Draft ACAS Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities
House of Commons · General Committees · 8 Sep 2026 · 33 speeches · Official Report
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
Chair: † Sir Jeremy Wright
† Cooper, Daisy (St Albans) (LD)
† Costa, Alberto (South Leicestershire) (Con)
† Costigan, Deirdre (Ealing Southall) (Lab)
† Dearden, Kate (Minister for the Future of Work)
Egan, Damien (Bristol North East) (Lab)
† German, Gill (Clwyd North) (Lab)
† Griffiths, Alison (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)
† Law, Noah (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)
Murray, Chris (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)
Olney, Sarah (Richmond Park) (LD)
Osamor, Kate (Edmonton and Winchmore Hill) (Lab/Co-op)
† Reed, David (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
† Thomas, Bradley (Bromsgrove) (Con)
† Trickett, Jon (Normanton and Hemsworth) (Lab)
† West, Catherine (Hornsey and Friern Barnet) (Lab)
† Wheeler, Michael (Worsley and Eccles) (Lab)
† Yasin, Mohammad (Bedford) (Lab)
Kate Johal, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee
Tuesday 8 September 2026
[Sir Jeremy Wright in the Chair ]
Draft Acas Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities
I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Acas Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Sir Jeremy. The measure was laid in draft before this House on 6 July 2026. This Government are resetting and modernising our industrial relations framework. We believe that strong trade unions are essential for tackling insecurity, inequality, discrimination, enforcement and low pay. The Government want to ensure that trade union workplace representatives can take sufficient reasonable paid time off and have sufficient access to facilities to enable them to fulfil their union representative duties. The Acas code of practice, issued under section 199 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, provides practical guidance on reasonable paid time off and access to accommodation and other facilities that employees who are trade union representatives are entitled to take to fulfil their trade union duties. The code has been updated following the changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, which strengthened and introduced rights for employees who are trade union representatives. There are three key changes made by the Employment Rights Act to the existing statutory framework. First, it strengthens the existing right to reasonable paid facility time for trade union representatives to carry out their duties. The legislation now makes it clear that, where...
On the surface, this revision introduces the legal right to reasonable paid time off for union equality representatives, ensures that representatives can hold multiple positions-thus increasing the provisions under which they qualify for more time off-puts a greater onus on employers in tribunals, and legally requires employers to provide reasonable means to support representatives in carrying out their jobs. Yet it does far more than that: it burdens businesses with yet more regulatory red tape, further decreases employment opportunities and compounds the hardship that employers already face. Higher employment costs through increased administrative expenditure, unaffordable additional paid leave and legal tribunal expenses are a fast track to job scarcity. A recent survey of more than 1,000 business owners found that one in five lacked confidence in the new trade union rules. Furthermore, 69% of employers believed that trade unions still have the power to cause serious problems for the UK economy, while 62% believed that the UK is entering a new, more unstable period of employment relations. Yet rather than heed those warnings and work with businesses to create a viable solution, the Government persist with such policies, despite being aware of the risks. This is a tough time for employers and workers. Employers are seeing rising costs all around them, and workers are watching their budgets get stretched thinner as the cost of living continues to mount. A solution is...
I welcome the shadow Minister to his role and to the Committee. I look forward to working with him and debating many issues-this one in particular. He spoke a lot about industrial action. I always find it quite rich when the Opposition talk about strike days, because on their watch they did absolutely nothing to further good industrial relations in this country. That is a real shame, because it is a detriment not only to those employers but to trade unions, our society and our economy as a whole. That is why this Government are absolutely acting responsibly. I will come to the issue that we are debating today, but let me first say that we recognise the need to make sure that our wider industrial relations framework is functioning so that we can resolve disputes in the workplace early. That is good for businesses, employers and trade unions, so enforcement and ensuring we have negotiation skills across the workplace are really important. What the Government are doing to reset industrial relations is responsible. We are modernising our wider framework, alongside passing lots of legislation, including the instrument that we are discussing today, and helping to usher in a more co-operative and constructive approach among employers, workers and their unions. I think that is a really good thing.
Does the Minister accept that in settling trade disputes, the Government should emphasise increases in productivity, not just blanket above-inflation pay rises?
I will not be drawn on the ins and outs of every single dispute that is happening in the industrial relations landscape. I will bring us back to what a responsible Government are doing: fostering good industrial relations, which is absolutely the right thing to do. Unfortunately, perhaps the shadow Minister and I just disagree on that point. Let me bring us back to the draft Acas code of practice. The statutory instrument will ensure that employers have the guidance they need based on what was passed in the Employment Rights Act. It is a necessary step so that employers have the guidance to facilitate the legislation and understand their duties. It is really important to provide that guidance and clarity. We have already touched on the ability to resolve grievances early, and it is really good and positive for reps to have more ability to spend time on doing that in the workplace. In addition, they can improve communication, support workplace training and prevent disputes. That is great workplace value, and that is what we want to foster going forward. The measure we are debating is necessary and the right step to take. As I said in my introductory speech, we want to make sure that the code plays a key role in ensuring that the new rights introduced in the Act passed last year can operate effectively in practice from the point at which they come into force next month. I hope the code of practice will be approved. It is a real shame that the Opposition cannot support us today.
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Acas Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities.
Committee rose.