2000-2007

Note in 2000 there were several employment-related Statutory Rules passed for Northern Ireland covering areas such as: Employment Relations (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Order, Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order, Working Time (Amendment) Regulations, Equal Opportunities (Employment Legislation) (Territorial Limits) Regulations, Employment Relations (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provision) Order, Equality (Disability, etc.) (2000 Order) (Commencement No. 1) Order, Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, Fair Employment (Monitoring) (Amendment) Regulations 2000, Industrial Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations, Statutory Maternity Pay (General) (Modification and Amendment) Regulations, Employment Relations (1999 Order) (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) Order, Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations.

This Order is essentially an extension of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) (DDA) in that the Order addresses (via gradual implementation) the following: Disability discrimination - the functions of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, the use of formal investigations, non-discrimination notices, agreements in lieu of enforcement action, persistent discrimination, assistance by the Commission in relation to proceedings, recovery of expenses of providing assistance, codes of practice, conciliation of DDA disputes, amendments to the 1995 DDA; Miscellaneous provisions on, for example, additional Commissioners of the Equality Commission; and Schedules covering formal investigations, non-discrimination notices and action plans.

This Order represents the implementation of “Family Friendly” legislation covering the following subject matter: Adoption and paternity leave, statutory adoption pay and statutory paternity pay, maternity leave and the right to request flexible working. The Order is being phased in between November 2002 and April 2003.

Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 2836 (N.I. 2)

These Regulations are derived from an EU Directive which essentially give fixed-term employees the right not to be treated less favourably than their full-time comparators unless the treatment can be objectively justified by their employer. This area of law can be complex and it will come into focus in 2006 when the principle of treating a fourth continual renewal of a fixed term employee as a permanent employee (July 02,03,04,05,06). These Regulations come into force in October 2002, but for the purposes of the 4 year calculation July 2002 is when the clock starts ticking.

No.298 The Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (NI)

This Order addresses the issues of Industrial Tribunal reform and new statutory dispute resolution processes and provides enabling powers for further Regulations to be made with regard to both. The Order provides for: new provisions regarding conciliation, prescription of forms, practice directions, pre-hearing reviews, costs and expenses. In addition the Order goes on to cover: new statutory dispute resolution procedures in terms of grievance and discipline and subsequent access to and impact on Tribunal hearings. Other miscellaneous provisions include: equal pay questionnaires, trade union learning representatives, deputy certification officer and so on.

The Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003

This Order essentially amends and updates the law in relation to key areas of collective labour law in Northern Ireland, including the following subject areas: up-dating the law on trade union recognition regarding information that can be acquired by the LRA, up-dating the law on industrial action on ballots, entitlement to ballot, information regarding employees to be balloted, implications of minor errors regarding ballot, protection of striking workers, dismissal after protected period, extensions of protection against detriment to workers in some instances, the right not to suffer inducements to surrender trade union rights, clarification on the right of accompaniment and other miscellaneous provisions.

2004 - No 3078 (N.I 19) The Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 2004

These Regulations essentially revoke the existing Regulations which date back to 1981, however, in Northern Ireland TUPE 2006 must be read in conjunction with The Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (NI) 2006 (because this Regulation essentially brings Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK regarding protection covering service providers being changed.) TUPE 2006 attempts to provide clarity over subjects which have caused confusion and conflicting case law decisions over the years. Such subject matters include: the definition of a transfer, the impact of a transfer, the effect on collective agreements, dismissals which are unfair and those which are for an ETO reason, information and consultation, employee liability information and so on.

No 246 The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006

The Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (NI) 2006

This Statutory Instrument makes significant amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and comes in to effect at various times throughout 2007 and it will have an impact in relation to the following areas – mental illness as a disability will no longer be required to be clinically well recognised and people with cancer, HIV and MS will be covered by the law. The Order also addresses - discrimination by district councils against its members in relation to the carrying out of official business, discrimination by public authorities in terms of discrimination in the exercise of all public functions (with exceptions), duties on public authorities to have due regard to the promotion of positive attitudes towards disabled people and encourage participation by disabled people in public life. The Order goes on to cover – clarification on who the defendant is when there has been discrimination by a police officer, application of components of the 1995 Act in relation to: transport vehicles, rail vehicles, (enforcement and penalties), Discriminatory adverts and third parties, group insurance, application of components of Order to private clubs with more than 25 members. The Order goes on to cover – Discrimination in relation to the letting of premises and the power to modify or end small dwelling exemptions, improvements to let dwellings and so on.

No 312 (NI.1) The Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

This order makes provisions regarding statutory rights to leave and pay in connection with the birth or adoption of children as well as provisions regarding annual leave.

The order addresses issues such as: extending leave and pay entitlements for working parents of new-born of newly-adopted to permit the widening of the existing right to request flexible working, to provide a power to alter annual leave entitlements.

No. 1947 The Work and Families (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

These UK-wide Regulations implement, as of 15/12/07, the EU Directive 2005/56/EC on cross-border mergers (as defined under 3 categories) of limited liability companies. The Regulations could impact on Northern Ireland companies merging with companies in the Republic of Ireland and although not completely related to employment law there are components of the Regulations which do impinge on employment law in Northern Ireland. Specific components of the Regulations address – employee participation provisions (detailed requirements), pre-merger requirements (relevant information to employees or representatives/ creation of special negotiating body -SNB), procedural requirements for employee participation agreement, election/appointment to the SNB, handling and disclosure of confidential information, and the role of the Industrial Court and the Labour Relations Agency regarding disputes about the operation of the employee participation agreement.

2007 No. 2974 The Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007

This Act applies to the whole of the UK and although it is criminal law it does impact upon the employment relationship in relation to the duty of care owed and the organization causes a persons death and amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organization to the deceased. The legislation can be quite complex and makes provision for issues such as: the meaning of the relevant duty of care, liability of corporations, what is a gross breach, application to partnerships, no individual liability, procedure, evidence and sentencing amongst other things

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (2007)

This Order makes provision in connection with the protection of children and vulnerable adults. It is made only for the purposes corresponding to those of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

No 1351 (N.I. 11) The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007