The UK Government has published a draft code of practice setting out how trade unions will exercise a new statutory right to access workplaces under its Make Work Pay agenda. The consultation closes in the coming weeks, and the rules it produces will carry legal weight, meaning employers who get this wrong face tribunal exposure, not just a polite letter from a union rep.
The right of access itself is not new in principle, but the draft code significantly extends and formalises what unions can request, how quickly employers must respond, and what grounds exist for refusal. According to the UK Government's consultation document, the code is intended to sit alongside the Employment Rights Bill, which is the most significant overhaul of UK employment law in a generation. The Federation of Small Businesses has described the overall package of reforms as placing "a substantial new administrative burden" on firms with fewer than 50 staff, who rarely have a dedicated HR function to absorb the changes.
For Scottish SMEs, the picture is sharpened by a higher rate of trade union membership north of the border. According to the Scottish Government's own labour market statistics, union membership in Scotland consistently runs several percentage points above the UK average, particularly in public-adjacent sectors such as education, health and social care, and construction. If your business touches any of those supply chains, you are more likely than not to have unionised workers or to recruit from unionised industries.
The draft code covers practical ground that employers need to understand before it becomes law: how much notice a union must give before seeking access, what facilities an employer is required to make available during a visit, and the process for disputes if access is refused. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) is named as the arbiter of last resort in the draft, meaning unresolved access disputes will follow a formal process with documented outcomes. That is not a comfortable position for a sole trader or a ten-person business to find themselves in unprepared.
The consultation is open to any employer, and submitting a response costs nothing. Business Gateway Scotland and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce have both signalled they are monitoring the Make Work Pay reforms closely, and it is worth checking their guidance pages for sector-specific briefings as the Employment Rights Bill moves through Parliament. The Scottish Government has broadly welcomed the direction of travel on worker protections, though business groups here have repeatedly asked for a phased implementation that gives smaller firms time to adapt rather than a single compliance cliff-edge.