New EAT Rules Open Union Workplace Access Appeals
Most people will never read a statutory instrument for fun, and that is exactly why this one needs translating. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2026 were made on 12 October 2026, laid before Parliament on 13 October 2026, and come into force on 3 November 2026. They extend to England and Wales and Scotland. On paper, the change looks narrow and procedural. In practice, it matters because it makes sure some disputes about trade union access to workplaces can be taken up to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, usually shortened to the EAT. If you are trying to understand how workplace rights work in real life, this is the sort of rule that sits quietly in the background but can shape what happens next.
The first thing to know is that this instrument does not create the workplace access right itself. That right was inserted earlier by section 59(2) of the Employment Rights Act 2025, which added Chapter 5ZA to Part 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. What the new 2026 rules do is update the EAT's older procedural rules, first made in 1993, so they properly cover appeals connected to that newer trade union access framework. The explanatory note says the change is needed for appeals to the EAT from determinations, declarations and orders made by the Central Arbitration Committee under that chapter.
If those bodies sound unfamiliar, you are not alone. The Central Arbitration Committee, or CAC, deals with certain disputes involving trade unions and collective workplace rights. The EAT sits further up the chain and hears appeals on legal points in employment cases. So this is not about starting a brand new workplace access case in the EAT. It is about what happens after the CAC has already ruled and one side argues that the law was applied wrongly. **What this means in plain English:** there is now a clearer route for challenging some CAC outcomes in workplace access cases before the specialist appeal tribunal.
That is why the instrument spends so much time changing wording in several different rules. It amends rule 3 on starting an appeal, rule 4 on serving the notice of appeal, rule 5 on who the respondents are, rule 6 on a respondent's answer and cross-appeal, rule 7 on disposal of the appeal, and rule 31 on drawing up and enforcing orders. It also updates Form 1A in the Schedule. To a non-lawyer, this may look like repetitive drafting. But procedure works through repetition. A case type has to be named in the right places across the whole appeal process, or gaps appear. These amendments add references to section 70ZM(1) and (2) of the 1992 Act and add the word "determination" in places where the old drafting only referred to decisions or declarations.
One of the clearest clues to the purpose of the change sits in the form itself. Form 1A is amended so that an appellant can say not only that the CAC was wrong in law, but also that it erred in making an order under section 70ZI(5)(b) of the 1992 Act. You do not need to memorise that citation to see why it matters. Appeal systems often depend on exact wording. If a form does not match the legal route Parliament has created, people can struggle to use that route properly. **The practical lesson here:** rights are only usable when the paperwork recognises them.
The rules were made by the Lord Chancellor using powers under section 30 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. Before making them, the Lord Chancellor consulted the Lord President of the Court of Session, which the Act requires. The instrument was signed by Sarah Sackman, Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, on 12 October 2026. The explanatory note also says no impact assessment was carried out because no impact, or no significant impact, is expected for the private, voluntary or public sectors. That should not be read as meaning the rules are trivial. It simply tells us ministers see this as a procedural amendment rather than a measure expected to create major economic change on its own.
If you are following employment law, the simplest way to read this is as a catch-up between a new workplace right and the appeal machinery around it. The Employment Rights Act 2025 set up the relevant trade union workplace access provisions. The 2026 amendment makes sure the EAT rulebook now reflects them for England and Wales and Scotland. For students, workers, union reps and anyone trying to make sense of labour law, there is a wider point too. Big headline Acts often get the attention, but smaller procedural rules decide whether a dispute can move from one body to another, who gets notified, which form is used and what legal arguments can be set out. That is why this technical-looking amendment deserves a plain-English reading.