UK Government brings Employment Rights Act reforms into force, with £500,000 union access fines

Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms take effect on 30 October 2026. Unions gain rights to access physical and digital workplaces, even where unrecognised. Fines for repeated access non-compliance reach up to £500,000. For games studios, internal systems and IT monitoring policies become compliance exposure points.

Unions may access workplaces to meet, support, represent and organise workers.
Union reps expect access to rely heavily on digital communication on internal systems.
Employers must not attend, listen to, record or monitor access meetings.
Studios should therefore review surveillance, CCTV and IT monitoring policies before October.

A first penalty order carries fines of up to £75,000.
A second complaint raises the ceiling to £150,000.
Third and subsequent complaints reach up to £500,000.
Detailed records of access requests and negotiations form the core defensive evidence.

From January 2027, employers must tell staff of their right to join a union.
Regulations defining "all reasonable steps" against sexual harassment are expected in 2027.
Further Employment Rights Act changes are scheduled for January 2027.

For Investors & VC: Add union-access readiness and complaint history to UK studio diligence checklists.
For Service Vendors: Pitch monitoring-exempt union channels on Slack and Teams to UK studio IT leads.
For Publishers & Developers: Budget dedicated employee-relations HR headcount into UK studio operating plans before October.