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No.292 Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Prescription of offices, ranks and positions) Order (Northern Ireland) 2002
This Order sets out offices, ranks and positions for the purposes of the 2000 Act. This prescribes designated persons who may grant authorisations.
No 301 The Labour Relations Agency Arbitration Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2012
his Order sets out and brings into operation an arbitration scheme intended for the resolution of a wide range of employment rights disputes.
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.
No 97 The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (Application of Articles 107G and 107I to Adoptions from Overseas) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 15/3/15 and essentially they modify existing powers to allow the making of regulations giving entitlement to shared parental leave to employees who are adopting from overseas. Such regulations are made separately.
No 225 The Employment Equality (Age) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007
These regulations amend the primary and secondary legislation on age discrimination by altering provisions in relation to statutory sick pay, dismissal for exercising the right of accompaniment, aspects of Social Security Contributions and benefits and aspects of inter-related law impacting on those under 16.
372 National Minimum Wage (Employment Dismissal Procedures Agreement) (Repeal) Order (Northern Ireland) 1998
This Order repeals Section 26(5) of the 1998 Act and the provision of that Act which authorised that repeal. (Dismissal Procedure Agreements).
No 318 Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2012
The Order comes into operation on 10 September 2012 with Article 2 of the 1979 Order providing exceptions to article 5(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 (“the 1978 Order”) (questions which relate to spent convictions).
Bank holiday confirmed for Queen Elizabeth's funeral - guidance for employers and employees
Following the death of the Queen, a period of national mourning was announced and it will continue until the end of the day of the state funeral, Monday 19 September 2022.
There is no obligation on organisations to suspend business during the mourning period. Guidance on this can be found on the GOV.UK website here.
However, a special bank holiday has been confirmed on the day of the state funeral, Monday, 19 September 2022.
The guidance below explains how leave for special bank holidays should be handled by employers.
No. 93 Working Time (Amendment) Regulation (Northern Ireland) 2002
These Regulations amend the Working Time Regulations (1998) with regard to – leave (4 weeks), removal of the 13 week qualification rule and the ‘accrual’ of leave in the first year of employment.