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Creating an agreement on time off for representatives

Employers should consider having a formal agreement on time off, training and facilities for representatives.

This should cover arrangements for:

  • paid time off from someone's usual work to carry out certain representative duties
  • paid time off for relevant training
  • access to facilities to carry out certain duties – for example communication tools and meeting rooms

This applies to trade union representatives or non-union employee representatives. Some organisations have both.

Having an agreement can help to avoid confusion, reduce problems and set realistic expectations.

Important: This is a preview of new advice. On 30 October 2026, it will replace advice in the Acas guides on trade union and employee representation.

How to use this advice

You should use this advice alongside our guides on the:

Small organisations might prefer a more informal arrangement. You should still follow the principles in this advice when managing time off requests. You must still follow all legal requirements.

Drawing up an agreement

If your organisation has both trade union and non-union representatives, you might need 2 separate agreements.

In both cases:

  • you should work with representatives to agree what's appropriate
  • your agreement should be consistent with other relevant agreements – for example, agreements on elections for representatives
  • you should set out in the agreement how often it will be reviewed

If you have trade union representatives

To create an agreement, you should work with your recognised trade union and representatives.

The agreement should be signed by appropriate people who represent your organisation and the trade union. For example:

  • a senior manager in your organisation who's responsible for the agreement
  • union representatives, an external trade union officer or both – depending on who is involved with creating the agreement

Important: On 30 October 2026, the law is changing around the rights of trade union representatives. If you already have an agreement, you should make sure it meets new legal requirements.

If you have non-union employee representatives

An agreement can be particularly helpful for organisations with a permanent workplace forum.

For one-off situations, you might not need a formal agreement. For example, when representatives are appointed to deal with a TUPE transfer or collective redundancy. However, there still needs to be a clear understanding on how time off, training and facilities are managed.

To create an agreement, you should work with employee representatives.

Your agreement should be signed by:

  • a senior manager who's responsible for the agreement
  • the employee representatives who are involved in creating the agreement

What to take into account

The law does not say exactly how much time off representatives should be allowed. What's reasonable depends on each situation. It varies between representatives.

If you have an agreement, it must follow all legal requirements. It should also set out what's reasonable and appropriate for your organisation.

When you're making decisions on what to include in your agreement, you should take into account:

  • the size of your organisation
  • the number of workers
  • the production or operational process
  • the need to maintain a service to the public
  • the need for safety and security at all times
  • the number of issues representatives are expected to deal with, and their complexity
  • the importance of training and preparation for meetings

What to include in an agreement

Your agreement should include:

  • recognition that time needed for duties can vary
  • circumstances where a representative can take time off for duties
  • time needed for communicating with members or workers
  • consideration of those with different hours and working patterns
  • specific needs for TUPE transfers and collective redundancies
  • work cover arrangements
  • facilities you will provide – for example communication tools and meeting rooms
  • training arrangements
  • payment
  • responsibilities of management and representatives – and trade unions where relevant
  • keeping records
  • dealing with problems around time off, training and facilities

Recognition that time needed for duties can vary

In most cases, your agreement should not set out a fixed number of hours per week.

However, some organisations might need representatives to carry out duties at set times. For example schools, where it can be hard to provide work cover at short notice.

For more on what to consider, read our advice on:

Circumstances where a representative can take time off for duties

Your agreement should set out the circumstances where representatives can take time off. For example:

  • attending meetings with management and other representatives
  • preparing for meetings
  • communicating with workers or members
  • relevant training

Your agreement could include:

  • regular meetings of consultation groups – the agreement should say how often these are held
  • arrangements for attending ad hoc meetings to deal with complex issues or big changes that affect workers
  • meetings to discuss policies and procedures for dealing with problems and disputes
  • meetings about handling individual disciplinary and grievance issues
  • meetings about equality and training

You might want to appoint a senior representative. If you do, your agreement should be clear they need to attend more meetings with management.

Time needed for communicating with members or workers

Your agreement should cover:

  • for trade union representatives – when they need to communicate with their union members
  • for employee representatives – when they need to communicate with workers

For example, this could include communicating before and after meetings with management.

