Every legal claim on this page renders from the evidence register — its source passage, pinpoint citation and verification state included.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates a statutory route for an independent trade union to request access to workplaces — physical, digital, or both. The Code of Practice governing it has been laid before Parliament but is not yet in force: it states the requirements intended to apply once the remaining formal steps are complete — not yet operative obligations — and every legal claim on this page carries its source and verification status. This walkthrough follows one invented case from first draft to signed agreement — the path where the process works as designed. The refusal, silence and arbitration branches get their own page next.
The cast: Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke, an organising officer at the Amalgamated Society of Depot and Warehouse Staff (ASDWS), wants access to Thornebeck Distribution Ltd's two sites — the Marley Cross Distribution Centre and the Denholt Park Depot. On the employer side, Owen Trelfall is the employee-relations director who will receive the request, and Gareth Mabbutt manages the Marley Cross Distribution Centre.
How time works on this page
Every clock in this process is counted in working days, and this page counts them the way the Code itself does. It never shows a calendar date — deliberately. The Code defines a working day but does not say which nation's bank-holiday calendar applies, and picking a date would silently pick a calendar. The deadline calculator makes that choice explicit and visible instead.
"Working day" means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, or a day which is a bank holiday. The Code does not specify which nation's bank-holiday calendar applies.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“the term "working day" should be read to mean any day other than a Saturday or a Sunday, Christmas Day or Good Friday, or a day which is a bank holiday.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), Preamble, para. 7(iii). This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/working-day-definition
Working-day counters are illustrative story beats, not statutory rules. Each counter is checked by test against the statutory clock it runs inside. In the story below, "working day 0" is the day the request is given.
How the clocks nest: the response and negotiation windows both run inside the referral envelope, which is counted from the original request — not from where negotiation failed. Dashed marks are story beats from the invented case, not legal steps.
Step 1 of 5
Drafting the request
Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke starts from the Code's standardised request template. Using it is not legally compulsory, but it exists to carry every piece of information a request has to contain, so drafting means filling it in well rather than inventing a format. The request she is preparing is a defined legal thing:
A statutory access request is a request under section 70ZB(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 — the Code's standardised request template opens by stating exactly that.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“This is a request for access under section 70ZB(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), Section E (Annexes), Trade Union Access Request Template, "Legal Reference". This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-request-legal-basis
The first substantive field is the purpose. A statutory access request can only pursue the access purposes the Act allows, and Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke states hers in those terms: to meet, support, recruit and organise the warehouse workers at both sites, and to facilitate collective bargaining. What a request can never be for is organising industrial action:
A statutory access agreement must operate within the access purposes set out at section 70ZA(6) of the 1992 Act — to meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers (whether or not they are members of a trade union) and to facilitate collective bargaining. The access purposes do not include organising industrial action (section 70ZA(7)).
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“It is important to note that the access agreement being negotiated and entered into must be done so within the specific confines of the access purposes set out at 70ZA (6) of the 1992 Act. It should be noted that the access purposes do not include organising industrial action (70ZA(7)). The access purposes for statutory access are: a. To meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers (whether or not they are members of a trade union) b. To facilitate collective bargaining”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 14. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-purposes
Around the purpose, the template asks for the union's identity and certificate of independence, the officials involved (who is submitting, who will negotiate, who will be responsible for the access, who to contact), a general description of the workers, the type of access sought, the practical shape of the visits, and the notice arrangements. Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke requests both physical and digital access, covering both sites in one request — a single request may span several premises of one employer — and describes the access she wants: a regular presence in the Marley Cross Distribution Centre canteen, plus a union noticeboard channel on the company intranet.
