The Protection Against Detriment (Industrial Action) Regulations 2026 are due to come into force on 30 October 2026, after the draft instrument was laid on 24 June, approved by the Commons on 7 September and approved by the Lords on 14 October. In practical terms, the measure brings into effect a new statutory protection for workers in Great Britain against employer detriment linked to protected industrial action. (statutoryinstruments.parliament.uk)
The legal mechanism is narrow but significant. Section 76 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 inserted section 236A into the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, giving workers a right not to suffer detriment of a prescribed description where the sole or main purpose is to prevent, deter or penalise protected industrial action. These Regulations use that power to prescribe the broadest category available: any detriment. (legislation.gov.uk)
The policy answer follows the Supreme Court’s judgment in Secretary of State for Business and Trade v Mercer. The Court made a declaration of incompatibility because domestic law failed to provide protection against sanctions short of dismissal for taking lawful strike action, while the government’s later options assessment stated that dismissal was already dealt with elsewhere in statute and that the remaining gap concerned detriment short of dismissal. (supremecourt.uk)
What counts as detriment is not itemised in the instrument, and that is deliberate. Official guidance on business.gov.uk gives concrete examples that may now fall within the new protection, including bullying or harassment, refusal of training without good reason, being passed over for promotion or development, or a reduction in hours without good reason, provided the sole or main purpose is to penalise, prevent or deter protected industrial action. (business.gov.uk)
There is, however, a clear limit. Government guidance and the department’s options assessment both state that employers may still withhold pay for time spent on strike, and the consultation material made clear that ordinary deductions from pay for industrial action were not intended to be treated as detriment for these purposes. The protection is therefore aimed at retaliatory workplace treatment, not at preserving pay during strike hours. (business.gov.uk)
Enforcement will sit with the employment tribunal system. Section 236A allows a worker or former worker to bring a complaint that they have been subjected to unlawful detriment, and regulation 5 adds section 236A to Schedule A2 of the 1992 Act so that section 207A can apply in relevant cases. Under section 207A, where an applicable code of practice has been unreasonably ignored, a tribunal may adjust an award by up to 25%. (legislation.gov.uk)
For employers, the immediate compliance issue is not whether strike pay may be deducted, but whether later decisions on shifts, progression, training, discipline or day-to-day treatment could be read as retaliation for lawful industrial action. For unions, HR teams and line managers, the new rule means that records, reasons and internal communications around post-strike decisions will matter more from 30 October 2026, because the statutory test turns on purpose and applies only to protected industrial action in England, Wales and Scotland. That is an inference from the breadth of the ban and the official guidance, rather than wording set out expressly in the instrument itself. (business.gov.uk)