In case you've missed a few employment law developments from 2016, we thought we'd summarise a few for you to think about.

As almost 1,000 of our NI-based subscribers know, Legal-Island bring you all the major employment law and HR developments affecting Northern Ireland employers and their employees via email at the time those developments occur. And we know that some of our readers miss important changes because they are on holiday or are just too busy to get to the news as it comes in.

Don’t let the headlines pass you by as inevitably there will be a development that could impact upon your organisation with a real outcome – a tribunal claim for incorrectly calculating holiday pay, an increase in your employee liability insurance premium, a gap in your social media policy, or a worrying trend in your use of zero hours contracts that will come under scrutiny.

So remember a speed read is OK but always be on the look-out for something that needs to go to your employment law risk register, to be actioned accordingly.

Here are just some of the highlights affecting employment law in Northern Ireland and GB you might have missed in 2016:

• big employment law cases, on topics like vicarious liability, social media, absence, working time, discrimination and costs.
• big employment legislative developments, such as The Employment (NI) Act 2016; the Apprenticeship Levy from April 2017; and consolidation of Working Time legislation in NI.
• big employment law developments, with particular interest in Gender Pay Gap reporting, Brexit and zero hour contracts.
• big employment law articles and videos from employment law experts such as A&L Goodbody, Tughans and Mills Selig.
• big employment law questions and answers from Arthur Cox on subjects as diverse as absence during disciplinary proceedings, calculating holiday pay and surveillance in the workplace.
• big employment law checklists and precedents, including our exclusive comparative employment law update table covering developments in NI, GB and ROI.

We don’t just give you the information, we also give practical tips and pointers about how to manage the issues as they apply to you, be it the referencing period for holiday pay calculations or sample wording for a policy, or just so professional advice based on law and experience about how to handle a particular issue. So in this respect we go beyond updating, think of it as CPD-lite on the move !!

On top of that, we’ve featured funny (and not so funny) employment news in the media, the latest HR initiatives and surveys, employment law developments in the Republic of Ireland, hundreds of health and safety developments, and hundreds of news items on subjects ranging from workplace social events to taxable gifts to auto-enrolment and much, much more.

Remember to click on the links that catch your eye, login to our new Employment Law Hub and check out whatever interests you.

And don’t forget – all the items we’ve let you know about in email updates over several years are now held online on our Employment Law Hub in easy to search sections and popular topics and features. Just login and get (re)searching!

https://www.legal-island.com/login/

If you are not currently subscribed to the NI Employment Law Hub - start your 30 day, no obligation free trial right now for instant access to our library of articles.

Here are some of the stories we brought you in 2016 to get you thinking:

Mr A M Mohamud (in substitution for Mr A Mohamud (deceased)) v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc [2016] UKSC 11

Employer held vicariously liable for violent assault by an employee on customer:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/case-law/2016/mar/mr-a-m-mohamud-v-wm-morrison-supermarkets-plc-2016-uksc-11/

We sent a letter to an employee inviting her to a disciplinary hearing. We received a sick note by return, citing ‘stress’. What can we lawfully do to get the hearing underway? We suspect she is trying to avoid the situation – there’s no history of stress on her record.

Question answered by Arthur Cox in our First Tuesday Q&A Feature:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/q-and-a/2016/nov/how-to-handle-absence-from-a-disciplinary-hearing-due-to-stress/

Grange v Abellio London Ltd [2016] UKEAT 0130_16_1611

Employers must ensure employees have an opportunity to take rest breaks  - employees have no need to request leave for it to be refused:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/case-law/2016/nov/grange-v-abellio-london-ltd-2016/

Under what circumstances might we grant anonymity to a witness in a disciplinary process and how far should/could we go to protect that anonymity?

Question answered by Arthur Cox in our First Tuesday Q&A Feature:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/q-and-a/2016/oct/should-we-grant-anonymity-to-a-witness-in-a-disciplinary-process/

Aslam, Farrar and Others v Uber BV and others [2016] ET 2202551/2015

Drivers in the gig economy are not self-employed but are workers for statutory rights' purposes:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/case-law/2016/nov/aslam-farrar-and-others--v-uber-bv-and-others-2016/

Do we have to interview a candidate that has disclosed a conviction for murder?

Article written by Tughans in their monthly feature 'How do I handle it?':
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/how-do-i-handle-it/2016/july/do-we-have-to-interview-a-candidate-that-has-disclosed-a-conviction-for-murder/

Probationary Periods and the Contract of Employment

Article written by Mills Selig in their monthly 'Essential Guide to Employment Contracts' feature:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/essential-guide-to-employment-contracts/2016/nov/probationary-periods-and-the-contract-of-employment/

The Duty to Make Reasonable Adjustments [Video]

A video presentation from A&L Goodbody in their 19-item initial video 'Back to Basics' series:
https://www.legal-island.com/articles/uk/features/basics/2016/june/the-duty-to-make-reasonable-adjustments-video/