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The Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019
This instrument amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1979 (“the 1979 Order”) to give effect to changes to a criminal record ‘filtering scheme’ that allows some old and minor spent convictions to be ‘filtered, so that they are no longer disclosed and cannot be taken into account in employment decisions in certain circumstances. The 1978 Order makes it possible for certain convictions to become “spent”, which means that after a specified period a person can be treated for certain purposes as if the conviction had never happened and they need not, for example, tell an employer about the conviction when applying for a job.
To ensure that the public is adequately protected, however, certain exceptions to the 1978 Order are set out in the 1979 Order so that, for specified professions and occupations that typically involve a high degree of trust and often involve vulnerable persons, applicants must declare all past convictions when asked. The 1979 Order is amended periodically to ensure that the access to the criminal record disclosure regime keeps pace with changes in public risk; to ensure that disclosure regimes remain consistent across jurisdictions where appropriate; and to maintain the public trust and protection process.
This Order, the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019 (“the 2019 Order”), stems from a Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that elements of the criminal record ‘filtering scheme’ operated by the Department of Justice were disproportionate. The ‘filtering scheme’ was established in 2014 following a review of the criminal records regime in Northern Ireland that was carried out by Sunita Mason during 2011, which recommended that the Department of Justice should filter old and minor convictions from standard and enhanced criminal record certificates; and to take account of the findings of two court cases concerning the disclosure of criminal record material at that time.
The terms of the scheme are that a conviction can be filtered after a period of 11 years (or 5.5 years for those under 18 at the time of the conviction), so long as the conviction was not for a specified offence as listed in the 1979 Order (e.g. serious violent and sexual offences; or offences of specific relevance for posts concerned with safeguarding children and vulnerable adults; etc.); did not attract a custodial sentence; and if there is no other conviction on the individual’s record.
The Supreme Court found that limiting the filtering scheme to a single offence, with the result that more than one old and minor conviction would be disclosed automatically, was disproportionate. The Department has, therefore, adjusted the terms of the scheme to allow more than one offence to be filtered in order to comply with the judgment.
The 2019 Order gives effect to this change by amending the 1979 Order to remove Article 1A(2)(c), which restricted the terms of the filtering scheme to a single conviction. The Department is satisfied that public protection is maintained, however, as the remaining elements of the filtering scheme will continue to ensure that there is no increased risk to the public as a result of this change.
Who is an employee?
There are differences between ‘employees’, ‘workers’ and ‘contractors’. These differences in status can affect rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
Service Standards
The Agency's service standards are set out in our Customer Charter. Any complaint about the delivery of an Agency service can be brought to a Director of the Agency.
We will fully investigate the complaint and respond within ten working days. If the person complaining is not satisfied with the response he/she can raise it with the Chief Executive who will reply within ten working days.
If the individual is still not satisfied he/she can refer the matter to the Ombudsman. A copy of the Agency’s Customer Complaints Procedure, which includes guidance on raising a complaint is available from the Agency or can be downloaded here.
Deductions from wages by employers
February 2016
The Wages (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 repealed various Truck Acts 1831 to 1940 and the Payment of Wages Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 and made changes to the law governing the way in which wages were paid.
Disclosure of information to trade unions for collective bargaining purposes
The Agency has a duty to provide practical guidance on the application of Articles 39 and 40 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (“the 1992 Order”) in relation to the disclosure of information by employers to trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining.
Advice on Trade Union Representation in the Workplace
This guide is for employers, trade unions and union workplace representatives. It gives advice on the provision of time off, training and facilities to enable union representatives to carry out their duties. It covers statutory and non-statutory representatives.
Advice on Managing Poor Performance
This booklet is designed to provide employers with guidance on identifying the causes of and dealing with instances of poor work performance.
Advice on Non-union Representation in the Workplace
This guide is for employers and non-union workplace representatives. It gives advice on the provision of time off, training and facilities to enable non-union representatives to carry out their duties. It covers statutory and non-statutory representatives.
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.