Chapels and Union Recognition in a UK Newsroom

Last reviewed: 16 August 2026Next review due: 16 February 2027

What a chapel actually is

A chapel is the National Union of Journalists' unit of workplace organisation — what most other unions call a branch or a shop. It covers the members in a workplace, or in part of one, and the union says a chapel can be formed by a group of members, usually three or more, and that forming one is the first step to organising the union in that workplace. Very large workplaces may run more than one chapel simply so members can meet, and a chapel can also cover the media or communications department of a company that is not a media company at all.

Two vocabulary errors cause most of the confusion in newsroom management. The first is treating chapel and branch as interchangeable: NUJ branches are geographic or sectoral, they bring together members from different employers, and they do not bargain with your employer. The workplace layer that negotiates is the chapel. The second is assuming a chapel is a legal entity with statutory standing. It is not. A chapel is an internal union structure governed by the union's rulebook. The rights that bite on an employer attach to the union, and most of the important ones attach only once the union is recognised.

For what the NUJ itself is, how branches, councils, the National Executive Council and the Delegate Meeting fit together, and the membership grades, see our profile of the National Union of Journalists. This page is the workplace-level operational guide that sits underneath it.

Chapel Chair, FoC, MoC — and the other officers

The union's current guidance settles the naming question for anyone writing copy or drafting a house agreement: “The lead rep in a chapel is known as the Chapel Chair.” That is the term the NUJ uses on its own chapel democracy page, alongside a list of roles it says chapels should elect annually. The older titles have not been abolished — the draft rules for office chapels in the union's rulebook still give “the father/mother” power to call a full meeting of the chapel or of any section within it, and the glossary still defines M/FoC. In practice you will hear all three in the same building.

Chapel Chair

The leading figure in the chapel. Chairs chapel meetings and usually leads negotiations with management. The union notes that some chapels decide to have more than one chair to share the workload — worth knowing if you are told "the chair" is unavailable.

Secretary (or clerk)

Responsible for the administration of the chapel, including taking minutes and booking rooms. The rulebook draft rules use "clerk" and give the clerk the treasurer function where no separate treasurer has been appointed.

Equality officer

Responsible for ensuring the chapel is open and accessible to all members, and the main point of contact for members facing discrimination. Note this is a chapel role, not the statutory "union equality representative" — that right is legislated but not yet enforceable (see below).

Welfare officer

Responsible for the welfare of members and for supporting members in need. The union expects welfare officers to know the NUJ Extra guidelines and to be in contact with the branch welfare officer, who supports members making an application.

Deputy chair and treasurer

Additional roles the union says may be required in larger chapels — a deputy to support the chair, and a treasurer to manage any funds the chapel has at its disposal.

Wider committee roles

Chapels can build a broader committee with bespoke roles. The union gives examples: environmental rep, health and safety rep, communications rep, recruitment rep, membership rep, and branch liaison.

The health and safety rep is the exception worth remembering

The union states that a trained health and safety rep “can work with the employer to ensure the workplace is a safe place to work” and that health and safety reps have legal powers even where the union is not recognised. In a newsroom with no recognition agreement, that is often the only rep role with independent standing — which makes it the first one an organising chapel should fill and get trained.

Forming a chapel: the practical sequence

None of this is regulated by statute, so the sequence below is drawn from what the union publishes about chapels and about the recognition process that usually follows. The consistent theme is that recognition is won by membership density, not by paperwork: every stage of the statutory route measures how many people in the bargaining unit are actually in the union.

Find out whether a chapel already exists

Large media groups often have several chapels across separate sites and titles, and the biggest workplaces — the BBC, the Guardian, the Financial Times — have workplace-specific chapel branches. Ask your NUJ branch before starting from scratch. New members are assigned to a branch when they apply, and the union publishes a branch contacts directory.

Get three or more members together

The union puts the working threshold at usually three or more members in a workplace or part of a workplace. Freelances who regularly work for the employer count as part of the workplace for union purposes even though they may sit outside any statutory bargaining unit.

Elect officers and hold a proper meeting

Elect a chair, a secretary or clerk, an equality officer and a welfare officer, annually. The rulebook draft rules provide for monthly ordinary meetings, an annual meeting at which officers are elected, decisions by majority vote of members present and entitled to vote, and a special meeting to be convened within three days of a written petition by the required number of members.

Recruit before you request

Membership density is the whole game. Admissibility for a statutory application now turns on the membership test alone, and automatic recognition without a ballot turns on a majority of the bargaining unit being members. This is why the union singles out recruitment reps and membership reps as particularly important where a chapel is organising or preparing for action — and why keeping the membership list accurate matters more than most reps expect.

