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Shared Parental Leave: A Good Practice Guide for Employers and Employees
The Work and Families (Northern Ireland) Act 2015 and associated regulations provide an opportunity for parents to take advantage of additional flexibility in the way they choose to care for a new arrival to the family.
Employment Document Toolkit
Once you are registered you can unlock our free core employment guides to help you build documents, policies and procedures for your own organisation.
Customer Service
This page sets out how the Labour Relations Agency strives to deliver excellent customer service. It also provides the resources we use to support our work.
Who is an employee?
There are differences between ‘employees’, ‘workers’ and ‘contractors’. These differences in status can affect rights and responsibilities in the workplace.
Types of problems
Problems can arise in any workplace. Below are some examples, though not an exhaustive list. Employers, employees and their representatives may find it helpful to refer to the Labour Relations Agency's codes of practice, sample letters, flowcharts and guides. Our service is confidential and all our resources are free of charge to anyone working to prevent or resolve a workplace issue in Northern Ireland.
The Labour Relations Agency Arbitration Scheme Explained
You can use the Labour Relations Agency Arbitration Scheme to resolve an employment–related dispute (a “claim”) instead of going to a tribunal.
Mediation
An independent mediator can sometimes help resolve grievance or disciplinary issues. There is no charge for using the Labour Relations Agency's mediation service.
Collective bargaining
This is one method that employers use to work with trade unions or works councils to negotiate matters such as terms and conditions of employment for certain groups or all their employees.
Arbitration services
Those who have submitted a tribunal claim will also be offered access to the Labour Relations Agency’s Arbitration Scheme which offers a quick, non–legalistic, less formal, confidential and more cost effective alternative to a tribunal hearing.
Contractor versus Employee versus Worker
Employees, workers and contractors have different rights and responsibilities.