The government's response to the ‘Make Work Pay: Trade Union Right of Access’ consultation represents a missed opportunity for the government to make the Employment Rights Act more workable for employers.

Alex Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor for Employment at the Institute of Directors, said: "Of the myriad of employment law reforms coming into effect via the Employment Rights Act, the right of trade unions to access workplaces has consistently been cited by business leaders as one of their biggest concerns.

"The government's response to the consultation shows little evidence of having taken regard of businesses' legitimate concerns. In particular, setting the employer size threshold at only 21 employees, enabling weekly access to workplaces, and requiring only two working days' notice for union visits cumulatively represent an approach which will cost employers dearly in terms of additional bureaucracy and staff time.

"Throughout the passage of the Employment Rights Act, the government pledged to use the consultation process to meaningfully engage with the concerns of employers. Its response to this consultation will not inspire any confidence in the business community that this will in fact be the case.

"At a time when unemployment is rising, job creation is stalling, and business confidence is at record lows, the government must do better in responding to employers' concerns if it hopes to reverse any of those trends."