Decide what you are asking for

Voluntary recognition can cover anything the parties agree. The statutory route cannot: under paragraph 3(3) of Schedule A1, collective bargaining for these purposes means negotiations relating to pay, hours and holidays only, unless the parties agree otherwise — and paragraph 171A excludes pension terms from "pay". If you want editorial standards, byline protection, or a conscience clause in the agreement, that is a voluntary-agreement conversation.

The NUJ's draft chapel rules also carry a confidentiality clause that editors sometimes misread as obstruction: chapel business is private and confidential, and disclosure of chapel affairs to outsiders is an offence calling for disciplinary action under union rules. A rep declining to tell you what was said in a chapel meeting is following their own rulebook, not defying you.

Recognition: voluntary first, statutory as the backstop

The NUJ draws the line plainly: recognised chapels have an agreement with the employer to represent staff, and having recognition in place is what enables the chapel to negotiate on pay and conditions. Unrecognised chapels can still bring colleagues together to present a united front, which the union says can improve conditions in the absence of a formal agreement or serve as the base while campaigning for recognition.

In practice the overwhelming majority of newsroom recognition is voluntary— a house agreement negotiated directly between the publisher and the union, of the kind that produces the enhanced redundancy terms and the negotiated pay scales that many titles run. Voluntary agreements are faster, they can cover subjects the statutory scheme cannot, and they are usually expressed to be binding in honour only rather than as legally enforceable contracts. That last point cuts both ways: it is why an employer can walk away from an agreed procedure, and, after Kostal, why walking away can still be unlawful for a different reason.

Voluntary recognition

Negotiated directly; no CAC, no ballot, no thresholds
Can cover any subject matter the parties agree
Available to employers of any size, including under 21 workers
Normally binding in honour only, not legally enforceable
Still triggers the statutory rights that depend on recognition
Can be varied or ended by agreement, or unilaterally in law

Statutory recognition (Schedule A1)

Union must hold a certificate of independence
Employer must employ at least 21 workers (paragraph 7)
Covers pay, hours and holidays only (paragraph 3(3))
Decided by the Central Arbitration Committee
CAC-specified method takes effect as a legally enforceable contract
Three-year bar on reapplying after a lost ballot

The statutory route, step by step

The statutory scheme lives in Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, inserted by the Employment Relations Act 1999 and substantially rewritten by Schedule 6 to the Employment Rights Act 2025. It is administered by the Central Arbitration Committee, an independent tribunal whose recognition and derecognition decisions are published and are a chronically under-reported source of newsroom stories in their own right.

Step 1 — Write to the employer, not the CAC
The union must first make a request for recognition to the employer, and paragraph 8 makes that request invalid unless it is in writing, identifies the union and the bargaining unit, and states that it is made under Schedule A1. The CAC comes later, and only if the employer rejects the request or fails to respond. The CAC's own guidance gives the employer 10 working days to respond, and a 20 working day period to negotiate if it offers to.
Step 2 — The 21-worker gate
Paragraph 7 provides that the request is not valid unless the employer, taken with any associated employer or employers, employs at least 21 workers on the day the employer receives the request, or an average of at least 21 in the 13 weeks ending with that day. The two limbs are alternatives, so a title that dips below 21 on the day still qualifies if the 13-week average holds. Paragraph 7(2) sets out the averaging method: take the number employed in each of the 13 weeks, aggregate them, divide by 13. The count is of all workers employed, not just those in the bargaining unit.
Step 3 — The bargaining unit
If the parties have already agreed the unit, this stage is skipped. Otherwise there is a 20 working day negotiation period, with Acas and the CAC able to assist, and if no agreement is reached the CAC decides the unit at a hearing. In a media group, the shape of the unit is frequently the real fight: one title, several titles, editorial only, or editorial plus commercial.
Step 4 — Admissibility
Paragraph 36(1), as substituted with effect from 6 April 2026, makes an application inadmissible unless the CAC decides that members of the union constitute at least the required percentage of the workers in the relevant bargaining unit. Paragraph 35 is the other main bar: an application is inadmissible if a collective agreement is already in force under which any union is recognised for any worker in the unit — a single covered worker is enough, and the incumbent union does not have to be independent.
Step 5 — Recognition without a ballot
Under paragraph 22, if the CAC is satisfied that a majority of the workers in the bargaining unit are members of the union, it must declare recognition — unless one of three qualifying conditions in paragraph 22(4) applies: that a ballot should be held in the interests of good industrial relations; that the CAC has credible evidence from a significant number of union members in the unit that they do not want the union to bargain for them; or that membership evidence leads the CAC to doubt whether a significant number of the members want it to.
Step 6 — The ballot
Where a ballot is ordered, it is run by a Qualified Independent Person, at the workplace, by post, or a combination, and the cost is split equally between the union and the employer. Before it takes place the parties must agree how the union can meet and provide information to the workers in the unit; if they cannot, the CAC decides those access arrangements, and either side can complain to the CAC about an unfair practice used to influence the result.
Step 7 — The result
Paragraph 29(3), as substituted with effect from 6 April 2026, provides that if the result is that the union is supported by a majority of the workers voting, the CAC must issue a declaration of recognition. If the ballot does not support recognition, the union cannot apply again in respect of that bargaining unit, or one substantially the same, for three years.
Step 8 — The method of bargaining
A declaration is not the end of it. The parties get a negotiating period to agree a method of conducting collective bargaining. If they fail, paragraph 31(3) requires the CAC to specify one, and paragraph 31(4) provides that a specified method has effect as if it were contained in a legally enforceable contract — with paragraph 31(6) making specific performance the only available remedy for breach. The model method the CAC must take into account is set out in the Trade Union Recognition (Method of Collective Bargaining) Order 2000.

