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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.
422 Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998
These Regulations serve to amend an error in the 1998 Regulations relating to calculations of working time, including overtime, in any reference period applicable shall not exceed 48 hours for each 7 days.
No 223 The Recognition and Derecognition Ballots (Qualified Persons) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2017
These Rules come into operation on 17/12/17 and they simply amend list at Article 4 of the 2001 Order of persons specified by name as being qualified for appointment as a Qualified Person.
AGRICULTURAL WAGES (AMENDMENT) ORDER 2024
This legislation sets out the minimum rates of agricultural pay determined by the Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland (AWB), effective from the first pay reference period beginning on or after 1 April 2024.
569 The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
These Regulations amend the 1982 Regulations of the same name and address matters such as: records to be maintained by the employer and provisions for monies that exceed SSP in relation to record keeping.
No. 439 (C.22) The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (commencement No.8) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001
This Order provides for certain powers and interpretation matters contained in S.27 and Schedule 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act (1996) eg – reasonable adjustments by service provides, alterations to leased premises and so on.
No 156 The Sex Discrimination Order 1976 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011
These Regulations amend the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (“the 1976 Order”) to give full effect in Northern Ireland to Articles 2(1)(b) (indirect discrimination) and 17(1) (Defence of rights) of Council Directive 2006/54/EC of 5th July 2006 (“the Directive”) on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast).
No. 298 The Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (Adoption from Overseas) (Northern Ireland) 2010
The Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (Adoptions from Overseas) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (Application of Article 112BB to Adoptions from Overseas) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 and the Additional Paternity Leave (Adoptions from Overseas) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 apply the entitlement to Additional Paternity Leave and Pay (with necessary modifications) to eligible parents who are adopting a child from overseas.
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.
No. 53 The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007
These regulations amend the 2003 regulations of the same name by extending the right to request flexible working to employees who care for certain adult relatives. The Regulations come into effect on 06/04/07.