When a temp registers with an agency today, two documents change hands before any work is found. The Key Information Document, which says how they will be paid and by whom. And the written statement of particulars, which says what the engagement is. From January 2027 there is a third, and this week we learned exactly what it will look like.
On 25 September the government published its response to the consultation on the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union. The duty itself is in the Employment Rights Act 2025 and sits on the government's timetable for January 2027. The response settles the four things employers wanted to know.
What it says. The government will write the statement and put it in regulations. Employers may not change the wording. The only additions allowed are your own workplace details, a list of any recognised trade unions or access agreements you have, and either a link to the Certification Officer's list of unions or a copy of that list alongside it. The statement will explain, in neutral terms, what a union does and what the worker's rights are.
Who gets it. Every worker. That word matters for an agency, because the temps an employment business engages under a contract for services are its workers. The duty is not limited to your own consultants and office staff. It covers every temp on your books.
When new workers get it. With the written statement of particulars, at the same time. In practice that means it joins the registration pack, so the pack from January is the written statement, the Key Information Document and the union statement.
When existing workers get it. Two routes. Directly, every year by 5 April. Or indirectly, for example on a portal or intranet, provided it stays continuously and reasonably available, the worker is told where it is, and they get a reminder once a year that it is there. If the place it lives changes, you tell them directly. If the recognised unions change, the statement is reissued within a month.
What this means on a temp desk
Nothing here is difficult. It is a piece of paper, and the government is writing it. The work is in the plumbing, and there are three pieces.
First, the registration process. Whatever sends the Key Information Document today, whether that is your CRM, your onboarding app or an email template, needs a third attachment from January. Decide now where the statement will sit and who checks it is there. A temp who registers on 2 January should get it without anyone remembering.
Second, the existing book. Every temp who registered before January and is still on the books is an existing worker. You choose the route. Direct means a send to everyone by 5 April, every year. Indirect means one place they can always reach, one line in the pack telling them where, and one reminder a year. For most agencies with a portal, indirect is less work; for an agency that runs on email, direct is simpler.
Third, the record. The tribunal time limit doubles to six months from 1 October, and the Fair Work Agency's remit keeps growing. If a worker says they never got the statement, the answer is the dated record of what was sent, to whom and how. Treat it exactly as you treat the Key Information Document. Sent, dated, kept.
What to do this month
Put a line in your January plan that reads "union statement in the registration pack", and a second that reads "existing temps, direct or indirect, decided". Then wait for the regulations, which will carry the text. Do not write your own version. The government has said the wording is fixed, and an agency that improvises will have to replace it.
If you use umbrella companies, the umbrella is the employer of the workers it pays, so the duty falls on the umbrella for those workers. That does not mean it is nobody's problem on your desk. Your due diligence on every umbrella already asks whether it pays correctly and issues the right documents. From January the union statement is one more item on that list.
The timeline with every date through 2027 is on our hub, kept current against the government's own timetable, which was refreshed on 25 September without a single date moving. BIOR Agency Members can put the questions this raises to Ask BIOR, in writing, and will find the Key Information Document guide and the 2026 letters and forms pack in their library. Membership includes the certification assessment. Pass it and you are certified for five years. See Agency Membership.
Sources, the government response to the consultation on the duty to inform workers of their right to join a trade union, executive summary, 25 September 2026; the Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act timeline update, 25 September 2026. Written by The BIOR Membership Team. Published 30 September 2026. This is general guidance for recruitment businesses, not legal advice.