Employment
The Working Time Regulations 1998: Shift Workers
27/04/2012
The Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘the Regulations’) are particularly relevant to sectors who undertake shift work, overtime and night time working. Some key points are summarised below to assist employers who operate shift patterns in ensuring they stay on the right side of the Regulations.
The basic premise of the Regulations is that employees must not work more than 48 hours a week. If, as a employer you employ or engage a worker who works over and above this limit, you should ensure that they sign a simple form of opt-out agreement every three months. If...
New Guidance: Managing Poor Performance
08/07/2011
The Labour Relations Agency has issued new guidance (June 2011) in relation to managing poor performance in the workplace.
The Guidance states that managing poor work performance should be part of an overall performance management process. The Guidance also states that there should be some sort of measure of performance or standard of performance against which an employee should be assessed against, e.g. detailed job description, targets etc.
The document identifies two general procedural steps in relation to management of poor performance: investigation and review meetings. The...
Paternity Leave
12/05/2011
If an employee’s baby is due on or after 3 April 2011, they may have the right to take up to 26 weeks' Additional Paternity Leave. This is on top of entitlement to 2 weeks' Ordinary Paternity Leave.
Additional Paternity Leave is for a maximum of 26 weeks. If employee’s partner has returned to work, the leave can be taken between 20 weeks and 1 year after child is born or placed for adoption. Employees may be entitled to receive Additional Statutory Paternity Pay during their partner's Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Adoption Pay period. ...
Changes in Dispute Resolution in Northern Ireland
12/05/2011
The Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order (Northern Ireland) 2011 (“the Order”) brings into operation the provisions of the Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (“the Act”) set out in Article 2. Those provisions come into operation on 3rd April 2011.
Provisions of the Act make certain changes to the law relating to the resolution of disputes, which arise in the workplace. The Act repeals the existing statutory grievance procedures introduced by the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003....
Automatic enrolment into pensions at work from 2012
12/05/2011
From 2012, employers will have to enrol all eligible employees into a pension and make minimum contributions into the scheme. If an employee is eligible, the employer will enrol them automatically into a pension, and employees have the right to opt out if they want. Everyone employed in the United Kingdom will be enrolled automatically into a pension, provided they:
are aged at least 22 years old
have not yet reached State Pension age
earn more than £7,475 a year (this figure (as cited below also) is based on 2011/2012 figures and is subject to change)
are not already...
Abolition of Default Reirement Age
12/05/2011
The default retirement age has been abolished in Northern Ireland with effect from 6 April 2011. Employers are no longer able to rely on 65 as the safe age at which to retire employees. Therefore, no new notices of intended retirement may be issued from 6th April 2011. As there is no longer a statutory default retirement age, employers must be able to objectively justify dismissing at 65 or indeed any set age for retirement. This is known as an “employer-justified retirement age”. To justify a compulsory retirement age, the employer must be able...
