New framework for Trade Union workplace access
The UK government has published a draft code of practice and its response to consultation on trade union rights of access, marking a significant step in its flagship employment reform agenda. The publications form part of the broader "Making Work Pay" programme.
• The draft Code of Practice on the right of trade unions to access workplaces sets out detailed guidance on how unions should be able to enter employer premises for the purposes of organising, recruiting, and representing workers. It includes a request form for unions to use and an employer response. The code provides practical guidance on matters such as how requests for access should be made, grounds on which employers can object, and the role of the CAC in resolving disputes where agreement cannot be reached. Consultation closes on 20 May.
• Alongside the draft code, the government published its formal response to its consultation on trade union right of access. The response confirms the government's intention to press ahead with creating a statutory right of access, including a ‘model term’ specifying weekly access (although lower can be agreed or approved). Business groups are expected to scrutinise the draft code closely, with some employers raising concerns about potential disruption and the administrative burden of managing access requests. Trade unions, meanwhile, have broadly welcomed the direction of travel, though some have called for the statutory framework to go further.
TUPE Call for Evidence launched
The Department for Business and Trade has also published (again under the "Make Work Pay" agenda) a Call for Evidence on the TUPE Regulations, seeking views from a wide-ranging audience on the effectiveness of the TUPE regulations as they currently stand. This is a significant development for employers across all sectors, signalling that the government is actively considering reform of one of the most complex and commercially important areas of employment law. We will be engaging with our clients to prepare a response. Please get in touch if you would like to take part. (Responses are invited until 1 July.)
Northern Ireland implements miscarriage leave in UK first
Northern Ireland has become the first part of the UK to introduce paid miscarriage leave for women and their partners if they experience a miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy. The introduction of the leave entitlement means that a woman and her partner would be able to take up to two weeks of leave following a miscarriage, paid at statutory rates. For the rest of the UK, the Employment Rights Act gives the government power to make regulations for bereavement leave in situations of miscarriage and other pregnancy loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy. A new day-one entitlement to one week’s leave is expected to take effect in 2027.
Immigration News
News about immigration fees and new sponsor guidance:
• Nationality fee increases - The Home Office confirmed that most immigration and nationality fees will increase from 8 April, including visitor visas. This includes the following: standard visit visa rising from £127 to £135, Skilled Worker entry clearance (from £769 to £819 for up to three years), ILR (from £3,029 to £3,226), naturalisation (from £1,605 to £1,709), and sponsor licences (large Worker sponsor from £1,579 to £1,682). The ETA fee has also increased, from £16 to £20. Most increases are less than £100 per application, and sponsorship charges such as the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, Immigration Skills Charge, and the Immigration Health Surcharge are unaffected.
• Sponsor Guidance: Salary Compliance and Right to Work Checks | 8 April - The Home Office also published updated sponsor guidance introducing new requirements for how salary compliance will be assessed for sponsored workers, primarily impacting Certificates of Sponsorship assigned from 8 April. Under the new guidance, the Home Office will actively and regularly check salary compliance through both planned compliance visits and direct cross-referencing with HMRC payroll data, meaning that shortfalls may be identified at any time. Critically, compliance will be assessed not simply by reference to a worker's annual salary, but against frequent period thresholds. A shortfall within any period may constitute a breach even if it is subsequently made up, making accurate and timely payroll management essential. The guidance also reiterates and strengthens sponsors' right to work check obligations: as a sponsor, you must conduct a right to work check on every worker you sponsor, even where you do not employ or engage them directly, and you must also conduct right to work checks on any other worker you do employ or engage directly, regardless of whether they are sponsored.
ICO reviews automated decision-making in recruitment
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published a report on the use of automated decision-making (ADM) in recruitment and how this is caught by the provisions of the UK General Data Protection Regulation. The ICO set out to review the use of ADM by employers and identify risks relating to transparency, discrimination and misuse. It found that many employers using automated recruitment are often only relying on the automated decisions as part of the recruitment process, meaning that there is little human input when it comes to hiring decisions that can have a significant effect on prospective employees. The ICO recommends that employers make necessary improvements, including:
• improving transparency to ensure candidates are aware of the use of ADM;
• ensuring any meaningful human involvement in the process is applied consistently to all candidates; and
• expanding and adopting good practice in monitoring for fairness and bias.
