Industrial action presents employers with difficult legal and practical decisions, from responding to strikes and maintaining business operations to considering dismissals during or after a dispute. Understanding when industrial action is lawful, what obligations employers must meet and how the rules on dismissal apply is key to managing disruption and reducing the risk of costly employment tribunal claims.
In this guide our employment law solicitors explain everything employers need to know about managing strikes and industrial action, from balloting rules to payment obligations, injunctions, and prevention strategies. You will discover how to navigate lawful versus unlawful strikes, handle dismissal decisions safely, and implement early intervention tactics to avoid industrial action altogether.
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When is industrial action lawful?
If industrial action is lawful (or ‘protected’ so the trade union is protected from claims for trade disruption and breach of contract), then you can’t sue the union and are restricted in your ability to dismiss striking employees.
Certain conditions must be met for industrial action to be lawful, including:
- Trade dispute – the industrial action must be part of a dispute between you and your employees about employment related issues which cannot be solved by informal negotiations or arbitration.
- Ballot – the action must be supported by a properly organised ballot of union members and the union must have complied with all notification requirements.
- Notification of an industrial action ballot, as an employer, the information you need to be given includes:
- At least seven days’ notice before a ballot
- A copy of the ballot paper at least three days before the ballot
- Notification of the result of the ballot as soon as reasonably practicable
- At least 10 days’ notice before industrial action is due to start
- Not for a prohibited reason – industrial action can’t be taken for any of the following:
- Secondary action (supporting another strike which doesn’t involve that employee)
- Because an employee is supporting another employee who has been dismissed for involvement in unofficial industrial action
- Promoting closed-shop practices (getting you to agree to only employ union members)
- To induce the employer to include a provision in its supply contracts which requires the supplier to only use union members to carry out some or all of its work, or which requires the supplier to recognise a trade union
- Is not unlawful picketing, although note that peaceful picketing (to obtain or communicate information, or to persuade someone to work or not work) is expressly considered to be lawful.
If these conditions aren’t met, industrial action may not be lawful. If so, it may be possible to dismiss your employees for going on strike, even if the action is official. Employers should always proceed with caution in any dismissals though, as it’s automatically unfair to dismiss where there is lawful industrial action.
Have the rules on industrial action changed?
The Employment Rights Act 2025 made significant changes to the rules on industrial action and other areas of trade union law, including recognition and derecognition. Some of the key changes in relation to industrial action include:
- From 30 October 2026, the introduction of the right to be protected from being subjected to a detriment of a prescribed description, where the detrimental act is for the sole or main purpose of preventing or deterring a worker from taking protected industrial action or penalising the worker for doing so. This supplements a right that was introduced on 18 February 2026 giving extended protection against dismissal for taking part in protected industrial action;
- From 25 August 2026, electronic and workplace balloting for industrial action ballots was introduced;
- From 18 February 2026:
- The information that unions were required to provide to employers in a notice of a ballot for industrial action was simplified, so that now the union must ask its members in the ballot paper to decide which type of industrial action they wish to take part it, which is categorised as strike action or action short of a strike.
- The notice period for industrial action was reduced from 14 days to 10 days and the requirements for the content of the notice changed, so that now unions must provide the notice in writing, with information as to the categories of employees involved, the workplaces affected and the number of affected employees at each workplace, the total number of affected employees and an explanation as to how those numbers were arrived at. The notice must also state whether the industrial action will be continuous or non-continuous, the intended start date or dates and it must be served on all employers of each union member within the ‘appropriate period’ which is the period beginning with the date upon which the union notified the employer of the ballot result and ending with the 14th day before the industrial action begins.
- The mandate for industrial action (that is, the union members’ support for it) was increased from six months to twelve months, and the possibility of extending that period without a further ballot was removed.
- At some point in the future, the ‘turnout threshold’ of 50% (meaning that at least 50% of all members eligible to vote have voted) will be removed, although the date of that is yet to be confirmed and before that happens, the Secretary of State must have regard to the effects of electronic and workplace voting.
In addition to the legislative changes, a revised Code of Practice on industrial action ballots and employer notices was published on 5 March 2026 which takes account of these changes.
Can you dismiss employees for going on strike?
If employees go on strike, they are breaching their employment contract. This doesn’t mean that you can dismiss them without the dismissal being classed as unfair. Your right to dismiss striking employees will depend on whether the industrial action is protected, official or unofficial, and whether it’s lawful or not.
- Protected industrial action is action that has been lawfully organised by the trade union and offers the highest level of protection to employees.
- Official industrial action occurs where the employee is a member of a trade union which has authorised or endorsed industrial action, or where the employee is not a trade union member but there are members of the union in the group taking part in the authorised industrial action, or where neither the employee nor any of their colleagues taking part in the industrial action or members of a union.
- Unofficial action is action which is not official (and official action can become unofficial if the union repudiates the action at some point).
