The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 were made at 11.15 a.m. on 6 July 2026, laid before Parliament at 4.00 p.m. the same day, and are due to come into force on 30 October 2026. Signed by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Kate Dearden for the Department for Business and Trade, the instrument sets the procedural detail for how the new workplace access regime is to operate in practice. The statutory instrument does not create the access right itself. As the instrument states, it is made under Chapter 5ZA of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, with that chapter inserted by the Employment Rights Act 2025. Its purpose is narrower but important: it tells trade unions and employers what information must be exchanged, how notices must be given, and what must be filed with the Central Arbitration Committee when an access agreement is made, changed or ended.
The Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland. That territorial point matters for employers operating across several jurisdictions, because the instrument does not apply to Northern Ireland. Regulation 2 also sets the working definitions for the regime, including the meaning of the Central Arbitration Committee, electronic communication, and the references to the parties involved in negotiating an access agreement. The explanatory note on the instrument makes clear that workplace access is intended to cover more than entry through the door of a site. Access agreements may permit union officials to enter workplaces physically, but they may also allow communication with workers by other means, including the provision of information directly or indirectly. For large employers, remote communication channels may therefore become as significant as on-site arrangements.
Regulation 3 sets out what a qualifying trade union must include when making an access request under section 70ZB(1) of the 1992 Act. The request must identify the union, include a copy of its certificate of independence, be in writing, be dated, and be sent either to the employer's registered or principal office or by electronic communication to an address provided or publicly made available by the employer. The same regulation requires a high level of operational detail. According to regulation 3, the union must name the official making the request, identify at least one official authorised to negotiate, state that the request is made under the Act, and explain the purpose of the request. It must also describe, so far as known, the workers concerned and the kind of access sought. That includes whether access is requested on one or more occasions, whether it involves physical entry, communication with workers, or both, the reasons for the request, the workplaces involved, any assistance sought from the employer, the frequency and duration proposed, and the notice period the union intends to give before each occasion of access.
For unions, the effect is to push preparation to the front of the process. A bare request will not do. The statutory design expects the union to have considered which workers it wants to reach, what form of contact is needed, how often access is proposed, and what support may be needed from the employer to make that access workable. Where physical entry is sought, the workplace description must be sufficiently clear for the employer to identify the site or sites concerned. The Regulations also make provision for repeat requests. Where a new access request is substantially the same as an earlier one, concerns the same workers, and follows a previous written agreement reached only after the end of the statutory negotiation period, the union must say so and provide the earlier agreed terms. In policy terms, that creates a shorter route where the basic shape of access has already been tested between the parties.
Regulation 4 sets the content requirements for an employer's response notice under section 70ZB(4). The notice must be in writing, dated, and sent to the contact details given for the union official who made the request. Unless the simplified repeat-request route applies, the employer must identify itself, provide contact details for the person issuing the notice, name at least one authorised negotiator, and state clearly whether it agrees or disagrees with the request in whole or in part. Where the employer agrees, regulation 4 requires more than a simple acceptance. The response must identify who would hold responsibility for access at each workplace, list the categories of workers covered and their approximate numbers, confirm or clarify the workplace location, indicate the times likely to be suitable for access, and state whether assistance can be provided. Where the employer disagrees, in whole or in part, it must specify the point of disagreement and explain why. If the refusal is based on the fact that another union has already made a substantially similar request for the same workers, the employer must confirm that position and identify the other trade union.
The Central Arbitration Committee sits in the background throughout the regime, and regulations 5 and 6 give it a formal record-keeping role. When an access agreement is reached under section 70ZD(1), the parties must notify the Committee jointly. Either side may send the notification on behalf of both, but it must be in writing, dated, signed by or on behalf of both parties, confirm that the agreement is made under the relevant statutory provision, and include a copy of the agreement itself. The same approach applies when an agreement is varied or revoked. Regulation 6 requires a written, dated and signed notification, again capable of being submitted by either party on behalf of both. In the case of a variation, the parties must identify the terms being changed and provide a copy of the agreement containing the new terms. That should reduce dispute about what was altered and when, particularly where access arrangements develop over time across several sites or worker groups.
Regulation 7 adds a formal review duty. The Secretary of State must review the Regulations, publish conclusions in a report, and assess whether the objectives have been achieved, whether they remain appropriate, and whether the same ends could be met with less regulation. The first report must be published within five years of commencement, with later reports at intervals of no more than five years. The explanatory material also states that no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. Instead, the Department for Business and Trade has prepared a de minimis assessment. That combination is notable. Ministers are treating the instrument as procedurally important but not economically heavy, even though, for employers and unions dealing with live organising activity, the administrative detail will still require careful handling.
Before 30 October 2026, the practical task for both sides is straightforward: internal templates and decision routes will need updating. Trade unions will need request forms that capture the statutory information in one place. Employers will need a reliable contact point for receiving requests, a process for identifying authorised negotiators, and a method for assembling worker categories, approximate numbers and site-level operational information quickly enough to respond within the statutory framework. Taken together, the Regulations turn a broad legislative right into a documented process. For policy professionals, the significance is less about headline rights than about administrative design. The statutory instrument shows how the Government intends workplace access to function: through written requests, reasoned responses, identifiable responsible officers, and a formal notification trail to the Central Arbitration Committee. That is likely to make early compliance discipline as important as the underlying industrial relations question.