An access request should be completed using the standardised template in the Code's annexes, which details all of the information required in a request — though unions are not legally required to use the template. Minor accidental clerical or administrative errors should not be regarded as a reason for the employer to reject the application, and a single request may cover multiple premises operated by one employer.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“The request for access should be completed using the standardised form available in Section E (Annexes), although trade unions are not legally required to use the standardised template. Please refer to this template when making a request for access. The template details all of the information that is required in a request for access. Trade unions should provide the information requested in the template to the best of their knowledge. Minor accidental clerical or administrative errors in a trade union’s application should not be regarded as a reason for the employer to reject the application. The employer and trade union should work together to correct any errors. A single request for access may include reference to various premises operated by a single employer to which the trade union is requesting access.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 27. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
Pinned extract matched at build · External source checked 10 July 2026 · How verification works
fact/access-request-required-content
One honesty note before she presses send: the Code's template is best practice, but the legally binding list of what a request must contain is prescribed by regulations, not by the template itself —
The legally binding list of what an access request must contain sits in the regulations.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“A full list of the information required to be contained in an access request can be found in the regulations.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 29 (final sentence). This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-request-content-regulations
Those regulations have since been identified and vendored: the Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026, in force from 30 October 2026, prescribe the request's form and its full required content in more granular detail than the Code's own template describes.
The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/756) were made and laid before Parliament on 6 July 2026 and come into force on 30 October 2026, extending to England and Wales and Scotland.
Formal state
Made — not yet in forcealready law; commencement date set but not yet reached
“1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 30th October 2026. (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/756), regulation 1. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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Regulation 3 of the Required Information Regulations prescribes an access request's form (in writing, dated, sent by post/delivery or electronic communication to a specified address) and its required content: the union's identity and certificate of independence, named officials (submitting, negotiating, responsible for access), the statutory basis, the access purposes, a general description of the workers, the nature of access sought in detail, notice periods, and — for a repeat request — confirmation and the earlier agreed terms.
Formal state
Made — not yet in forcealready law; commencement date set but not yet reached
“3.—(1) This regulation applies where a qualifying trade union gives an employer an access request under section 70ZB(1). (2) The access request must— (a) identify the trade union making the access request; (b) provide a copy of the certificate of independence of the trade union; (c) be in writing and dated; (d) be sent either— (i) by post or delivery in person to the registered office, head office or principal place of business of the employer, or (ii) by electronic communication to an electronic communication address provided by the employer to the trade union or, where such an address has not been provided, to an electronic communication address made publicly available by the employer for communications with the employer. (3) The access request must contain the following— (a) the name and contact details of the trade union official giving the access request on behalf of the trade union; (b) the name and contact details of at least one trade union official authorised to conduct negotiations for an access agreement on behalf of the trade union; (c) a statement that the access request is made under section 70ZB(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; (d) the purposes of the access request, which must be one or more of the access purposes; (e) a general description of those workers the trade union seeks access to, in so far as is known to the trade union; (f) information as to the nature of the access requested— (i) whether the access is to be on one or more occasions; (ii) whether physical entry to a workplace or communication with workers, or both, is being requested; (iii) a description providing details of the access requested; (iv) the reasons why the access in paragraphs (i) to (iii) is being requested; (v) where physical entry to any workplace is being requested, a description of the workplaces to which access is requested which is sufficient to enable the employer to identify the workplaces concerned; (vi) any assistance requested from the employer to facilitate the access for the trade union; (vii) the frequency and duration requested of each occasion of physical entry to a workplace or communication with workers; (g) the name and contact details of at least one trade union official who would have responsibility for the requested access under the proposed access agreement; (h) the notice period the trade union intends to give to the employer prior to each occasion of access; (i) where the access request is substantially the same and concerning the same workers as a previous access request, following which the trade union and the employer agreed in writing terms for access but not before the end of the negotiation period— (i) a statement to confirm the repeat request for access with the date of the earlier access request, and (ii) a copy of the agreed terms.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/756), regulation 3. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-request-prescribed-information
Step 2 of 5
Serving the request
Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke emails the completed request to the address Thornebeck Distribution Ltd publishes for employee-relations matters. Email is the Code's preferred route for a reason this project cares about: the timestamp is the audit trail.
Story event — not a legal step
The day the request is given is working day 0 of this story — the anchor every later deadline counts from.
