We are an employer based in Northern Ireland but we have recently opened an operation in the Republic of Ireland. We have issued contracts of employment to staff based in ROI and I now need to update our Employee Handbook. The Directors of the Company would like one handbook to apply to both Operations. I am aware that there are certain differences in employment rights and obligations between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland but I would like to make minimal changes to the handbook. How do I handle it?

Sharon McArdle of Tughans Solicitors writes:


You have rightly understood that the Northern Irish handbook will not be appropriate for staff in the Republic of Ireland without amendment (and vice versa). The statutory entitlements to which an employee can benefit are governed by the country in which the employee habitually carries out his/her work (or if he/she does not habitually carry out work in any one country, by the laws of the country in which the business he/she is engaged is situated).

Appropriate policies and procedures must therefore be provided for ROI employees in order to avoid employment claims.

There are a great deal of similarities in employment law applying in the two jurisdictions. This is because Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are both members of the European Communities. European Directives affecting employment matters, such as the Equal Treatment Directive, have been enacted in domestic legislation in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

However, there are also numerous differences which could trap the unwary. In certain areas employees in the Republic of Ireland will have enhanced rights compared to Northern Ireland and vice versa. Some examples are as follows:

• Employees in the Republic of Ireland are entitled to force majeure leave, where, for urgent family reasons, the immediate presence of the employee is indispensable owing to an injury or illness of a close family member. Employees are entitled to be paid for this leave for a maximum of 3 days in a 12 month period or 5 days in a 36 month period. In Northern Ireland the equivalent would be Time Off for Dependents but there is no statutory right to pay during this form of leave.
• There is no statutory right to maternity pay from the employer in the Republic of Ireland, whereas in Northern Ireland an employee is entitled to statutory maternity pay paid by their employer.
• Employees in Republic of Ireland are entitled to an unbroken period of two weeks’ annual leave whereas there is no such entitlement in Northern Ireland.

There are Numerous Other Differences

There are a number of options in seeking to provide an employee handbook to cover both jurisdictions;

• Option 1: Have two separate handbooks, one for each jurisdiction.

This approach might be favoured if the employer is keen to pay statutory minimum entitlements only.

It could work successfully if the two branches operate quite separately. The disadvantage of this approach however is that employees might be disgruntles if they become aware of employees getting what they might see as more favourable terms in the other jurisdiction.

• Option 2: Have one handbook to apply to both jurisdictions, elevating entitlements so that employees in either jurisdiction are on an even platform. For example, give all employees the right to take force majeure leave, encourage all employees to take an unbroken holiday of two weeks;
  
  

There is obviously a cost implication for the company in doing this. We are aware of employers who follow this approach.

• Option 3: Have one employee handbook to cover the majority of policies and procedures and have separate stand-alone policies and procedures for certain areas such as maternity leave or other forms of protective leave.

This gives the employer more flexibility whilst still having a uniform handbook for both jurisdictions.