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Antenatal Care
All pregnant employees are entitled to time off to keep appointments for antenatal care made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered health visitor.
A person in a qualifying relationship with the pregnant employee is entitled to unpaid time off work to accompany the expectant mother to two antenatal appointments.
Economy Minister welcomes new legislation to protect Northern Ireland workers
Economy Minister Diane Dodds has welcomed new employment legislation which will benefit workers across Northern Ireland.
The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (Protection from Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021 extends protections against detriment in health and safety cases to workers in relation to any action they may take to protect themselves or others where they reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger in their place of work.
It will come into operation on 31 May 2021. At present, these protections cover only employees.
The Order must be approved by a resolution of the Assembly within six months of coming into operation. It must therefore be confirmed on or before 31 November 2021.
The move has its origins in a Judicial Review brought by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain.
A High Court Judgment was published in November which directed that the Health and Safety Framework Directive and the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) Directive should apply to a wider group of workers, not just employees.
Minister Dodds said: “This Order is about more than about responding appropriately to the decision of a High Court ruling. It will also give clarity to business and individuals.
“As businesses emerge from lockdown, everyone will need to be protected during the transition back to the workplace.
“This Order will allow some of our most vulnerable workers the legal protection they need to act to ensure their own safety and the safety of others without fear of suffering detriment for doing the right thing. This includes protecting them against being denied promotion or training opportunities.”
Preventing relationship problems
The best way to prevent relationship problems is to have policies and procedures that are fair, constructive and clear and there should be constructive communication to address issues as quickly as possible. We can help you to check if your policies and procedures are in line with best practice.
However, where relationships have been damaged by events in the workplace, the Labour Relations Agency can provide impartial and confidential mediation, conciliation or arbitration support to help resolve the situation.
Addressing the £1bn financial impact of workplace conflict: The essential role of mediation in Northern Ireland
- North West first to offer post graduate course in mediation
The application of ‘conflict resolution’ strategies to the workplace could significantly reduce the staggering £1billion in costs which the NI economy is forced to bear each year, according to the new Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Agency for Northern Ireland (LRA).
Lyons to bring forward Miscarriage Leave and Pay regulations for NI
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons today launched a consultation which will bring forward dedicated legislation for Miscarriage Leave and Pay in Northern Ireland.
421 The Disability Discrimination (Meaning of Disability) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996
These Regulations provide for the established definition of a disability for the purposes of the 1995 Act, that is, a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
No 90 The Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (Application of Parts 12ZA, 12ZB and 12ZC to Parental Order Cases) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations modify requirements in the 1992 Act to provide that an employee who has a baby with the help of a surrogate and is a parental order parent may be entitled to statutory adoption pay, statutory paternity pay or statutory shared parental pay if they meet the eligibility requirements.
The Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Persons Abroad and Mariners) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022
These Regulations relate to the treatment under Part 12ZD of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 of persons abroad, persons who work as mariners and persons who work on the continental shelf. The effect is that certain persons who would otherwise not fulfil the qualifying conditions for entitlement to statutory parental bereavement pay because of the nature of their employment or the fact that they are outside the United Kingdom will have an entitlement to such pay.
Regulation 4 limits the application of the Regulations to cases where the person would be treated as an employee under Part 12ZD of the Act if the employment were in Northern Ireland.
Regulation 5 provides for a person who is absent from Northern Ireland but in respect of whom an employer has secondary Class 1 national insurance contribution liability to be treated as an employee for the purposes of the Part 12ZD.
Regulation 6 relaxes any time limit imposed by Part 12ZD of the Act or regulations made under it in relation to a person who cannot comply with the time limit because that person is outside the United Kingdom.
Regulation 7 treats certain classes of mariners as employees for the purposes of Part 12ZD and regulation 8 makes corresponding provision for persons working on the continental shelf
No 86 The Work and Families Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (Commencement, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations were made on 2/3/15 and provide for The Department for Employment and Learning in exercising their powers under the Work and Families Act (NI) 2015 to detail which components of the legislation will commence on 15/3/15 for the purposes of making regulations and enabling the parents of children expected to be born or placed for adoption from 5/4/15 to avail of shared parental leave and pay and associated entitlements for working parents (see Statutory Rules below – eg SR’s 95-103).
Dependants Leave
An employee is allowed a reasonable amount of time to deal with unexpected or sudden emergencies concerning a dependant. This is unpaid unless contractual arrangements state otherwise.