Businesses will be forced to tell their staff how to join a union at least once a year under fresh plans drawn up by the government to boost participation in organised labour.

The government has decided the rules, due to come into force at the start of next year, will apply to employers of all sizes and sectors, despite a rearguard action from industry warning they will add “significant bureaucracy” to small and high-turnover businesses.

According to ministers’ responses to a consultation, firms will also be barred from drafting their own statements to staff, and will instead be forced to use government-approved wording about their right to join a trade union.

Business owners, including family businesses with just a few members of staff, will have to share the statement directly with new employees, before putting in place measures to remind them of their rights on an annual basis.

Union rights statement will add ‘significant bureaucracy’

The directive formed part of Labour’s 2024 pre-election manifesto and is the latest instalment of the government’s flagship workers’ rights overhaul. As part of the wider shake-up, workers have already been given a raft of fresh rights from day one of employment alongside the establishment of a new employment watchdog called the Fair Work Agency.

Bosses of small and medium-sized businesses had hoped to secure a reprieve from the plans, arguing that the nature and scale of their business made union representation impractical. In its response published last month, officials conceded small businesses – and those with little history of union presence – had “raised concerns about proportionality”.

Those in industries with high staff turnover – such as hospitality and retail – also warned the changes would be especially burdensome as they would have to inform all new recruits of their union rights directly, even when staff were just brought on board casually or temporarily.

But ministers opted to include all firms in the overhaul, including those with just one member of staff. In their response – spearheaded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) – they said the plans were “proportionate and practical for employers of all sizes”.

Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, told the move risks imposing a “rigid, one-size-fits-all system” on businesses.

“Government-prescribed communications will add significant bureaucracy, particularly for industries like retail with large workforces and high staff turnover,” she added.

Overhaul exacerbates union creep fears

According to a separate government analysis, the average employer will only need to spend 10 minutes a year complying with the new directive, which will cost the majority of employers just under £50.

But the move risks exacerbating fears among employers over the raft of fresh powers being handed to trade unions as part of the Employment Rights Act. As of next week, unions will have the right to meet, recruit and support workers on company premises provided they give employers 25 days’ notice. Employers will also be forced to recognise a union formally even if just 10 per cent of relevant employees are members.

It also appears to stand in contrast to the Chancellor and business secretary’s avowed bid to free up small businesses from “excessive, time-consuming paperwork”. Earlier this week, the Chancellor said the crackdown would help small firms that were “fed up with form-filling and pointless paperwork”, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was “unfair pointless bureaucracy gets in the way” of hard-working business owners.

A spokesman for DBIST said: “Workers should know their basic rights and this new duty will help them make an informed choice about whether to join a union.

“We’ve worked closely with businesses to ensure the changes are proportionate and straightforward for employers to implement.”