Schedule A1 also carries its own protection regime. Paragraph 156 gives a worker the right not to be subjected to a detriment on any of eight grounds connected with seeking, supporting or opposing recognition, including how they voted; paragraph 157 sets a three-month time limit; and paragraph 158 puts the burden on the employer to show the ground on which it acted. That reversal is the part employers most often overlook.

What the Employment Rights Act 2025 changed — and what it has not yet

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Almost none of it commenced on that date. It is being switched on in tranches by commencement regulations, and different trade union provisions in the same Part of the same Act are at different stages — some fully in force, some in force only so that ministers can make regulations or Acas can write a Code, and some not commenced at all. Reporting the Act as a single event is the most common error made about it.

In force since 6 April 2026 — recognition thresholds

Section 60 of the Act brings in Schedule 6, which amends Schedule A1. The relevant paragraphs were commenced on 6 April 2026 by regulation 3(1)(27) of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/323.

The 40 per cent ballot threshold is gone. Schedule 6 paragraph 19(3) substituted paragraph 29(3) so that a declaration of recognition follows where the union is supported by a majority of the workers voting. Paragraph 19(4) omitted paragraphs 29(5) to (7), the order-making powers to vary the degree of support. The old rule required both a majority of those voting and at least 40 per cent of all the workers in the bargaining unit.
The “likely to favour” admissibility test is gone.Schedule 6 paragraph 21 substituted paragraph 36(1), which now asks only whether members constitute at least the required percentage of the bargaining unit. The old second limb — that a majority of the workers would be likely to favour recognition — has been deleted, and with it the evidential exercise unions used to have to run at the application stage.
10 per cent stays, but is now a floating figure.Schedule 6 paragraph 65 inserted a new paragraph 171B: “the required percentage” means 10%, and the Secretary of State may by regulations amend that to a percentage not greater than 10% and not less than 2%. Such regulations need a draft approved by resolution of each House. So the threshold could be cut to as low as 2 per cent without further primary legislation.
A new anti-sweetheart provision.New paragraphs 35(5A) to (5C) require the CAC to ignore a recognition agreement with a non-independent union where it was entered into during the “restricted period” between the employer receiving the request and the CAC's decision, provided the union applies within a 20 working day “period of reflection”.

Two caveats that are routinely dropped

Transitional savings. Regulation 6 of SI 2026/323 preserves the old law in defined cases. The new admissibility test does not apply where the paragraph 11 or 12 application reached the CAC before 6 April 2026, and the new ballot threshold does not apply where the CAC informed the parties of the ballot under paragraph 25(9) before that date. Cases straddling the changeover still run on 40 per cent.

The 40 per cent test survives for derecognition. Paragraph 121(3) is untouched: a derecognition ballot succeeds only where ending the bargaining arrangements is supported by a majority of the workers voting andat least 40 per cent of the workers constituting the bargaining unit. A flat statement that “the 40 per cent threshold was abolished” is therefore wrong. It was abolished for recognition only.

On the statute book but NOT yet enforceable

This is the trap. legislation.gov.uk displays the amended text of these provisions, annotated “in force at 6.1.2026 for specified purposes”. Read the commencement instrument and those specified purposes turn out to be extremely narrow. Under regulation 2 of SI 2026/3, sections 58 and 59 are commenced only for the purpose of making regulations, and sections 64 and 65 only for the purpose of Acas issuing or revising a Code of Practice. As at the latest commencement instrument, SI 2026/559, none of them had been commenced any further.