Your agreement should also cover:

  • how representatives will communicate – for example face to face, email, intranet, regular meetings or one-off special meetings
  • the need for confidentiality

Consideration of those with different hours and working patterns

Your agreement should cover arrangements for representatives who:

  • work different hours and working patterns
  • represent members or workers with different hours and working patterns

This could include:

  • part-time workers
  • shift working
  • working evenings, nights or weekends
  • flexible working arrangements – for example working from home, hybrid working, flexitime, job sharing, compressed hours
  • workers with caring responsibilities

Where relevant, your agreement should include 'off-site' representatives. This is where a representative's workplace is different from members or other workers. Your agreement should set out any relevant arrangements, for example travel time.

Specific needs for TUPE transfers and collective redundancies

Your agreement should recognise that representatives dealing with TUPE transfers and collective redundancies:

  • might need more time to spend on duties – it can be a large amount of complex work over many months
  • might need specialist training
  • must have access to appropriate facilities to carry out their duties
  • must have access to workers affected by the changes

If an agreement covers a specific time period only, it should include:

  • when the consultation will take place
  • time after transfers and redundancies have happened, to deal with the impact

Work cover arrangements

Your agreement should set out arrangements for work cover. This might be needed when representatives are carrying out their duties.

For example, arrangements could include:

  • allocating tasks to other workers
  • rearranging work to a different time
  • reducing the amount of work

Facilities you will provide

Your agreement should set out:

  • the facilities you will provide for representatives to carry out their duties and communicate with members – for example communication tools and meeting rooms
  • confidentiality and data protection requirements

For more on what to consider, read our advice on:

Training arrangements

Your agreement should set out training arrangements for:

  • new representatives
  • experienced representatives
  • representatives taking on subject-specific consultation – for example TUPE transfers or collective redundancy

An agreement for trade union representatives should also include arrangements for roles with specific training requirements. These roles are:

  • union learning representatives
  • union equality representatives

For more on what to consider, read our advice on:

Payment

Your agreement should set out details of pay. An employer must pay representatives for reasonable time off to carry out certain duties.

This must be either:

  • the representative's usual pay
  • an amount calculated using the representative's average hourly earnings – this applies where someone's pay varies with the work done

Where relevant, your agreement should also include:

  • how you'll take into account payment arrangements – for example shift premiums, performance-related pay, bonuses and commission
  • your arrangements for adjusting targets, where pay is related to performance – this applies when a representative has less time to meet their targets
  • payment for representatives who need to carry out duties outside their usual working hours – for example someone who work night shifts needing to carry out duties during the day
  • that part-time employees are entitled to pay where full-time employees would be entitled to pay

Responsibilities of management

Your agreement should set out the responsibilities of managers.

Managers must make sure they allow representatives their legal rights. They should also:

  • be familiar with the rights and duties of representatives
  • take reasonable steps to plan and manage a representative's time off
  • where needed, plan work cover or reduce a representative's workload
  • consider each request on a case-by-case basis
  • consider how reasonable a request is in relation to time off already taken, planned, or likely to be requested in future

Responsibilities of representatives

Your agreement should set out the responsibilities of representatives.

For example, representatives should give their manager as much notice as possible about:

  • time off they need from their usual work
  • the purpose of the time off – while keeping relevant details confidential around discipline and grievance matters
  • the intended location
  • the timing and length of time off needed

Your agreement should also include that representatives should be as flexible as possible. This particularly applies where it's difficult for their manager to provide work cover.

When requesting training, a representative should:

  • give as much notice as possible
  • provide details of the contents of the training

Keeping records

Your agreement should set out which records to keep. It's important to keep records, in case there are any disagreements.

Records should include:

  • when a representative takes time off for trade union duties or training
  • the purpose of each period of time off
  • requests for facilities
  • any requests that were refused, and the reason why

Your agreement should also say who's responsible for keeping records and where to record them.

Dealing with problems around time off

Your agreement should set out:

  • how a representative should raise any problems around time off arrangements
  • how an employer should handle any complaints

For more on what to consider, read our advice on:

Responsibilities of trade unions

Important: This section is only for agreements that cover trade union representatives.

Your agreement should set out the responsibilities of recognised trade unions.

For example, trade unions should to tell an employer as soon as possible in writing about:

  • new union representatives – and roles they've been appointed to
  • resignations from representative roles

Get more advice and support

For help with creating agreements, employers can get tailored support from Acas.

For help with a trade union agreement: