Key changes to Trade Union legislation coming soon
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Welcome to our latest article in our series on the Employment Rights Act (ERA). Since the Bill received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, we will now be referring to it as the ERA or the Act, as opposed to the previous Employment Rights Bill.
Over the coming months, we’ll unpack key changes, timelines, and practical steps your HR or leadership team in a school or multi-academy trust (MAT) should take now to be ready. In this post, we explain the imminent changes to trade union legislation.
What Has Already Changed?
Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) rules for strikes were repealed immediately.
The ERA set out that it would repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (‘the Strikes Act’) on Royal Assent. The Strikes Act currently allows the Secretary of State to make Minimum Service Levels (‘MSLs’) for strikes in ‘relevant services’ in several areas, including the field of education (although no minimum levels were ever actually in force in the education sector).
There will no longer be MSLs or any related powers or regulations.
What Further Changes Will Take Effect
There are several union/industrial-action changes which will take effect on 18th February, two months after Royal Assent.
- Notice to commence industrial action will drop from 14 to 10 days. From 1 March 2017, the Trade Union Act 2016 (‘the 2016 Act’) increased the minimum period of notice for the commencement of industrial action from 7 days to 14 days. Following consultation, the government stated it would provide for a ten-day notice period, leaving less time for employers to negotiate a stay of industrial action and/or put in place arrangements to reduce the impact of industrial action.
- Ballot voting paper content has been simplified. Those entitled to vote where the additional balloting rules on important public services apply will no longer have to be told whether the number of people voting ‘yes’ was at least 40% of the number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot.
- Notices of industrial action have been simplified. The Act will remove the requirement for a trade union to disclose the number of employees in each category that are expected to take part in the action.
- Additional information requirements for voting papers introduced by the 2016 Act will be removed. As a result, a trade union will be required to ask its members on the ballot paper which type of industrial action they want to take part in. This will be expressed in terms of whether this is strike action or action short of a strike.
Why is this important?
Employers will have less advance time and less data to plan and to challenge. Schools / Trusts should review their processes to plan for clear communication within a ten-day window.
A strike ballot mandate will run for 12 months, which is a change from the current 6 months provided for by the 2016 Act. Once a mandate period has expired, the union must hold a new ballot for further industrial action.
Why is this important?
Schools / Trusts should be mindful that disputes can span a longer period without re-balloting and build longer negotiation and resourcing assumptions.
The 2016 Act ballot threshold and support requirements for industrial action to be lawful have been repealed and replaced as follows:
- Standard industrial action: The minimum 50% turnout requirement of all eligible members has been removed and replaced with a simple majority, and no minimum turnout threshold is required.
- Important Public Services: The requirement for a 50% minimum turnout and 40% support threshold in favour of action has been removed. This has been replaced with a simple majority of those turning up voting in favour of industrial action.
Why is this important?
The threshold and support requirements for industrial action have been significantly reduced. The result is that a positive vote in favour of industrial action could be achieved on a very low turnout.
- The 2016 Act’s picket supervisor requirements (such as named supervisor, armbands and letters) have been repealed.
Why is this important?
Employers should update strike-day protocols-don’t insist on 2016 Act picket formalities as a condition for lawful picketing. There should be a focus on safety, access and respectful conduct, not technicalities.
Dismissal for taking part in industrial action has become 'automatically unfair'. Protection against dismissal for taking industrial action will extend for the whole period of protected industrial action (removing the 12-week limit).
Currently, an employee taking protected industrial action may bring a claim for unfair dismissal, and the dismissal will be regarded as automatically unfair, where both of the following apply:
- The reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is that the employee took protected industrial action.
- One of the following applies to the dismissal:
- the date of the employee’s dismissal fell within the ‘protected period’ (usually the 12 weeks starting with the day the employee first took part in the industrial action);
- the date of the employee’s dismissal is after the end of the protected period, and the employee had stopped taking protected industrial action before the end of the protected period; or
- the date of the employee’s dismissal is after the end of the protected period, the employee had not stopped taking protected industrial action before the end of the protected period, and the employer had not taken reasonable steps to resolve the dispute to which the protected industrial action related.
