Ministers have confirmed a short statutory instrument - the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Minimum Service Levels) (Consequential Revocation) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/42) - that revokes the Code of Practice on Reasonable Steps. The instrument was made on 19 January 2026, laid before Parliament on 21 January 2026, and takes effect on 6 April 2026 across England, Scotland and Wales. It is signed by Kate Dearden, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade. (gov.uk)
The Code being revoked is the Code of Practice on Reasonable Steps to be taken by a Trade Union (minimum service levels), issued under sections 203 and 204 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. It came into force on 8 December 2023 via the Code of Practice (Reasonable Steps for Trade Unions) Order 2023 (S.I. 2023/1333). (legislation.gov.uk)
The move is consequential on section 78 of the Employment Rights Act 2025, which repealed the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and removed sections 234B to 234G from the 1992 Act. In practice, this dismantled the statutory minimum service levels framework and the associated work notice regime. (legislation.gov.uk)
The former duty on trade unions to take “reasonable steps” to ensure named members complied with work notices - set out in section 234E of the 1992 Act - no longer applies following the repeal. The Department for Business and Trade has already signalled the Code’s withdrawal. (legislation.gov.uk)
Timing is important. The primary repeal took effect when the Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. The Code’s formal revocation will occur on 6 April 2026, providing a clear end‑date for any references to it in employer or union materials. The GOV.UK page for the Code was flagged in December 2025 as “in the process of being withdrawn” to reflect the repeal. (legislation.gov.uk)
Other industrial action changes in the Act arrive sooner. Government guidance confirms that from 18 February 2026 there is no requirement to appoint a picketing supervisor (section 75), and protection from unfair dismissal during protected action is no longer limited by a 12‑week period (section 77), subject to transitional provisions. (gov.uk)
For employers, operations revert to pre‑MSL arrangements. Without minimum service regulations and work notices, compelling named staff to work via that mechanism is no longer available. Contingency and communications plans should be updated, while standard balloting and notice requirements in the 1992 Act continue to apply and are unaffected by this instrument. (legislation.gov.uk)
In sectors where minimum service regulations were previously made, those rules no longer operate. For example, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Border Security) Regulations 2023 were made under the now‑repealed powers; the government previously indicated that such regulations would lapse once the Employment Rights Bill secured Royal Assent. (legislation.gov.uk)
The instrument extends to Great Britain. The 2023 Act did not apply in Northern Ireland, and no change is made to the separate industrial relations framework there. (legislation.gov.uk)
The Explanatory Note to S.I. 2026/42 records that no impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. In effect, this is a tidying measure that removes an obsolete Code following primary‑legislation repeal.