Employment Law Developments in Northern Ireland
Following on from the review contained in Issue No. 44 of The Bottom Line, this article summarises recent and forthcoming developments in Northern Ireland that have not been dealt with elsewhere in this Issue.
Described below are the main provisions that have recently come into force in Northern Ireland:
| • | The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 were made on 15th March 2006 and came into effect on 6th April 2006. The impact of the Regulations, which remove the “partly unmeasured working time exemption”, was described in Issue 44 of The Bottom Line. |
| • | The new Codes of Practice on Industrial Action Ballots and Notice to Employers and on Access and Unfair Practices during Recognition and Derecognition Ballots eventually came into force on 19th March 2006. These Codes relate to the provisions of the Employment Relations Order 2004 that came into effect on 8th January 2006. |
| • | The Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 were made on 3rd April 2006 and came into force on 6th April 2006 (subject to the transitional provisions). These Regulations mirror the provisions in respect of service provision changes that are contained in the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 in respect of Great Britain and should be read in conjunction with those Regulations (the other parts of which extend to cover Northern Ireland). A full description of the new ‘TUPE’ Regulations was contained in Issue 44 of The Bottom Line. |
Legislation already enacted or implemented in Great Britain and expected in Northern Ireland in the near future:
| • | The Disability Discrimination (Blind and Partially Sighted Persons) Regulations had still not made an appearance at the time of writing, it is now hoped that they will be implemented sometime in Autumn 2006. |
| • | Widening of the definition of disability for the purposes of discrimination legislation. Equivalent provisions to those that came into force on 5th December 2005 in Great Britain were made in respect of Northern Ireland on 14th February 2006 (the Disability Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 2006) but will come into force on such days as the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister may by order appoint. At the time of writing no dates have been published, but the provisions are expected to be brought into force between late Summer and December 2006. |
| • | Implementation of Part 5 of The Police Act 1997 in respect of Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office proposal to implement Part 5 of the Police Act will create a statutory framework for the disclosure of criminal and police records on payment of a fee on a similar basis to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) system that has been operational in Great Britain for a number of years. The new system has been delayed somewhat and is now expected to be operational in respect of requests for ‘basic’, ‘standard’ and ‘enhanced’ disclosures in Northern Ireland from Summer 2007. |