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Bullying and harassment
Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect at work. Bullying or harassment of any kind should not be tolerated.
No 42 The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2020
This Order increases, from 6th April 2020, the limits applying to certain awards of industrial tribunals, the Fair Employment Tribunal or Labour Relations Agency statutory arbitration. Examples of these rates include the maximum amount of “a week’s pay” for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or various awards, including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal is now £560. The limit on amount of guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day is now £30.00. The other rates can be found in the Schedule to the Order.
Suspension
An employer may decide to suspend an employee temporarily from work if they are involved in a disciplinary situation, or for maternity or medical reasons. Usually an employee who is suspended is entitled to their normal pay during their suspension.
Breach of Contract
If an employer fundamentally breaches a contract of employment, it could lead to the employee resigning. If an employee fundamentally breaches a contract of employment he or she could be dismissed.
Rests and breaks
Employees are entitled to breaks for meals and to rest. As far as possible employers should provide breaks, facilities and comfortable surroundings for additional needs such as breastfeeding or expressing milk.
Personal grievances
Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees may raise with their employers.
Pension scheme trustees and directors of trustee companies
Employees who are trustees of an occupational pension scheme (as defined in Section 1 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993) or directors of trustee companies are entitled to reasonable time off with pay to carry out any of their trustee’s duties, or to receive training relevant to those duties.
Agency worker
An agency worker is someone who is supplied by an employment business/agency to work for the hirer under a contract of employment or other such contract as agreed between the employment business/agency and the hirer.
Apprenticeship
An apprentice is someone who is engaged through an employment contract to undertake a course of training and learning in order to practice a skilled trade or profession.
Estimating the costs of workplace conflict in Northern Ireland
Workplace conflict has a negative impact on organisational performance and the working experiences of those involved. Research commissioned by the Labour Relations Agency on workplace conflict in Northern Ireland suggests that disputes took up valuable time and eroded organisational culture.
These challenges have arguably become more acute in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic with pressure on recruitment, retention, engagement and productivity.
However, leaders and policymakers may underestimate the strategic importance of managing conflict at work. Conflict management is often unseen – taking place in the shadows and behind closed doors. Until recently, lack of visibility has been exacerbated by a lack of robust data. This analysis of the costs of workplace conflict in Northern Ireland finds that 37% of workers experience conflict each year at a cost of £851m.
The report in full can be found below, while our podcast on the topic can also be found here.