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Advice on Managing Difficult Conversations
The ability to be able to talk about very sensitive and emotive issues is an integral part of effective line management and can be critical to managing performance, promoting attendance and improving team dynamics. These difficult conversations should not be avoided.
Antenatal Care
All pregnant employees are entitled to time off to keep appointments for antenatal care made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered health visitor.
A person in a qualifying relationship with the pregnant employee is entitled to unpaid time off work to accompany the expectant mother to two antenatal appointments.
Conciliation services
We offer free conciliation services to help parties involved in a workplace dispute to come to a legally binding resolution, without needing to go through a public tribunal. We offer both individual conciliation and collective conciliation, for example where an issue affects a number of employees.
Flexible working - the essence of a ‘good job’?
“Redefining the concept of a ‘good’ job, which embraces flexibility in all its forms, is a necessity if we’re to achieve a more inclusive and productive economy.”
Health & Safety at Work
Employers have a duty to protect their employees and visitors from harm. They must do risk assessments and they must report any serious incidents to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. Employees are expected to take reasonable care of their own health and safety.
Job applications
There are two main options for inviting applications to job vacancies:
• providing a job application form to be completed and returned, or;
• asking applicants to send a copy of their curriculum vitae (CV).
LRA Confirms Spike in Calls from Distressed Hospitality Sector
NI’s Labour Relations Agency (LRA) has recorded a spike in calls from the local hospitality sector following the emergence of the Omicron variant and tightening of public health restrictions and introduction of new guidance to respond to this.
Labour Relations Agency’s New North West Office Open for Business
The Labour Relations Agency has moved to a new location in Derry/Londonderry’s Richmond Chambers in The Diamond. The more accessible city centre office has newly refurbished seminar and meeting rooms for the delivery of the Agency’s dispute resolution and advisory services.
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.
The Living Wage
The real Living Wage is based on the cost of living and is voluntarily paid by employers.