Section 58 — the duty to give workers a statement of their trade union rights (new TULRCA section 136A).
Section 59 — the right of trade unions to access workplaces (new TULRCA Chapter 5ZA).
Section 64 — facilities for union officials and learning representatives, including the new section 168(3A) duty to provide reasonable accommodation and facilities, and a substituted section 168(5) putting the burden on the employer to show the time off proposed was not reasonable.
Section 65 — the new union equality representative right (new section 168B), and the consequential extensions to sections 169 and 170.

Acas states that these changes are expected on 30 October 2026, “providing Parliament approves them”, and that it will be updating its Code of Practice on time off to reflect them. Until commencement regulations are made, a chapel cannot enforce any of them, and the Acas Code still records the current position: there is no statutory right to facilities for union representatives, except for representatives engaged in duties related to collective redundancies and TUPE.

Two other 2026 changes a newsroom chapel will feel

Protective awards doubled.Section 30(2) of the Act substituted “180” for “90” in section 189(4) of TULRCA, so the maximum protected period a tribunal can award for failure to consult on collective redundancies is now 180 days' pay. In force 6 April 2026, and by regulation 5 of SI 2026/323 it does not apply to dismissals taking effect before that date. See our redundancy and restructuring guide for the consultation mechanics.

Blacklisting powers widened.Section 67, in force 18 February 2026, amends section 3 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 to remove the words “by employers or employment agencies” and to add a new power allowing the Secretary of State to prohibit the use, sale or supply of union membership lists for discrimination purposes more broadly. That is an enabling power: no replacement regulations have been made, and the 2010 Regulations still stand as originally made.

What a chapel rep may do: time off, pay, and training

These rights turn on recognition and on the distinction between duties and activities. It is a distinction that decides whether the newsroom pays for the time, and it is the single most common source of avoidable friction between a desk head and a rep.

Section 168 — duties (paid)

An employer must permit an employee who is an official of an independent trade union recognised by that employer to take time off during working hours to carry out duties concerned with:

Negotiations on the matters for which the union is recognised
Functions the employer has agreed the union may perform
Receiving information and being consulted under section 188 on redundancies, or under TUPE 2006
Negotiating and making TUPE regulation 9 agreements
Industrial relations training relevant to those duties and approved by the TUC or by the union

Section 169 requires the employer to pay for that time. Section 168(4) lets the employee complain to an employment tribunal if time off is refused.

Section 170 — activities (unpaid)

An employer must permit an employee who is a member of an independent trade union recognised in respect of that description of employee to take time off during working hours to take part in any activities of the union, and any activities in which the employee is acting as a representative of the union.

Section 170(2) excludes activities which themselves consist of industrial action, whether or not in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute
There is no pay provision: section 169 lists sections 168, 168A and 168B and omits section 170
Many house agreements pay for activities anyway — that is a negotiated benefit, not a statutory right

How much time off is “reasonable”?

Sections 168(3) and 170(3) set the same test: the amount of time off, the purposes, the occasions and any conditions are those that are reasonable in all the circumstances, having regard to any relevant provisions of a Code of Practice issued by Acas. The Code is the Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities, issued under section 199 of TULRCA and in force since 1 January 2010. Its paragraph 42 says the amount and frequency of time off should be reasonable in all the circumstances.

Section 207 of TULRCA makes a Code admissible in evidence before a tribunal, and requires the tribunal to take relevant provisions into account. Note that the 25 per cent uplift under section 207A does not apply to this Code — section 207A(4) restricts uplifts to Codes relating exclusively or primarily to procedure for the resolution of disputes, which is the disciplinary and grievance Code, not this one.

A practical note for editors: refusing time off is rarely the fight worth having. Requiring reasonable notice, asking which limb the request falls under, agreeing cover, and recording the decision is both lawful and defensible. Refusing outright, or refusing because you object to the subject of the meeting, is neither.

Protection: detriment, dismissal, and blacklisting

These protections do not depend on recognition, and two of them extend beyond employees to workers — which matters in newsrooms staffed with casuals, shift workers and rostered freelances.

