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385 Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) (1990 Order) (Commencement No.2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1997
This Order brings into operation, as of 24/8/97, all of the remaining provisions of the 1990 Order and addresses matters of a technical nature regarding repeals etc (eg) Section 117A of the Factories Act (Northern Ireland) 1965.
The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
These Regulations make changes to the the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982 to outline in section 3(5A), the "person" and adds in additional text act under 4(6) regarding advice from the PHA.
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).
No 211 The Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 6/4/15 and they essentially amend the Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 in consequence of section 2 of and Schedule 1 to the National Insurance Contributions Act 2015 (c. 5).
No. 56 The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2017
This Order, one of a series of statutory rules relating to the annual up-rating of social security benefits provides for the rates of certain social security benefits, pensions and allowances from various dates in early April 2017.
No. 520 The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment to Subordinate Legislation) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005
Although the main impact on Northern Ireland employment legislation in the area of civil partnership comes from the Civil Partnership Act (2004) (for example, Section 252 and Schedule 29) itself, the above Order addresses other changes in the employment sphere.
No 124 The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2015
This Order made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under section 1 of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 and sections 150 and 150A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, alters the rates and amounts of certain social security benefits and other sums.
386 Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998
The Regulations implement a European Directive relevant to working time which cover an array of matters including the following: maximum average weekly working time, average normal hours of night workers, health assessments for night workers, rest breaks, records, weekly rest, paid annual leave, exemptions, right to take a claim to Industrial Tribunals and so on.
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.
Increase of limits on Tribunal awards and payments under employment rights legislation
The Department for the Economy has made a statutory rule entitled The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2023 (legislation.gov.uk).
The Order increases, from 6 April 2023, limits applicable to certain awards and payments under employment rights legislation in line with the Retail Prices Index.
The Department has issued a press release relating to the above changes in limits - https://www.economy-ni.gov.uk/news/department-economy-announces-annual-increase-limits-unfair-dismissal-and-redundancy-payments.
For details on the limits for previous years, please access the following link https://www.legislation.gov.uk/primary+secondary?title=The%20Employment…