From 18 February 2026, a series of statutory changes will fundamentally alter the legal framework governing trade unions and industrial action in the UK.
These reforms sit within the wider architecture of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and are brought into force through multiple commencement regulations and consequential statutory instruments. Taken together, they represent the most material shift in the balance between employers and trade unions in over a decade.
For employers, the changes reshape how and when industrial action can be triggered, the extent to which action can lawfully proceed and the legal risks attached to decisions taken before, during and after strike activity.
Key legislative instruments bringing the changes into force
The reforms are delivered through a layered legislative structure rather than a single set of amendments. The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides the primary enabling framework, while secondary legislation activates, repeals and modifies specific regimes within existing trade union law.
The principal changes are implemented through the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026, alongside amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the revocation or modification of earlier statutory instruments introduced under the Trade Union Act 2016 and subsequent minimum service level regulations.
This approach allows the Government to remove constraints incrementally while ensuring the revised framework applies consistently across sectors, including transport, health and other public-facing services.
Removal of minimum service level restrictions
One of the most significant changes for employers is the removal of statutory minimum service level requirements during industrial action. Under the previous regime, employers in certain sectors could rely on minimum service levels to limit operational disruption during lawful strikes.
From February 2026, these protections fall away. Employers will no longer be able to mandate minimum staffing levels during strike action through statutory mechanisms. This materially increases the potential operational impact of industrial action, particularly where services are labour intensive or time sensitive.
The practical effect is that strike action can now result in full service withdrawal, even in areas where continuity was previously protected.
Lower thresholds and fewer procedural barriers to industrial action
The reforms also ease the procedural requirements for lawful industrial action. Ballot thresholds and notice requirements are relaxed, reducing the administrative burden on trade unions and shortening the lead time between dispute escalation and strike action.
While ballots and notices remain legally required, the reduced complexity increases the likelihood of compliant industrial action proceeding without challenge. Employers therefore have less scope to delay or prevent action through procedural objections.
This shifts the balance away from technical litigation strategies and towards earlier dispute management and engagement.
Expanded protection against dismissal and detriment
The legal protections afforded to workers participating in industrial action are also strengthened. The scope of protection against dismissal and detriment linked to trade union activity is widened, increasing the risk profile for employers taking disciplinary or contractual action during disputes.
Employers face a higher likelihood that actions perceived as punitive or retaliatory will attract legal challenge, even where those actions would previously have fallen into a grey area of lawfulness.
Careful differentiation between operational necessity and conduct-related responses becomes more difficult in practice under the new framework.
Transitional provisions and timing risks
Transitional provisions apply where ballots or notices were issued before the February 2026 commencement date. In some cases, elements of the old regime continue to apply, while others fall away. This creates a short-term period of legal complexity where mixed rules may govern the same dispute.
For employers, the risk lies in assuming protections remain available when they no longer apply, or in misapplying legacy rules to post-commencement action. Legal advice is particularly important during this transition window.
Implications for employers
The most immediate implication is increased exposure to operational disruption. With fewer statutory brakes on industrial action and no minimum service level backstop, employers need to plan for the possibility of full workforce withdrawal.
The litigation risk profile also changes. Employers are less able to rely on procedural defects to challenge industrial action and face higher dismissal and detriment risks where responses are not tightly controlled.
Early engagement, credible consultation and defensible decision making become the primary tools for managing industrial relations risk. Employers that continue to rely on outdated assumptions about leverage and legal protection are likely to find themselves exposed both operationally and legally.
Employer next steps
Employers should review industrial relations strategies, crisis response planning and manager training in light of the February 2026 reforms. Policies drafted around the previous statutory framework may no longer reflect legal reality. Advance preparation, rather than reactive response, is now the only reliable risk control.
Author
Gill Laing is a qualified Legal Researcher & Analyst with niche specialisms in Law, Tax, Human Resources, Immigration & Employment Law.
Gill is a Multiple Business Owner and the Managing Director of Prof Services - a Marketing Agency for the Professional Services Sector.