Email should be used where possible to serve the completed access request, creating a clear audit trail including a timestamp of when the request was submitted. The request should go to an email address the employer provides (which the employer should make every effort to provide); where none is provided, the union may use an email address the employer makes publicly available for general communications, or other means.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“Trade unions may submit an access request to an employer. Email should be used where possible to deliver the completed access request form to the employer. This will enable a clear audit trail to be established including a timestamp stating when the request was submitted. The trade union should direct their request to an email address provided by the employer, which the employer should make every effort to provide. Where the employer does not provide an email address, the trade union may use another email address made publicly available by the employer for general communications with the employer, or other means.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 26. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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Statutory limit — employer response Official code of practice · para. 30
VerifiedJK · 10 Jul 2026
Working days only. The Code fixes no bank-holiday calendar, so no calendar date is printed.
Show supporting passage
“Upon receipt of the application, the employer can take up to 15 working days from the day an access application is given (not when the request is passed on to the correct person or team within the employer) to respond to a request for access”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 30. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-response-period
Both sides now have something to keep. The Code expects each party to be able to prove when the request was made and received — the dates that every later step will be measured against.
Both the trade union and the employer should keep records of access requests and responses sufficient to demonstrate when they were made and received.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“Both trade unions and employers should maintain records of access requests and responses that can be used to demonstrate when they were made and received.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 28. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-request-record-keeping
Step 3 of 5
The employer's response
Story event — not a legal step
On working day 12 — inside the response window — Owen Trelfall sends Thornebeck Distribution Ltd's response notice.
It goes where the Code's template directs it: to Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke, at the contact details she gave in the request. Its required content, like the request's, is prescribed by regulation rather than by the template:
The employer's response should be sent to the contact details, given in the access request, of the trade union official who gave the request on the union's behalf.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“This response must be sent to the contact details, given in the access request, of the trade union official who gave the access request on behalf of the trade union.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), Section E (Annexes), Employer Response Notice Template, note. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-response-routing
Regulation 4 of the Required Information Regulations prescribes a response notice's form (in writing, dated, sent to the requesting official's contact details) and its required content: the employer's named contact, whether the request is agreed or disagreed with in whole or in part, and — depending on that answer — either the terms of agreement or the parts disagreed with and the reasons; a shortened content set applies where the notice responds to a repeat request under regulation 3(3)(i) and simply confirms the previously agreed terms.
Formal state
Made — not yet in forcealready law; commencement date set but not yet reached
“4.—(1) This regulation applies when an employer gives a response notice under section 70ZB(4). (2) The response notice must be— (a) in writing and dated; (b) sent to the contact details, given in the access request, of the trade union official who gave the access request on behalf of the trade union. (3) The response notice must contain the following information, unless the response notice is given under paragraph (4)— (a) details for the employer giving the notice as follows— (i) the name of the employer and contact details of the employer or a representative giving the response notice on behalf of the employer, and (ii) the name and contact details of at least one individual authorised to conduct negotiations for an access agreement on behalf of the employer; (b) a statement that the response notice is given under section 70ZB(4) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; (c) whether the employer is agreeing or disagreeing with the access request given by the trade union, either in whole or in part; (d) if agreeing with the access request, in whole or in part, provide (if agreeing in part, only to the extent relevant)— (i) in respect of each workplace, the name and contact details of at least one individual who would have responsibility for the requested access under the proposed access agreement; (ii) a list of the categories of the workers to whom the trade union have requested access to and the approximate numbers of workers in each category; (iii) where physical entry into any workplace has been requested— (aa) confirmation and, if necessary, further information as to the address and the location of each workplace to which access is requested; (bb) general information as to the times likely to be suitable for such access, taking into account the purpose of the access request; (iv) whether the employer will be able to provide assistance to facilitate access; (e) if disagreeing with the access request, in whole or in part, provide— (i) information as to which part of the access request the employer disagrees with; (ii) an explanation of why the employer disagrees with the access request or that part of the access request; (iii) where the access request is refused because the employer previously received, in relation to substantially the same workers, an access request from another trade union and is in the process of negotiating, or has negotiated, an access agreement with that trade union, confirmation of this and details of that trade union. (4) Where this paragraph applies, the employer need not comply with paragraph (3) but a response notice must contain the following— (a) a statement that the response notice is given under section 70ZB(4) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; (b) confirmation that the employer agrees with the terms provided with the repeat access request; (c) any new information which the employer would have included in the earlier response notice if it had been available. (5) Paragraph (4) applies where— (a) regulation 3(3)(i) applies to the access request in relation to which the response notice is given, (b) the employer agrees with the terms provided with the repeat access request, and (c) the employer complied with paragraph (3) in a response notice relating to the previous access request referred to in regulation 3(3)(i).”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) (Required Information) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/756), regulation 4. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