Section 146 — detriment short of dismissal
A worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment as an individual by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, by the employer, where the sole or main purpose is preventing or deterring them from union membership, from taking part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time, or from making use of trade union services at an appropriate time — or penalising them for doing any of those things. "Appropriate time" means outside working hours, or within them where the employer has agreed or consented. Section 146(5A) carves out dismissal of an employee, which routes to section 152 instead.
Section 152 — automatically unfair dismissal
Dismissal is unfair for the purposes of Part X of the Employment Rights Act 1996 if the reason, or principal reason, was union membership, taking part in union activities at an appropriate time, making use of union services, failing to accept an offer made in contravention of section 145A or 145B, or non-membership. Section 154 disapplies the qualifying period in section 108(1) of the 1996 Act, so no minimum service is required to bring the claim.
Section 156 — the minimum basic award
Where a dismissal is unfair by virtue of section 152(1) or 153, the basic award is subject to a statutory minimum, raised to £9,157 on 6 April 2026 by the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026. That is a floor beneath the ordinary basic and compensatory awards, not a cap.
Schedule A1 paragraph 156 — recognition-specific detriment
A separate and additional right not to be subjected to a detriment on grounds connected with a recognition or derecognition process, including how the worker voted in a ballot. Paragraph 158 places the burden on the employer to show the ground on which it acted, and paragraph 157 sets a three-month limit.
The Blacklists Regulations 2010
Regulation 3(1) of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 provides that no person shall compile, use, sell or supply a prohibited list. Regulation 3(2) defines a prohibited list as one containing details of people who are or have been union members or who are taking or have taken part in union activities, compiled with a view to being used by employers or employment agencies for the purposes of discrimination in recruitment or in the treatment of workers. Regulation 3(3) defines discrimination as treating a person less favourably on those grounds.
Blacklisting remedies
Regulation 5 covers refusal of employment and regulation 6 refusal of employment agency services, with regulation 8(3) setting a minimum compensation figure of £5,000 and regulation 8(7) a cap of £65,300. Regulation 9 covers detriment and reverses the burden of proof; regulation 11(5) again sets a £5,000 minimum. Regulation 12 inserts section 104F into the Employment Rights Act 1996, making blacklist-related dismissal automatically unfair with no qualifying period. Note these figures have never been uprated and are not touched by the annual increase-of-limits orders.

Reporting industrial action itself — ballots, mandates, notice periods, picketing rules — is a different body of law and is covered in our industrial relations and strikes beat guide.

The right to be accompanied — which applies whether or not you recognise the union

Section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 is the right that most often surprises managers in unrecognised newsrooms. The word “recognised” does not appear in it. It applies where a workeris required or invited to attend a disciplinary or grievance hearing and reasonably requests to be accompanied. It is not conditional on a recognition agreement, on the union having members elsewhere in the building, or on the employer's consent.

What the companion may do (s.10(2B))

Address the hearing to put the worker's case
Sum up that case
Respond on the worker's behalf to any view expressed at the hearing
Confer with the worker during the hearing

What the employer need not permit (s.10(2C))

The companion answering questions on the worker's behalf
The companion addressing the hearing if the worker says at it that they do not wish them to
Use of those powers in a way that prevents the employer explaining its case, or prevents anyone else present making their contribution

Who can be the companion, and the postponement rule

Section 10(3) allows one companion chosen by the worker who is either employed by a trade union and is an official of it, or is a union official whom the union has reasonably certified in writing as having experience of or training in acting as a companion at such hearings, or is another of the employer's workers. A trained Chapel Chair falls squarely within the second limb — which is one practical reason for a chapel to put its reps through the union's rep training.

If the chosen companion is unavailable at the time the employer proposes and the worker proposes an alternative that is reasonable and falls before the end of five working days beginning with the first working day after the day proposed, the employer must postpone the hearing to that time. Section 10(6) requires the employer to permit a fellow worker acting as a companion to take time off during working hours to do it, and section 10(7) applies the section 169 pay provisions to that time off — so accompanying a colleague is paid.

The Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, in effect since 11 March 2015, covers the right at paragraphs 13 to 17 for disciplinary hearings and 35 to 39 for grievances. Unlike the time-off Code, unreasonable failure to follow it can attract an adjustment of up to 25 per cent under section 207A of TULRCA, in either direction.

What recognition actually unlocks: information and consultation

Beyond the right to negotiate, recognition switches on two obligations that matter enormously in a contracting industry, and that many chapels under-use.

Disclosure of information for collective bargaining (s.181)

An employer who recognises an independent trade union must, for the purposes of all stages of collective bargaining on the matters for which the union is recognised, disclose to representatives of the union, on request, information relating to the employer's undertaking (including information on the use of agency workers) which is in its possession or that of an associated employer, and which satisfies two tests: that without it the union representatives would be to a material extent impeded in carrying on collective bargaining, and that disclosing it would be in accordance with good industrial relations practice. The request must be put in writing if the employer asks, and the information must be given or confirmed in writing if the union asks.

