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Economy Minister welcomes new legislation to protect Northern Ireland workers
Economy Minister Diane Dodds has welcomed new employment legislation which will benefit workers across Northern Ireland.
The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (Protection from Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021 extends protections against detriment in health and safety cases to workers in relation to any action they may take to protect themselves or others where they reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger in their place of work.
It will come into operation on 31 May 2021. At present, these protections cover only employees.
The Order must be approved by a resolution of the Assembly within six months of coming into operation. It must therefore be confirmed on or before 31 November 2021.
The move has its origins in a Judicial Review brought by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain.
A High Court Judgment was published in November which directed that the Health and Safety Framework Directive and the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) Directive should apply to a wider group of workers, not just employees.
Minister Dodds said: “This Order is about more than about responding appropriately to the decision of a High Court ruling. It will also give clarity to business and individuals.
“As businesses emerge from lockdown, everyone will need to be protected during the transition back to the workplace.
“This Order will allow some of our most vulnerable workers the legal protection they need to act to ensure their own safety and the safety of others without fear of suffering detriment for doing the right thing. This includes protecting them against being denied promotion or training opportunities.”
Labour Relations Agency Certificate in Effective Line Management Practice
The Labour Relations Agency is pleased to offer the first public 2022 programme of the Certificate in Effective Line Management Practice.
422 Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998
These Regulations serve to amend an error in the 1998 Regulations relating to calculations of working time, including overtime, in any reference period applicable shall not exceed 48 hours for each 7 days.
No 223 The Recognition and Derecognition Ballots (Qualified Persons) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2017
These Rules come into operation on 17/12/17 and they simply amend list at Article 4 of the 2001 Order of persons specified by name as being qualified for appointment as a Qualified Person.
AGRICULTURAL WAGES (AMENDMENT) ORDER 2024
This legislation sets out the minimum rates of agricultural pay determined by the Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland (AWB), effective from the first pay reference period beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
569 The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
These Regulations amend the 1982 Regulations of the same name and address matters such as: records to be maintained by the employer and provisions for monies that exceed SSP in relation to record keeping.
No. 439 (C.22) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (commencement No.8) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001
This Order provides for certain powers and interpretation matters contained in S.27 and Schedule 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act (1996) eg – reasonable adjustments by service provides, alterations to leased premises and so on.
Hybrid Working - Here to stay or past its use-by date?
There has been a noticeable drift back to the workplace following the pandemic, with the proportion of NI employees working remotely for some of the time falling from 41% in April 2020 to 17%. Ironically, even Zoom has recently decided to bring its staff back to the office for at least part of the week.
With this in mind, CIPD NI and the Labour Relations Agency ran a webinar on 16 October 2023 to take stock of the HR profession’s experience of hybrid working to date. CIPD NI Branch Chair Nicola Barber hosted the event, and we were joined by an expert panel comprising:
• Ulster University Economist Ana Desmond, co-author of ‘Is remote working, working?’ – research into remote working patterns in NI, published in August 2023;
• Leading HR practitioner and thinker Gary Cookson, author of ‘HR for Hybrid Working’ published in June 2022; and,
• Caroline Samia from the Labour Relations Agency.
The event was recorded, and is now available to view below. The slide deck used during the event is also available for download.