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Study or training
Employees aged 16 or 17 who have not achieved a certain standard in their education or training have the right to reasonable time off with pay to study or train for a relevant qualification which will help them towards that standard.
Job Hunting or to Arrange Training when Facing Redundancy
An employee who is being made redundant and who has been continuously employed by the same employer for at least two years is entitled, whilst under notice, to take reasonable time off with pay within working hours to look for another job, or to make arrangements for training for future employment.
Disciplinary or grievance hearings
Workers have the right to take paid time off during working hours to accompany fellow workers employed by the same employer to certain disciplinary and grievance hearings.
Discrimination
Employers have a legal duty to ensure that they do not treat an individual less favourably on any grounds related to their age, gender, marital status, disability, race/nationality, sexual orientation, religious belief or political opinion.
Right to work in Northern Ireland
It is important that an employer checks that a job applicant is allowed to work in the UK before they can employ them. An employer could face a civil penalty if they employ an illegal worker and have not carried out a correct right to work check.
Employers must check the applicant's identity and nationality and make sure that they have the relevant immigration permission or visa in place.
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.
Employment relations in Northern Ireland – Co-operation or Confrontation
Patrick McCartan
APRIL 2007
Disciplinary procedures
Disciplinary procedures are used for dealing with problems with employees' conduct or their performance, which could lead to warnings or dismissal.
No 102 The Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Participating Wife or Civil Partner of Self-employed Earner) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014
These Regulations come into operation from 1/4/14 and effectively implement Article 8 of the European Directive 2010/41/EU. It provides an entitlement to maternity allowance of 14 weeks for women who participate in their spouse’s or civil partner’s self employed business, but for which they receive no income.
Discrimination when hiring
Fair treatment is not just a moral and legal obligation but makes good business sense. Employers who treat employees fairly will be best placed to recruit and retain staff in an increasingly diverse and competitive labour market.