Up until now, union activity in your workplace was an afterthought. If unions had ever approached your business, these approaches were fragmented, short-lived, and legally toothless. From 30 October 2026, the landscape is changing.
Days later, you receive correspondence from a union referencing their new right to request workplace access. In the first 24 hours, you need to decide how to respond, if at all, to the request's assertion that some of your employees are already members. The next week is spent deciding on what union access might look like, and whether it may even be enforced against your will. For months that follow, you might wrestle with compulsory recognition and collective bargaining negotiations. This wasn't part of your business's strategy. You worry about how an outside organisation may disrupt relations with your workforce.
Join us for this Nightmare Scenario session, where Robert Lewis (Employment Partner), Jon Baines (Senior Data Protection Specialist), and Luke Watkeys (HR Consultant, Compose HR) will walk through critical engagements with trade unions, which are significantly more likely under the new regime coming into force from 30 October.
In this Nightmare scenario session we will explore:
- Access – assessing legal risk in the first 24 hours, responding appropriately, and navigating the risks of physical and digital access to your employees
- Information – in the weeks that follow, meeting obligations to share employee data without exposing your business to risk
- Recognition – understanding voluntary and involuntary processes which may last months, as well as bargaining units, and the balloting of employees
- Collective bargaining – navigating lengthy negotiations with unions, setting boundaries, and incentivising individual performance
- Segmentation – going forward indefinitely, treating employees fairly when you have data showing some of your employees are union members and some are not