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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.
LRA response to DEL review of the NI employment dispute resolution system
4th September 2009
This paper gives the Agency's response to the Department of Employment and Learning's consultation questions.
Labour Relations Agency Arbitration Scheme - Guide to the Scheme
Revised January 2013
The Agency was given the power to introduce the Scheme by the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, as amended, and the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. Subsequently, the Scheme has been established by means of the Labour Relations Agency Arbitration Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2012.
The Value of Trade Unions - Podcast
In the 7th Podcast in our “Challenging Workplaces” series, we discuss the value of trade unions in the workplace.
LRA Director Mark McAllister, is joined by Nita Clarke OBE, Director of the Involvement & Participation Association (IPA), Jacquie White, General Secretary of the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) and Clare Moore, Equality and Social Affairs Officer with the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC ICTU).
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.
Employee grievances
November 2021
This Information Note provides guidance on general principles in relation to employee grievances. It is not a substitute for the Agency’s Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures.
51 Employer’s Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Exemption (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997
These Regulations amend the 1975 Regulations of the same name by adding to the list of exempted organisations to include any Education and Library Board established under Article 3 of the Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986.
Respectful Conversations Podcast and Guide
Our 'Respectful Conversations' podcast has been produced in partnership with Diversity Mark to support employers who want to encourage respectful conversations at work.
This is the third podcast in our Challenging Workplaces series.
Managing the Performance of Your Employees
Effective performance management can bring about many benefits to your business, including improved staff performance, greater productivity and stronger employee engagement.
Disciplinary matters
February 2016
This Information Note provides guidance on general principles in relation to discipline. It is not a substitute for the Agency’s Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures.