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Annual Review of Employment Law 2020
We have published the narrative and video links (part 1 and part 2) of our Annual Review of Employment Law 2020, which has been delivered through a number of partnership events by our Director of Employment Relations Services, Mark McAllister.
No 224 The Trade Union Ballot and Elections ( Independent Scrutineer Qualifications) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2017
These Rules come into operation on 17/12/17 and relate to Articles 15, 49, 77 and 106 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 which requires certain ballots and elections that trade unions are required to hold by statute to be supervised by a qualified independent person, known as a “scrutineer”, appointed by the trade union.
Key differences in employment law between NI and GB
There are significant differences between the employment laws which apply in England, Scotland and Wales and those which apply in Northern Ireland.
Please contact our Workplace Information Service on 03300 555 300 for further information.
No 93 The Shared Parental Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 15/3/15 and by way of summary the Shared Parental Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (“the Leave Regulations”), in association with the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (“the Pay Regulations”) provide an entitlement for a mother/adopter and a child’s father/adoptive parent or a mother’s or adopter’s partner to take shared parental leave and pay.
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.
Annual Review of Employment Law - 2020
This page provides the narrative and video links (to part 1 and part 2) of our Annual Review of Employment Law 2020, which has been delivered through a number of partnership events, by our Director of Employment Relations Services, Mark McAllister.
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (Amendment No. 4) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021
These Regulations are made in response to the serious and imminent threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Northern Ireland. Effective from 24/5/21, Regulation 4 introduces an exemption for gatherings in respect of lawful industrial action.
No 87 The Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
The purpose of these Regulations is to amend the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”) to take account of the policy changes being brought forward in association with the Work and Families Act (Northern Ireland) 2015.