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No. 141 The Disability Discrimination (Guidance On The Definition Of A Disability) (Appointed Day) Order (Northern Ireland) 2008
This Order appoints 21/4/08 as the day for the coming into operation of new guidance entitled “Guidance to be taken into account when determining questions in relation to the definition of disability” as issued in Northern Ireland by OFMDFM.
No.100 The Fair Employment Tribunal (Remedies) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2007
This order amends the 1995 Order of the same name by clarifying that awards calculated by the Tribunal on which interest is calculated does not include an award in respect of costs, allowances of preparation time. The Order also stipulates the Tribunals’ power to deal with complaints of harassment in this context.
No 37 The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016
This Order comes into operation on 14/2/16 and effectively changes calculation and limits figures for things such as a week’s pay for the purposes of statutory redundancy pay and unfair dismissal calculation.
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.
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 242 The Posted Workers (Enforcement of Employment Rights) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016
These Regulations come into force on 18 June 2016 and extend to Northern Ireland only.
No 55 The Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010
These Regulations amend the 1976 and 1985 Regulations relating to the new rules on doctors’ statement as it relates to employee sickness and claims of relevant health related social security benefits from 6/4/10.
No.498 Industrial Tribunals (Interest on Awards in Sexual Orientation Discrimination Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003
These Regulations make special provisions in relation to interest on awards and compensation orders made by industrial tribunals under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (NI) 2003.
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.