Section 182 sets the limits. There is no duty to disclose information whose disclosure would be against national security, would contravene an enactment, was communicated in confidence, relates specifically to an individual who has not consented, would cause substantial injury to the undertaking for reasons other than its effect on collective bargaining, or was obtained for the purpose of legal proceedings. Nor is there a duty to produce documents, or to compile information where the work involved would be out of reasonable proportion to its value in bargaining. Disputes go to the CAC.

Collective redundancy consultation (s.188)

Where an employer proposes to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days or less, it must consult the appropriate representatives of the affected employees. Section 188(1B)(a) is the provision chapels should know by heart: where the employees are of a description in respect of which an independent trade union is recognised, the appropriate representatives are representatives of that union. The employer does not get to choose elected employee representatives instead. Consultation must begin in good time and at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect, or 45 days where 100 or more are proposed, and must cover ways of avoiding the dismissals, reducing the numbers, and mitigating the consequences, undertaken with a view to reaching agreement.

Section 189(1)(c) gives the complaint to the trade union itselfwhere the failure relates to union representatives, and section 189(4) now caps the protected period at 180 days' pay. Time off to receive that information and be consulted is paid time off under section 168(1)(c).

For editors and managers: what you may and may not do

Editors are frequently the last people in a media business to be briefed on this, and are frequently the ones who make the costly mistake — usually in good faith, usually in the middle of a pay round, and usually by trying to talk directly to the newsroom. The following is not exhaustive, but it covers the errors that generate tribunal claims.

You may

Decline a request for voluntary recognition, and put your case in a CAC ballot
Negotiate hard on the shape of the bargaining unit, and take it to a CAC hearing
Ask a rep which limb a time-off request falls under, require reasonable notice, and agree cover
Communicate factually with staff about the business and about a pay position
Discipline a journalist who happens to be a rep, on genuine and evidenced grounds unrelated to union activity
Ask that chapel meetings do not disrupt publication, and agree sensible timings
Refuse disclosure of information that falls within a section 182 exemption

You may not

Make offers whose sole or main purpose is that terms will no longer be determined by collective agreement
Refuse a reasonable request to be accompanied, or dictate who the companion is
Subject a worker to any detriment for union membership or activities at an appropriate time
Take union involvement into account in commissioning, shift allocation, promotion or redundancy scoring
Compile, use, sell or supply a list of members or activists for discrimination purposes
Sign a recognition deal with a non-independent union to block an application in the restricted period
Treat a rep's refusal to disclose chapel business as insubordination

Inducements: sections 145A and 145B, and what Kostal decided

Section 145A gives a worker the right not to have an offer made by the employer for the sole or main purpose of inducing them not to be a union member, not to take part in union activities at an appropriate time, not to make use of union services, or to join a particular union.

Section 145B is the collective bargaining provision, and it applies where the union is recognised or seeking to be recognised. A worker who is a member of such a union has the right not to have an offer made where acceptance of it, together with other workers' acceptance of offers the employer also makes to them, would have “the prohibited result”, and the employer's sole or main purpose in making the offers is to achieve that result. Section 145B(2) defines the prohibited result as being that the workers' terms of employment, or any of them, will not, or will no longer, be determined by collective agreement negotiated by or on behalf of the union. Under section 145D(2) it is for the employer to show what its sole or main purpose was.

In Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley [2021] UKSC 47, decided on 27 October 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the workers' appeal and restored the tribunal's awards. Lord Leggatt held that what section 145B prohibits is not an offer with a particular content but an offer which, if accepted by all the workers to whom it is made, would have a particular result — and that this requires a causal connection, which will not be satisfied “unless there is at least a real possibility that, had the offer not been made and accepted, the workers' relevant terms of employment for the period would have been determined by a new collective agreement”. On that reading an employer may make a direct offer on a matter within the scope of a collective agreement provided it has first followed and exhausted the agreed collective bargaining procedure. What an employer cannot do with impunity, the Court said, is what Kostal did: make a direct offer to its workers, including union members, before the collective bargaining process it has agreed — albeit in honour only — to follow has been exhausted.

The price is fixed and per head. Section 145E(3) requires the tribunal to award a set sum for each offer made to each complainant — £5,993 from 6 April 2026, raised from £5,735 by the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026. It is a mandatory amount, not a maximum, and it multiplies across a newsroom. Section 145C sets a three-month time limit for the complaint. Sections 145A and 145B were not amended by the Employment Rights Act 2025, so Kostal continues to govern.

