UK Labor Law Quarterly Update - September 2026

Welcome to our September UK labor law quarterly update. This edition contains the following content:

News round-up

• Electronic balloting for certain statutory trade union ballots: effective 25 August 2026

• Right of trade union access, protection from detriment for taking part in industrial action, and information about right to join a trade union: effective 30 October 2026

UK labor case law

• Protected trade union activities: employee’s unfair dismissal appeal dismissed

• Collective agreements: subsequent collective agreement expressly incorporated into employees’ contracts can vary individual terms to employees’ detriment

Eversheds Sutherland labor law podcasts, events and training

• The Labor Exchange podcast: Right of Access 
  Listen on: Twenty Three, Apple or Spotify 

• UK trade union access and recognition rights webinar, 28 September 2026, 11.30am – 12.30pm

• Our 23rd Annual Labor relations conference: Turning legal change into workplace reality, 8 October 2026, 10.00am - 4.00pm, London

• Industrial relations masterclass training course, 18 November 2026, 9.30am - 4.30pm, London

News round-up

Electronic balloting for certain statutory trade union ballots: effective 25 August 2026

Previously, most statutory trade union ballots were only permitted to be conducted by post. Effective 25 August 2026, the Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 introduces the option of electronic balloting for certain statutory union ballots – ballots on industrial action, union political funds, amalgamations, transfers of engagements between unions, and union elections. Workplace balloting also became an option for industrial action ballots with the employer’s consent.

A Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Balloting for Statutory Trade Union Ballots also came into force on 25 August 2026 providing practical guidance to independent scrutineers and trade unions when using electronic and workplace balloting methods, including guidance on their cybersecurity, voter authentication, ballot secrecy, audit trails and record keeping obligations. The code does not impose any legal obligations, however a court or tribunal is entitled to take its provisions into account in relevant proceedings.

Electronic balloting for the statutory recognition procedure is expected in 2027.

Right of trade union access, protection from detriment for taking part in industrial action, and duty to inform workers of right to join a trade union: effective 30 October 2026

The government has confirmed that the next tranche of trade union and labor law reforms, which will apply in England, Wales and Scotland (but not Northern Ireland) is expected to come into force on 30 October 2026:

Rights of trade union access: trade unions will benefit from a new statutory right of access, both physically and digitally, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The scope of the right is broad including for the purposes of meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting, or organising workers, and facilitating collective bargaining (but not for organising industrial action). The right will be enforced by the Central Arbitration Committee with penalties on a sliding scale from £75,000 (for first breach) to £150,000 (for second breach) to £500,000 (for third and further breaches) after an initial proven breach. Employers, both unionised and un-unionised, should start preparing for this significant workplace change now. Once a request has been made, the presumption is that access will be granted and there will only be very limited circumstances where an employer can refuse access entirely. For further information, see our [podcast].

Protection from detriment for taking part in industrial action: workers will have the right not to be subjected to detriments by their employer, with the sole or main purpose of preventing or deterring them from taking part in protected industrial action, or penalising them for doing so. The protection will apply to all detriments, except for the deduction of proportionate pay on account of the worker having taken part in industrial action.

Duty to inform workers of right to join a trade union: employers will be subject to a new obligation to inform workers of their right to join a trade union at the same time as they provide their written statement of employment particulars, and at regular intervals during employment. The duty is currently expected to come into force on 30 October. However, the regulations required to bring it into effect have not yet been laid before Parliament. Based on the consultation proposals, it is anticipated that the Government will produce a standard document which employers must provide alongside, and at the same time as, employment contracts, rather than incorporating the information into the contracts themselves. Employers will also be required to provide this information periodically throughout employment. However, the method of doing so, whether by reissuing the information, displaying it permanently on workplace noticeboards, or maintaining a display supplemented by periodic reminders, and the frequency with which it must be provided, will not be known until the regulations are finalised. In the meantime, employers should review and update their onboarding processes so that any required information can be issued with employment contracts once the final requirements are confirmed.

For further information on the changes above, see our UK Employment Rights Act: trade unions and industrial relations briefing

UK labor case law

Protected trade union activities: union official’s unfair dismissal appeal dismissed

In Young v Royal Mail, an employee was dismissed for gross misconduct after he posted two abusive and threatening messages in a Communication Workers Union WhatsApp group during an industrial dispute. One message stated “F**K Royal Mail” and the other called on two named individuals to “choose sides” with a threat that “the wrong answer will result in your car being blown up…”. The employment tribunal dismissed Y’s claim for automatic unfair dismissal finding that he had been dismissed for misconduct rather than because he had taken part, or proposed to take part, in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time. 

The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed Y’s appeal. It found that the tribunal had correctly considered whether the conduct leading to Y’s dismissal should be characterised as trade union activities. The case law did not impose a freestanding threshold requiring a tribunal to consider whether the impugned conduct was ’wholly unreasonable, extraneous or malicious’ so as to be properly separable from the underlying trade union activities. The tribunal was entitled to come to the conclusion it did based on the facts as it found. The decision did not disclose any error of law.

This decision confirms that misconduct arising in the context of trade union activities is not necessarily protected from disciplinary action. Where the misconduct is genuinely separable from the underlying trade union activity, an employer may be able to rely on it as the reason for dismissal. However, employers should ensure they can clearly demonstrate that the dismissal was for the misconduct itself, rather than the employee's trade union activities, and follow a fair disciplinary process.

Collective agreements: subsequent collective agreement expressly incorporated into employees’ contracts can vary individual terms to employees’ detriment

In Crabb & Ors v TUI Airways Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that contractual permanent health insurance (PHI) benefits could be reduced by a subsequent collective agreement where the employees’ contracts of employment expressly incorporated future variations agreed with the recognised trade union. 

As a result of the increasing costs of providing a PHI scheme, the employer came to an agreement with its recognised trade union to replace their existing scheme with one offering less generous benefits, which was reflected in a revised collective agreement. The collective agreement, including any later agreed amendments, was expressly incorporated into the employees’ individual contracts of employment. The employees brought breach of contract claims against the employer which were dismissed by the High Court.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the employees’ appeal. The individual contracts of employment unequivocally imported into those contracts any terms agreed by the employer and recognised trade union, including any subsequent variations. There was nothing in the contracts that expressly qualified the kinds of variations that can apply – in particular, it did not restrict variations to those in the employees’ favour. The court also rejected the employees’ argument that a separate provision in a PHI handbook protected them against any changes made to benefits already being paid out at the date of change. Properly interpreted, that clause only qualified the employer’s unilateral right to modify the PHI scheme and did not restrict variation by collective agreement.

The decision confirms that where a collective agreement and future amendments to it are expressly incorporated into employees' contracts, subsequently agreed changes may be capable of varying contractual terms even if the changes are detrimental to employees. Although trade unions may be reluctant to agree to detrimental changes to contractual terms, this case demonstrates that collectively agreed amendments can bind employees where the contractual documentation clearly provides for this. The precise drafting of both the contract and the collective agreement will be critical.

Employment law is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and the issues set out above may not all apply in NI. For NI specific advice contact our Belfast office.