Since 18 February 2026, a dismissal will be automatically unfair (regardless of the employee’s length of service) if the reason or principal reason for the dismissal was that the employee took part in protected industrial action. Protection only arises where the employee is a member of the union that has called the industrial action, or where they are not a member of a union at all. Employees who are members of a different union which has not endorsed or authorised the action are not similarly protected.
If the employee was taking part in unofficial action at the time of their dismissal will the employer may have immunity from a claim of unfair dismissal. The employee must be actively taking part in the action; if they have stopped, the employer’s immunity against an unfair dismissal allegation may be lost.
Where the employee was taking part in official, but not protected, industrial action at the time of their dismissal, they will not have the right to bring a claim of unfair dismissal unless they can show that either one or more ‘relevant employees’ of the same employer were not dismissed, or that a ‘relevant employee’ has been offered re-engagement within three months of the dismissal and the employee has not.
For more on automatic unfair dismissal, read our guide on unfair dismissal.
Do you have to pay employees who are on strike?
When employees go on strike, you don’t need to pay them for the days they are not at work. The question of how much to deduct can be surprisingly problematic. If the employees are paid hourly, it’s easy, but if they are salaried, pay normally accrues from day to day based on calendar (not working) days, unless you specify something else about strike pay in the employment contract.
If the employees are acting short of a strike then you can’t deduct pay. You will either have to pay the employees in full or demand that they comply with their contracts in full or stay away from work, but that would of course be likely to inflame matters.
You can’t hire agency staff to cover striking workers (although any agency staff you’re currently employing are unaffected).
What can employers do to stop a strike?
As well as withholding pay, you can refuse to accept partial performance. So, if employees fail to fully perform their contract, you can inform them that you refuse to accept partial performance and make it clear to workers that if they attend work and don’t fully perform their duties, partial performance is voluntary and no payment will be made for any work done.
Employers can bring civil claims if an unlawful, unprotected act has happened or been threatened, the action breaks a contract that you are a party to and you have suffered, or are likely to suffer, loss as a result, if the action isn’t lawful. These either take the form of a claim for damages, or for an injunction.
For example, if there’s been a breach of the balloting rules or you haven’t been given proper notifications, you can apply to the court for an interim injunction to prevent the action from happening. An interim injunction is a temporary measure, and you will need a full court case to get a complete injunction, but an interim injunction is often all that is needed to put a stop to the action and allow you to sort out the issues with your employees.
If you are relying on a breach of balloting rules, bear in mind that the union will have a defence if there have been ‘minor errors’.
You will need to act quickly if you’re applying for an injunction, the union only needs to give you 10 days’ notice of a strike.
If the strike has already gone ahead, you may be able to claim damages from the employees and union if it wasn’t lawful. Amounts are based on the union membership and subject to a statutory maximum (currently £250,000).
How can employers avoid industrial action?
You should try to avoid industrial action where possible. It can cause interruption to your business, may affect your reputation, and most importantly, indicates that your employees are unhappy.
You should talk to and consult with your employees at an early stage whenever you are making changes that will affect them detrimentally, with a view to getting their agreement. Things you can do are:
- Call a meeting – to explain your reasons for making the changes and so that they can ask questions and air any grievances. Do this as early as possible, to give as much warning as you can.
- If there is a trade union involved – you should hold meetings with union representatives to try and reach a compromise. You should also consider whether it’s worth inviting an independent mediator to your discussions.
- Send out information packs and letters – you could also send out information packs or letters, telling your employees about the changes you’re planning and asking for their comments within a certain period.
- Listen to your employees – it is important that your employees feel that they are being listened to and that their views are taken on board. You should give them as many opportunities to respond to your proposed changes as possible, and you should consider their issues.
Reaching a compromise early on may prevent industrial action. If your proposed changes need to be made and there are no other options, you should make this clear and, if possible, show that you have considered the alternatives and any issues raised. If the changes are driven by financial problems, explain that the alternative may be a restructuring.
There are several pitfalls to watch out for when attempting to get employees’ agreement to changes, such as:
- If there is a trade union that is recognised for collective bargaining on employees’ terms and conditions, you have to go through them, if you try to bypass the union by making a direct approach to employees, this is an ‘inducement’ and is unlawful, attracting mandatory fixed fines.
- You should get express agreement – relying on the fact that employees can be assumed to have accepted the change because they have carried on working can be dangerous.
- Changes to a pension scheme may require consultation with employees.
- If you are thinking of making redundancies, which can include dismissing and re-engaging employees who don’t agree to changes, you need to take legal advice as there are strict rules about collective consultation and notifying the Government (and severe penalties for a failure to comply). The law is also changing this area too, so you should take up to date advice at an early stage if this is an exercise you are contemplating.
How our employment law solicitors can help
Managing industrial action effectively can help limit disruption to your business and reduce the risk of employment tribunal claims. Our employment law solicitors can advise on the lawfulness of proposed action, your pay obligations and the rules on dismissing striking employees.
We can also support discussions with employees and trade unions, advise on options for challenging unlawful action and help you plan for business continuity during a dispute.
Contract our employment team to discuss how we can help your business manage strikes and industrial action.
