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New rates for statutory payments in force from April 2024.
From April 2024 a number of statutory payment rates increase for the 2024-25 financial year.
Below are the links which relate to the changes in respect of Social Security Benefits and the increases in limits to the Employment Rights Order.
No 319 The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012
These Regulations come into operation on 10/9/12 and amend the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Prescribed Criteria and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 which prescribe the criteria which determine whether a person should be included automatically in the children’s barred list or the adults’ barred list maintained by the Independent Safeguarding Authority under Article 6 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (“the 2007 Order”).
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.
Upcoming Events in the North West
The Labour Relations Agency, in conjunction with the Ulster University Law Society - Magee, present the following events in March and April in the North West.
National Minimum Wage Changes 2020
The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2020
These Regulations are the annual amendments to the National Minimum Wage legislation which has existed since 1999 and they come into effect on 1/4/20.
The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020
The purpose of these regulations is to reduce burdens on businesses employing salaried staff (those paid an annual salary in equal instalments) from complying with the NMW rules, without removing protections or benefits for workers.
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 119 The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2011
This Order, one of a series of statutory rules relating to the annual uprating, provides for the rates of social security benefits, pensions and allowances from April 2011 (various dates from 3rd-14th April).
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.”
Amendment to the Working Time Regulations - Pay and Carryover of holidays
The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 came into force on 1st January 2024 and set out the legal obligations on carry over of holiday and what constitutes pay for the purposes of calculating holiday pay.
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