Pinned extract matched at build · External source checked 12 July 2026 · How verification works
In this telling the response is constructive: Owen Trelfall accepts the digital access as drafted, agrees to physical access in principle, and proposes adjustments to the pattern at the Marley Cross Distribution Centre — a different room than the canteen, and a different visit frequency. That sends the case into negotiation. Had he simply accepted every term, the process would already be over:
If the employer agrees to the terms in the request, it should make its acceptance clear in the response; the parties then notify the CAC using the CAC's mailbox to record the agreement, and the CAC keeps records of every statutory access agreement, whether negotiated or determined by the CAC.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“If the employer agrees to the terms in the request, then it should make clear its acceptance in the response to the trade union. The parties should then notify the CAC using the CAC’s mailbox to record the agreement and proceed. The CAC will keep records of every statutory access agreement (whether agreed by the employer and the trade union through negotiation or determined by the CAC).”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 31. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-response-acceptance
Step 4 of 5
Negotiating the terms
The negotiation window opens on the day the response notice is given and runs in working days:
Statutory limit — negotiation window Official code of practice · para. 36
VerifiedJK · 10 Jul 2026
Working days only. The Code fixes no bank-holiday calendar, so no calendar date is printed.
Show supporting passage
“The trade union and the employer have 25 working days following the day on which the response notice is given to negotiate the terms of an access agreement.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 36. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-negotiation-period
Each side names its lead negotiator, as the Code suggests: Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke for ASDWS, and Owen Trelfall for Thornebeck Distribution Ltd. Gareth Mabbutt joins two of the calls to work through the practicalities at the Marley Cross Distribution Centre — which room is genuinely free on shift changeover, where a noticeboard can go. The Code expects exactly this posture from both sides:
Both parties should approach access negotiations in good faith — considerate and mindful of the other party's perspectives, working together to find pragmatic, practical solutions — and may find it helpful to appoint a lead negotiator on each side and notify the other party who that is and how to contact them.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“Both parties should approach negotiations in good faith. This means that both parties should be considerate and mindful of the other party’s perspectives and work together to find pragmatic, practical solutions to any potential issues that may arise. The parties may find it helpful on both sides to appoint a lead negotiator and notify the other party of who this is and what their contact details are.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 36. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-negotiation-good-faith
Story event — not a legal step
On working day 22 of the window they settle the last open term — the visit pattern for the Denholt Park Depot.
Two things are worth noticing about the clock here. The window did not force this: had the talks still been constructive when it closed, the parties could simply have kept negotiating — the deadline matters when negotiation fails, because it is what starts the road to arbitration.
If the parties are proceeding with positive negotiations when the 25-day negotiation period elapses, there is no need to apply to the CAC for an extension — they can continue to negotiate until they arrive at an agreement. (The Code then describes sending the agreed terms with a new access request.)
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“If the trade union and the employer are proceeding with positive negotiations, but the 25-day negotiation period has elapsed, there is no need to apply to the CAC for an extension. Instead, the parties can continue to negotiate until they arrive at an agreement.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 38 (the follow-on mechanism is paras. 39-42). This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-negotiation-continuation
Step 5 of 5
The agreement
The agreed terms are written up, and both parties sign. The agreement itself is between union and employer — but it becomes a statutory access agreement by being notified to the Central Arbitration Committee, jointly and in writing:
The parties should notify the CAC of an agreement jointly, in writing, signed by both parties, containing a statement that it is made in accordance with section 70ZD(1) and a copy of the agreement itself; the CAC keeps records of every statutory access agreement, whether negotiated between the parties or imposed by the CAC.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“The parties should notify the CAC jointly, in writing, and signed by both parties. This should contain a statement that it is made in accordance with Section 70ZD(1) and with a copy of the agreement itself. As previously mentioned, the CAC will keep records of every statutory access agreement (whether agreed by the employer and the trade union through negotiation or imposed by the CAC).”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 42. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-agreement-cac-notification
Story event — not a legal step
The story closes 34 working days after the request was given.
