Yes, towards the agency’s own headcount. The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1101) came into force on Friday 30 October 2026. Regulation 7 says the Central Arbitration Committee must refuse a union’s access request where the employer, with any associated employer, has fewer than 21 workers on the day the request arrives and fewer than 21 on average over the previous 13 weeks. Regulation 7(6) and (7) then deal with agency workers. A worker whose contract with the temporary work agency is not a contract of employment is treated, for that count, as having a contract of employment with the agency for the length of the assignment.
So a recruitment agency with fifteen staff in the office and ten temps out on assignment has 25 workers for this purpose and is over the threshold. The temps count with the agency that pays them, not with the hirer whose site they work on.
What the regulations set out. An employer must respond to an access request within 15 working days. The two sides then have 25 working days to agree terms. Either can apply to the CAC by the 55th working day after the request. Weekly access is treated as a term that does not unreasonably interfere with the business, an agreement runs for no more than two years, and the union gives two working days’ notice of each visit, five for the first. The CAC can order a payment of up to £75,000 for a first failure to comply, £150,000 for a second and £500,000 after that.
What an agency does. Count the temps on assignment in your own headcount. Name the person and the mailbox that will receive a request, because 15 working days passes quickly. Put the point in your client terms, since a request about a client’s own workforce is the client’s to answer. The temp desk’s guide carries the rule with its source. https://ior.org/agency-workers-and-temp-desks
Source. The Trade Unions (Right to Access Workplaces) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/1101, regulations 3 to 7, 18, 23 and 25, legislation.gov.uk, in force 30 October 2026.
The BIOR Membership Team, The British Institute of Recruiters. Published 4 November 2026.