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Leave for Flexible working hearings
Parents of children under the age of seventeen (or disabled children under the age of eighteen) and carers of adults have the right to apply to their employer to work more flexibly.
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.
Arbitration Explained
Arbitration
Arbitration involves an independent and impartial person called an arbitrator (acting alone or chairing a panel) being appointed by the Labour Relations Agency to make a decision on a dispute. This decision is based on the evidence presented by the parties to that dispute.
Industrial tribunals
To make a claim to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal, in most circumstances employees will need to have worked continuously for the organisation for one year. There are other types of claim, for example regarding unpaid wages, holiday entitlements or discrimination, which do not require one year's continuous service.
Do you need assistance to complete the Early Conciliation form?
If you are unable to complete the Early Conciliation notification form online you can:
- contact the Labour Relations Agency on 03300 552 224 and a staff member will take the details over the phone;
- download and complete the form by hand and post it to one of the Labour Relations Agency's offices at:
2-16 Gordon Street, Belfast, BT1 2LG or
3rd Floor, Richmond Chambers, The Diamond, Derry/Londonderry, BT48 6HN; or
- call in to one of our offices where we can provide a private space for you to complete the online form.
Fair Employment (School Teachers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
This legislation was enacted by the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2022 and came into effect on 12th May 2024.
From this date, it will be unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of religious or philosophical belief or political opinion in respectof the recruitment or promotion of teachers in schools in Northern Ireland.
Prior to 2003, FETO, and its predecessors, did not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religious or philosophical belief or political opinion in relation to any aspect of the employment of school teachers. That was due to the effects of article 71 of FETO, commonly known as the teachers’ exception.
This situation changed through a process that began in 2003 when an EU equality law, Council Directive 2000/78/EC, required the exception to be modified and
narrowed. As a result, and since then, FETO has prohibited discrimination on its equality grounds in relation to most aspects of the employment of teachers in
schools; e.g. in relation to pay, training, absence and performance management,
dismissal, harassment.
Despite that change, FETO’s prohibition of discrimination did not apply to the recruitment or promotion of teachers in schools due to the continuing effects of one part of the article 71 exception that remained.
The remaining gap in coverage was filled on 12 May 2024 with the inrtoduction of this legislation.
Temporary lay-off and short-time working
From time to time employers may experience a temporary shortage of work and it may be necessary to lay-off all or some of their employees in order to preserve long term employment security. If temporary lay-off is being considered there are important aspects of employment and contract law to take into account.
192 (C.9) Employment Rights (Time off for Study and Training) (1998 Order)(Commencement) Order (Northern Ireland) 2000
This Order brings into operation on 1/9/00 the provisions of the Employment Rights (Time off for study or training) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
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.
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