That lands well inside the referral envelope that would have mattered if talks had failed — the single period, counted from the original request, within which an unresolved case must reach the Committee:
Statutory limit — referral to the Central Arbitration Committee Official code of practice · para. 44
VerifiedJK · 10 Jul 2026
An envelope over the whole process, counted from the original request — not a third sequential window. Extendable to 70 by the Committee where applying in time was not reasonably practicable.
Working days only. The Code fixes no bank-holiday calendar, so no calendar date is printed.
Show supporting passage
“Parties who are unable to reach agreement have 55 working days from the date the original access request was given to make an application to the CAC. It might be possible for the CAC to extend that to 70 days where it considers that it was not reasonably practicable for a party to apply for a determination under section 70ZE within the time limit.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 44. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-cac-referral-period
Two more terms shape what the parties have signed. The agreement has a maximum initial lifespan:
An access agreement may not initially last longer than two years from the date it is agreed or imposed, unless the parties agree to extend it.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“No access agreement will last longer than two years, starting from the date at which the access agreement is either agreed between the parties, or imposed by the CAC, unless the parties have agreed to extend the length of the agreement.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 53. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-agreement-max-duration
And access under it runs on notice. The first visit carries the longer notice requirement — a request that fails to provide for it must be refused — and every later visit carries its own shorter one:
At least five working days' notice must be given before the first instance of access under an agreement takes place; an access request that does not provide for this must be refused by the CAC.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“To be successful, any access request must provide the employer with at least five working days of notice before the first instance of access under the agreement takes place.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 52. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-initial-notice-period
At least two working days' notice must be given before each access visit (physical or digital) after the first; the first visit is excluded from the two-day rule because it carries the five-day rule.
Formal state
Laid — not yet in forceofficial text exists; not commenced
“under any access agreement, the trade union must provide a minimum of two working days' notice of an upcoming access visit (physical or digital). This does not apply to the first instance of access following the finalisation of the access agreement, which required a five working day notice period.”
Quoted verbatim from the identified source · Code of Practice: Right of trade unions to access workplaces (July 2026), para. 68. This authored restatement is published exactly as recorded in the evidence register.
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fact/access-subsequent-notice-period
Day one, when it comes, looks like this: Marisol Adeyemi-Clarke gives the agreed notice, signs in at the Marley Cross Distribution Centre as the named responsible official, and holds her first surgery in the agreed room while the noticeboard channel goes live on the intranet. What her union needed to be ready to do on that day — draft well, serve cleanly, hold dates, negotiate to terms, and keep the records that prove all of it — is what this page has just walked through.
Where the story bends
This is the path where everything works. The same process contains a refusal path, a silence path, and a referral to the Central Arbitration Committee with its own clock and its penalty framework — the places where the process actually bites. The branches walkthrough follows the same case down that road.
What this page rests on
This walkthrough is one telling of the site's single invented access case — the same cast and workplaces run through every journey here. In this telling the story reaches agreement inside the negotiation window; the recorded version of the case, with its partial rejection, failed negotiation and referral to the Central Arbitration Committee, belongs to the branches walkthrough. And this page counts working days rather than naming dates because the Code does not say which nation's bank-holiday calendar its working-day definition uses — the deadline calculator puts that choice in your hands rather than making it silently.
Several of the facts cited above were newly extracted from the laid Code for this page and render with an amber caveat until they pass this project's verification review — the same loop every fact on the transition map went through. Anything found wrong lands on the public corrections log.