Why is this important?
The ERA has removed the additional provisions (including the protected period and the requirement for an employer to take reasonable steps). This will mean that protection will be provided both for the full duration of an official, lawful strike and after that strike has concluded: an employee will be automatically unfairly dismissed where the reason (or, if more than one, the principal reason) for the dismissal is that the employee took such protected industrial action.
Employers will lose the option of waiting out the 12-week protection period to bring disputes to a head, which shifts the balance towards negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. Any dismissal connected with lawful industrial action - even after many months - will be automatically unfair. Employees do not need the current two years’ qualifying service to bring such a claim.
What action should you be taking?
In summary, it will be easier to pass strike ballots, shorter notice will be required, and there will be stronger protections for strikers.
There are several things that Schools / Colleges should do now to prepare:
- Adapt your strike-readiness timeline from 14 to 10 days.
- Expect less data in union notices. Build contingency using ranges and scenarios rather than precise headcounts, and improve real-time attendance monitoring.
- Plan for longer mandates. Assume a dispute can run for 12 months without a re-ballot; budget and resource accordingly, and keep negotiation channels open.
- Be mindful of the increased dismissal protection for industrial action.
There will be more trade union changes coming in April 2026, so look out for these areas below in our future articles:
- simplifying how a trade union can gain recognition in a workplace
- allowing trade union members to vote electronically
How Judicium Can Help You
As always, we're here to support you with any individual staff matters that may arise in relation to trade unions and industrial action. We offer a bespoke service which falls outside the remit of the ELHR Advisory service.
This additional bolt-on service provides clients with a dedicated consultant who can deliver ad-hoc advisory support and/or bespoke project support in many areas of Labour Relations. This can include bespoke advice, guidance and attendance at meetings where required.
We can give clients the understanding, confidence and most importantly, the strategy to manage their trade union relationships in the way that’s right for their organisation. Our approach will be guided by common sense and pragmatism, blended with a thorough understanding of the relevant law.
We can offer advice on the following:
- Union recognition, whether that is voluntary, compulsory through the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) or through TUPE transfer
- Union derecognition via Central Arbitration Committee (CAC)
- Collective Bargaining, including pay negotiations, collective agreements and understanding union bargaining units
- Industrial action and disputes
- Trade union time off, facility time reporting and managing trade union reps
- The rights of Trade Unions, reps and the right to be accompanied
- When to inform, when to consult, when to negotiate
- Union subscriptions and membership
- Advice on Trade Union Legislation (TU Act 2016, ICE 2004 & TULCRA 92)
When it comes to non-contentious matters, we can support clients on an ad-hoc ‘as and when required’ basis.
When it comes to contentious matters, we can be a central player, via our client's management team, and provide targeted support. We will initially advise on strategies to assist our client in adopting the right approach in all circumstances. Thereafter, we will support in ensuring that all further actions are in the furtherance of the agreed strategy. Such support can include attendance at internal management, staff and/or union meetings, working to develop a social media strategy, assisting in the drafting of MP letters, press releases and/or parent/student communications, and advising on picket line issues.
To find out more, please contact labourrelations@judicium.com
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Get In Touch...
The Employment Rights Act represents a major shift in employment law. Most changes are not immediate, but schools/trusts that prepare now will be better placed to manage risk, control costs, and maintain positive staff relations.
We will continue to send out regular updates on the different aspects of the Act to keep you informed of the changes. Watch out for more updates in the new year, which will focus on forthcoming changes and how you can prepare.
Subscribe here to keep informed of the proposed changes and how best to prepare for them. Our team are also here to help our clients review policies, train managers, and prepare for the new landscape.
As always, we're here to support you with any questions you may have in relation to the Employment Rights Bill. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the usual channels if you need advice or assistance.
You can find information regarding our Employment Law and HR service here.
If you require any support in any of these steps or would like to talk to someone about some support for your school, please do not hesitate to call us on 0345 548 7000 or email enquiries@judicium.com.
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