Trade union facility time report: what to publish on your trust website
If your trust has more than 49 employees, your trust's website needs a yearly report on how much paid time staff spend on trade union activities.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The academy trust's website
- School type
- Academies
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Only applies to
- Employers with 50 or more staff
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When it's due
By 31 July each year
What's needed
Publish the trade union facility time report in the Schedule 2 format on the statutory information page on your trust's website by 31 July each year, matching the figures you submitted on GOV.UK.
What it must contain
5 parts- Gives the number of employees who were relevant union officialsMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the percentage of working hours union officials spent on facility timeMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the percentage of the pay bill spent on facility timeMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Gives the hours union officials spent on paid trade union activitiesMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Publishes the facility time report in the Schedule 2 format with its questionsMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/328)
If the employee number condition is met in respect of a relevant period, a relevant public sector employer must publish the information that comprises the response to the questions, or request for information, set out in Schedule 2 in respect of that period as it applies to that employer.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Regulation 8(1)
The information must be published, together with the questions, or request for information, in the form indicated in Schedule 2.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Regulation 8(3)
Show 7 more from this source
The information must be published by being— a placed on a website maintained by or on behalf of the employer before 31st July in the calendar year in which the relevant period to which the information relates ends; and b included in the employer’s annual report which covers the relevant period, where the employer produces an annual report.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Regulation 8(4)
If the information is not, by virtue of paragraph (4), placed on a website maintained by or on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, the employer must also cause it to be placed on such a website before 31st July in the calendar year in which the relevant period to which the information relates ends.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Regulation 8(5)
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Schedule 2, Table 1 'Relevant union officials'
How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Schedule 2, Table 2 'Percentage of time spent on facility time'
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Schedule 2, Table 3 'Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time'
As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Schedule 2, Table 4 'Paid trade union activities'
“relevant period” means a period of 12 months beginning with 1st April, and the first relevant period begins on 1st April 2017;
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ Regulation 2
Questions schools ask
Do academy trusts have to publish a facility time report?
Academies and maintained schools must. It only applies to employers with 50 or more staff.
What does a facility time report need to include?
Number of employees who were relevant union officials; percentage of working hours union officials spent on facility time; percentage of the pay bill spent on facility time; hours union officials spent on paid trade union activities; Publishes the facility time report in the Schedule 2 format with its questions.
When is the facility time report due?
By 31 July each year.
Where does the requirement for the trade union facility time report come from?
It is set out in Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/328).
Recent changes to the official guidance
The official sources for this requirement don't publish dated change notes. We check them for changes ourselves.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
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Official wording that does not apply to schools (1)
– What academies and further education colleges must or should publish online
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4