With the Work and Families (Northern Ireland) Act 2015 receiving Royal Assent on 8th January 2015 perhaps the speedy tempo for employment law reform in Northern Ireland has been set for the next twelve months.

As local employment law commentators have predicted, the twin speed approach to reform will perhaps become the norm in this jurisdiction i.e. in relation to UK-wide reform initiatives they happen in GB well in advance of any local NI reforms. Indeed some areas of reform in GB will be in their second tranche in 2015 as we draft legislation on the first tranche, for example reforms to whistleblowing and employment tribunal protocols.

Work and Families NI Act 2015

Looking ahead to the next few months in Northern Ireland we should in early April have the Work and Families (NI) Act in full swing with shared parental leave, extended rights to request flexible working, new ante-natal related rights and the power to consolidate the local Regulations on Working Time all in place. There are some 20+ Regulations emanating from the Work and Families (NI) Act 2015 in order to get all the reforms in place by April.

National Minimum Wage Legislative Consolidation

At the same time we should see all of the UK getting our National Minimum Wage Regulations consolidated into one set of regulations (effectively bringing all the separate sets of Regulations since 1999 under one set).

NI Employment Bill

By the Spring we should have sight of the draft Employment Bill (to be enacted by 2016) for Northern Ireland, which should have as its centrepiece the Labour Relations Agency facilitated Early Conciliation provisions, reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Regulations, which should mirror those implemented in GB in Summer 2013, and changes to the trigger for collective redundancy consultation (from 90 days down to 45, where it involves 100 or more employees).
Question marks remain over when we will see legislation on areas that fall outside the remit of the above Bill but within the original purview of the Employment Law Review, such as zero hours contracts and TUPE.

Tribunal Reforms

Meanwhile, procedural and protocol reforms to our Industrial Tribunal service are also in the pipeline but with no real dates or detail at this present moment.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/employment-tribunal-postponement-procedures

Unlawful Deductions from Wages – Two Year Limit

Will Northern Ireland devise a local version of the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3322)? These Regulations came into effect in GB on 8/1/15. They will apply to claims brought on or after 1/7/15 and are as a result of the decision in Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton (and joined cases) which concerned the calculation of holiday pay (non-guaranteed contractual overtime must be factored in to holiday pay). The net effect is that the Regulations impose a two-year backstop period on most unlawful deductions from wages claims, including claims for holiday pay.

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

Meanwhile in GB, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill is steadily working its way through the House of Lords and is the legislative vehicle for further employment law reforms in the following areas –

• Whistle-blowing, annual reporting,
• Enforcement of tribunal awards and settlements,
• Postponement of tribunal hearings,
• Penalties for underpayment of the national minimum wage,
• Zero hours contracts, and
• Public sector exit payments

Whether or not the Northern Ireland draft employment Bill contains any components of the GB Bill above remains to be seen but it is unlikely, given that issues such as public sector exit payments have not yet been consulted on here.

Fit For Work Service

In Northern Ireland we still do not seem to have any idea if the pending Government funded Fit for Work Service for GB will be rolled out in Northern Ireland, despite the fact that Statutory Sick Pay related legislation making way for the new service was repealed throughout the UK. The government has introduced the Fit for Work (FFW) service on a phased basis from late 2014. It is expected to be fully up and running in GB by May 2015 and provides a state-funded assessment by occupational health professionals for employees who are off sick for four weeks or more and case management for employees with complex needs to facilitate their return to work. 

Working Time

All the while the case law develops and whilst we see reforms to Working Time related constructs, such as holiday pay calculation, via case law we do not see the reforms happening where they arguably should be, that is, within the Regulations themselves.
The recently announced consolidation of the numerous spin-off regulations relating to the Working Time regulations in Northern Ireland will not factor in common law based reforms and such caveats need to be understood by practitioners.

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=333&consultId=14&visib=0&furtherConsult=yes&langId=en

It is better that the Regulations are changed to reflect the position of the Directive, as interpreted by the CJEU and others, than to allow the obvious disconnect between the Regulations and case law. The case law is certain - it must be time to amend the Regulations and not to simply consolidate them. Legislative clarity must be preferable to litigation.