Where the editor sits in the chapel

Editors can be NUJ members, but the union's draft rules for office chapels limit the part they play. Those rules provide that the editor, and heads of sections under the editor, even if union members, may by a chapel rule be required not to attend chapel meetings unless specially requested, and that an editor shall not be eligible to hold the office of chair or clerk. They also make chapel business private and confidential, with disclosure to outsiders a disciplinary offence under union rules. These are internal union rules rather than statute, but they are the reason a chapel meeting is not a management forum — and a sound reason for an editor to route everything through the Chapel Chair rather than into the room.

Frequently asked questions

How many people do you need to form an NUJ chapel?

The union says a chapel can be formed by a group of members in a workplace or part of a workplace, usually three or more, and that forming one is the first step to organising the union in that workplace. Nothing in law sets a minimum: a chapel is an internal union structure, not a statutory body, so the threshold is the union’s own. What the law does set is a separate threshold for the statutory recognition procedure — paragraph 7 of Schedule A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 makes a recognition request invalid unless the employer, taken with any associated employers, employs at least 21 workers on the day the request is received, or an average of at least 21 in the 13 weeks ending with that day. Those are two different things, and a small title can have a fully functioning chapel with no statutory route.

Is the lead chapel rep called the Father of the Chapel or the Chapel Chair?

The union’s current guidance is unambiguous: "The lead rep in a chapel is known as the Chapel Chair." That is the term used on the NUJ’s chapel democracy page, which lists the annually elected roles as chapel chair, secretary, equality officer and welfare officer. The older titles Father of the Chapel and Mother of the Chapel — FoC and MoC — have not disappeared: the draft rules for office chapels in the union’s rulebook still refer to "the father/mother" having power to call a full meeting of the chapel, and the glossary still defines M/FoC. Both are in live circulation in newsrooms. If you are quoting someone, use the title they use for themselves.

What is the difference between a recognised and an unrecognised chapel?

A recognised chapel has an agreement with the employer to represent staff, and the NUJ states that having recognition in place is what enables the chapel to negotiate on pay and conditions. An unrecognised chapel still exists and still functions — the union describes it as bringing colleagues together to present a united front, which can improve conditions in the absence of a formal agreement or serve as the organising base while campaigning for recognition. The legal consequences are substantial. The statutory rights to paid time off for union duties under section 168 of TULRCA 1992, to time off for union activities under section 170, and to disclosure of information for collective bargaining under section 181 all require a recognised independent trade union. Two rights do not: the right to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance hearing under section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, and the protections against detriment and dismissal for union membership and activities under sections 146 and 152 of TULRCA.

Did the Employment Rights Act 2025 change the recognition thresholds, and is it in force?

Yes to both, but only in part, and the detail matters. Section 60 of and Schedule 6 to the Employment Rights Act 2025 amend Schedule A1 to TULRCA 1992. Commencement Regulations SI 2026/323 brought the relevant provisions into force on 6 April 2026. Two things changed. First, the ballot threshold: paragraph 29(3) now provides that where a union is supported by a majority of the workers voting, the CAC must declare it recognised — the former additional requirement of at least 40 per cent of the workers constituting the bargaining unit is gone, and paragraphs 29(5) to (7) were omitted with it. Second, admissibility: the substituted paragraph 36(1) requires only that union members constitute at least "the required percentage" of the bargaining unit, deleting the old second limb that a majority of workers would be likely to favour recognition. The 10 per cent figure survives in a new paragraph 171B, which also gives the Secretary of State power, by regulations approved by both Houses, to set it anywhere between 2 per cent and 10 per cent. Two caveats: transitional savings in regulation 6 of SI 2026/323 preserve the old rules for applications received, and ballots notified, before 6 April 2026; and the 40 per cent test still applies to derecognition ballots under paragraph 121(3).

Does a chapel rep get paid time off for union work?

It depends which section you are in. Section 168 of TULRCA 1992 requires an employer to permit an employee who is an official of an independent trade union recognised by that employer to take time off during working hours to carry out duties concerned with the matters for which the union is recognised, with functions the employer has agreed may be performed, and with receiving information and being consulted under section 188 on redundancies or under TUPE 2006. It also covers approved industrial relations training. Section 169 makes that time off paid. Section 170 is different: it gives a member of a recognised independent union time off for union activities, it expressly excludes activities which themselves consist of industrial action, and there is no equivalent pay provision — section 169 lists sections 168, 168A and 168B and pointedly omits section 170. So duties are paid, activities are not, unless the employer agrees otherwise. In both cases the amount is what is reasonable in all the circumstances, having regard to the Acas Code of Practice.

