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Employment relations in Northern Ireland – Co-operation or Confrontation
Patrick McCartan
APRIL 2007
Dismissal
Employees can be dismissed for reasons such as gross misconduct or a fundamental breach of contract. A fair and robust process should be followed where all parties have certain rights and responsibilities.
Misconduct and gross misconduct
Disciplinary issues arise when the employer has concerns about an employee’s conduct, absence from work or the way they are performing in their job. They may start a disciplinary procedure which could lead to disciplinary action (including dismissal in more serious cases).
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.
Collective bargaining
This is one method that employers use to work with trade unions or works councils to negotiate matters such as terms and conditions of employment for certain groups or all their employees.
Resignation and termination of employment
A contract of employment may be ended with the agreement of both parties, or by the employer or employee giving the required amount of notice.
Volunteers
A volunteer is not an employee or a worker and does not have an employment contract.
Giving and Accepting Notice
If the employer or employee wishes to end the employment relationship they must give each other notice.