By law, an employer must provide reasonable access to facilities, for example communication tools and meeting rooms. This legal right applies to trade union representatives in specific roles.
Representatives need these facilities to:
- carry out their role effectively
- do relevant training
- communicate with union members, their employer, other representatives and their trade union
Use this advice alongside the Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities.
Important: This is a preview of new advice. On 30 October 2026, it will replace the Acas booklet 'Trade union representation in the workplace'.
Who has the right to facilities
The legal right to facilities automatically applies to:
- TUPE representatives
- collective redundancy representatives
It also applies when facilities are requested by:
- union representatives
- union learning representatives
- union equality representatives
Previously, the right to facilities only applied to TUPE and collective redundancy representatives. The law changed on 30 October 2026 to give this right to more roles. The law is the Employment Rights Act 2025.
Important: This is a preview of new advice. The law has not changed yet.
What's reasonable to provide
What is reasonable depends on each situation. It can depend on:
- the size and resources of the organisation
- operational requirements and organisational structure
- details of any agreement between the employer and trade union
- the nature and scale of the work the representative is doing
- the needs of individual representatives, including disabled representatives who need reasonable adjustments
Types of facilities
The law talks about 'accommodation and other facilities'. This includes meeting rooms, offices and other space to work.
Where it's practical, an employer should provide:
- secure access to a telephone and other forms of communication – for example email, digital platforms, intranet and internet
- noticeboards or an online equivalent
- access to union members who work at different locations or have different working patterns
- access to computers and other technology to do online training or take part in online meetings
- meeting rooms
- dedicated office space – for example, if the amount of union work justifies it or multiple representatives could share the space
Employers should also provide private and confidential spaces for:
- communicating with union members online or by phone
- in-person or online meetings where representatives can discuss sensitive and confidential issues with union members
- meeting with workers involved in disciplinary or grievance matters
Confidentiality
Representatives and employers must comply with data protection and privacy law when providing and using facilities.
This includes when accessing and processing:
- information that could seriously harm the organisation
- organisational and personal information
Information about someone's trade union membership is defined as:
- sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act 2018
- special category data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
Representatives and union members are entitled to communicate without being monitored by their employer. This is apart from in exceptional circumstances.
The employer and the trade union should agree rules around the confidentiality of communications.
Find out more about data protection and confidentiality in employment information guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office.
Disclosing information for collective bargaining purposes is covered separately. This is in the Acas Code of Practice on disclosure of information to trade unions for collective bargaining purposes.
Separate intranet and email accounts
In some cases it might be appropriate for an employer to allow a representative:
- a separate email address for their trade union work
- a password-protected area on an intranet or another communication tool
Agreeing use of facilities
Representatives should tell their employer as early as possible which facilities they need.
By law, an employer must allow a union representative their legal right to facilities. However, the employer, trade union and representative should work together to agree what's reasonable.
It's good practice to have a formal agreement with clear guidelines on how requests for facilities are handled. This can help to avoid confusion and minimise problems.
Find out about creating an agreement on time off for representatives
Dealing with problems
If a representative is not provided with reasonable facilities, they can raise it with their employer.
If this does not resolve the problem, there are other options. For example, they could make a claim to an employment tribunal.
Find out more about dealing with problems
Get more advice and support
If you're a representative, you can ask your trade union about guidance and support available.
Acas and the CIPD have designed training for employers on how to work effectively with trade unions.