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No 54 The Statutory Sick Pay (Coronavirus) (Suspension of Waiting Days and General Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
These Regulations suspend the limitation, set out in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act (Northern Ireland) 1992, that Statutory Sick Pay is not payable for the first three qualifying days in a period of entitlement. They also amend the Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1982 to specify when a person is isolating by reason of coronavirus is deemed to be incapable of work.
Reversing the £1billion cost of workplace conflict
A research report commissioned by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) reveals that ‘good jobs’ could help reverse the cost of workplace conflict within Northern Ireland, which burdens employers and the local economy with a staggering £1billion in costs per year.
Senior Leadership Team February 2024 Minutes
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The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
The Statutory Sick Pay (General) (Coronavirus Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 amend regulation 2(1) to provide that a person who is isolating himself from others in accordance with advice on coronavirus disease effective on 12th March 2020 is deemed to be incapable of work. These Regulations amend that date to 16th March 2020.
Sick leave
From one time to another, employing organisations will experience absence by their staff due to illness. Illness absences are usually unplanned. This makes planning and covering work difficult for employers given the short notice of illness occurrences.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement plays a crucial role in the success of any organisation. It goes beyond the surface level of job satisfaction and encompasses the emotional and psychological connection that an employee has with their work and their workplace. Engaged employees are not just committed to their job, but they are also invested in the values of their organisation. They are more likely to put in discretionary effort, go the extra mile, and take ownership of their work, leading to improved performance and productivity.
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.