • Strategic planning is required now. Legal advice from sector specialists can support this and is recommended before responding to access or recognition agreements.

  • If you enter access or recognition agreements, there will be various operational, people, legal and management considerations to consider to ensure that the arrangements work well in practice and a positive and constructive relationship with the trade union can be maintained.

RWK Goodman are partnering with many care providers to guide them through this significant period of transformation and can provide practical experience as well as legal guidance to support you.

 
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