Can an editor make a pay offer directly to journalists during a chapel pay dispute?

Only with great care, and not while the agreed bargaining procedure is still running. Section 145B of TULRCA 1992 gives a worker who is a member of an independent union that is recognised, or seeking to be recognised, the right not to have an offer made where acceptance of it together with other workers’ acceptance would have "the prohibited result" — that the workers’ terms will not, or will no longer, be determined by collective agreement — and where the employer’s sole or main purpose is to achieve that result. In Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley [2021] UKSC 47 the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the workers’ appeal and restored the tribunal awards. Lord Leggatt held that there must be a real possibility that, had the offer not been made and accepted, the terms would have been determined by a new collective agreement, and stated plainly that what an employer cannot do with impunity is make a direct offer to its workers, including union members, before the collective bargaining process it has agreed to follow has been exhausted. The award under section 145E(3) is a fixed sum per worker per offer — £5,993 from 6 April 2026 — and it is mandatory, not a maximum.

Is an editor allowed to be in the chapel?

Editors can be NUJ members — the union’s membership grades cover editors — but the union’s own draft rules for office chapels place limits on the role they can play. Those rules provide that the editor, and heads of sections under the editor, even if members of the union, may by a chapel rule be required not to attend chapel meetings unless specially requested to do so, and that an editor shall not be eligible to hold the office of chair or clerk. The same rules state that chapel business is private and confidential and that disclosure of chapel affairs to outsiders is an offence calling for disciplinary action under union rules. These are internal union rules, not statute, but they explain why a well-run newsroom keeps the chapel meeting and the editorial conference structurally separate.

What can a manager not do to a chapel rep?

Section 146 of TULRCA 1992 gives a worker the right not to be subjected to any detriment as an individual, by any act or deliberate failure to act by the employer, where the sole or main purpose is to prevent or deter them from being a union member or from taking part in union activities or making use of union services at an appropriate time, or to penalise them for doing so. "Appropriate time" means outside working hours, or within working hours where the employer has agreed or consented. Section 152 makes dismissal for those reasons automatically unfair, and section 154 disapplies the qualifying period, so a journalist dismissed for union activities does not need two years’ service to claim. The minimum basic award where a dismissal is unfair by virtue of section 152 rose to £9,157 on 6 April 2026. Separately, the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit compiling, using, selling or supplying a list of union members or activists compiled with a view to use for discrimination in recruitment or in the treatment of workers.

Primary sources

Schedule A1 to TULRCA 1992 — collective bargaining: recognition (paras 3, 7, 8, 22, 29, 31, 35, 36, 121, 156–158, 171B)— legislation.gov.uk
Employment Rights Act 2025, Schedule 6 — trade union recognition, with commencement notes— legislation.gov.uk
SI 2026/323 — ERA 2025 Commencement No. 2 (Amendment) Regulations 2026: reg 3(1)(27) and the reg 6 transitional savings— legislation.gov.uk
SI 2026/3 — ERA 2025 Commencement No. 1 Regulations 2026: reg 2(18)–(22), the “specified purposes”— legislation.gov.uk
SI 2026/559 — ERA 2025 Commencement No. 4 Regulations 2026, with the commencement table— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.168 — time off for carrying out trade union duties— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.169 — payment for time off— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.170 — time off for trade union activities— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.146 — detriment on grounds related to union membership or activities— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.152 — dismissal on grounds related to union membership or activities— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.154 — disapplication of the qualifying period— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.145B — inducements relating to collective bargaining— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.145E — the fixed award for unlawful inducements— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.181 — duty to disclose information for collective bargaining— legislation.gov.uk
TULRCA 1992 s.188 — duty to consult representatives on collective redundancies— legislation.gov.uk
Employment Relations Act 1999 s.10 — right to be accompanied— legislation.gov.uk
The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010— legislation.gov.uk
The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026 — the s.145E and s.156 figures— legislation.gov.uk
Trade union recognition: how to apply to the CAC— Central Arbitration Committee
Statutory recognition: guidance on Part I of Schedule A1— Central Arbitration Committee
Central Arbitration Committee — published case outcomes and annual reports— gov.uk
Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities— Acas
Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures— Acas
Employment Rights Act 2025 — Acas timetable of changes— Acas
Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley [2021] UKSC 47 — judgment and press summary— UK Supreme Court
Chapels and branches — forming a chapel, recognised and unrecognised chapels— NUJ
Chapels — the Chapel Chair and the elected chapel roles— NUJ
Draft rules for office chapels (Appendix E of the rule book)— NUJ
NUJ reps — resources and training for workplace representatives— NUJ