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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.”
No 86 The Work and Families Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (Commencement, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations were made on 2/3/15 and provide for The Department for Employment and Learning in exercising their powers under the Work and Families Act (NI) 2015 to detail which components of the legislation will commence on 15/3/15 for the purposes of making regulations and enabling the parents of children expected to be born or placed for adoption from 5/4/15 to avail of shared parental leave and pay and associated entitlements for working parents (see Statutory Rules below – eg SR’s 95-103).
No 465 The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2017
These Regulations amend the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 and come into force on 1st April 2017. The new April date replaces the old October 1 date from now on.
LRA ‘Breaks the Silence’ on Domestic Abuse
New guidance for employers on supporting staff affected by domestic violence & abuse.
Labour Relations Agency Public Meeting to Explore Link Between Good Employment Relations and a Strong Economy
The link between harmonious, productive workplaces and a thriving economy is the theme of the Labour Relations Agency’s annual public meeting on Thursday 25 October in Belfast’s Radisson Blu Hotel at 11.30am.
The Industrial Court (Membership) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
These Regulations amend the Industrial Court (Membership) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 (the “Membership Regulations”).
Regulation 2 amends regulation 3 of the Membership Regulations by removing a number of the current legislative provisions in relation to members of the Industrial Court (the “Court”) holding and vacating office and replacing those provisions with a reliance on each member’s terms of appointment.
Regulation 3 contains a transitional provision for current members of the Court.
The Court is a non-departmental tribunal body whose main function is to adjudicate on applications relating to the statutory recognition or derecognition of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes, where this cannot be agreed voluntarily.
New Hybrid Working Guide Offers Timely Support to Employers
To coincide with the easing of Covid restrictions and anticipated lifting of the ‘work from home’ recommendation, a new guide offering NI employers the most up-to-date advice on ‘Hybrid Working’ has been launched by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) for Northern Ireland.
The Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (Commencement No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2020
This Order brings into operation certain provisions of the Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 on 27th January 2020.
Article 2(a) to (e) commence provisions on early conciliation of employment disputes.
Article 2(f) commences the provision which places an obligation on the Department to review early conciliation.
Article 2(g) and (h) commences the provisions that permits the Department to make regulations which provide that the members of the panel of chairmen of industrial tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal may be referred to as employment judges.
Article 2(i) commences the provision which prohibits the Labour Relations Agency, or persons appointed by the Agency, from releasing information relating to a worker, employer of a worker, or a trade union, that they hold in the course of performing their functions.
Article 2(j) corrects a small number of references in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992, dealing with statutory shared parental pay, which were introduced by the Work and Families Act (Northern Ireland) 2015
Article 2(k) updates legislative references in Schedules 2 and 4 to the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.
Article 2(l) and (o) gives effect to the dispute resolution repeals in Schedule 3 of the Act.
Article 2(m) and (n) gives effect to Schedules 1 and 2, which respectively, make minor and consequential amendments to existing legislation, and set out how the relevant time limits for bringing a claim will be extended where necessary to provide sufficient time for early conciliation to take place and to ensure that the claimant is not disadvantaged.
The Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Persons Abroad and Mariners) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
These Regulations relate to the treatment under Part 12ZD of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 of persons abroad, persons who work as mariners and persons who work on the continental shelf. The effect is that certain persons who would otherwise not fulfil the qualifying conditions for entitlement to statutory parental bereavement pay because of the nature of their employment or the fact that they are outside the United Kingdom will have an entitlement to such pay.
Regulation 4 limits the application of the Regulations to cases where the person would be treated as an employee under Part 12ZD of the Act if the employment were in Northern Ireland.
Regulation 5 provides for a person who is absent from Northern Ireland but in respect of whom an employer has secondary Class 1 national insurance contribution liability to be treated as an employee for the purposes of the Part 12ZD.
Regulation 6 relaxes any time limit imposed by Part 12ZD of the Act or regulations made under it in relation to a person who cannot comply with the time limit because that person is outside the United Kingdom.
Regulation 7 treats certain classes of mariners as employees for the purposes of Part 12ZD and regulation 8 makes corresponding provision for persons working on the continental shelf
Labour Relations Agency, Fermanagh Enterprise Ltd and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to Offer Free ‘Essentials of Employment Legislation’ Event
The Labour Relations Agency, Fermanagh Enterprise Limited and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have joined forces to offer a free event on the Essentials of Employment Legislation on Tuesday 8 October.