Currently within Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the UK, there has been an increase in industrial action following complaints of unsatisfactory working conditions, including pay. Industrial action is considered a last resort for employees where a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation.

Given the rise in industrial action, it is important for employers to be aware of the impact of industrial action on the rights of their employees participating:

• Continuous Employment – for the duration of the industrial action, an employee’s continuous employment is postponed. This means that for the period of time an employee is on strike, whether it is one day or a week, does not count towards their continuous employment however it does not break the continuity either. For example, if an employee started with their employer on 1st July and they spent four days on strike, their starting date for continuous employment would be 5th July instead. It is important that both employers and employees alike are aware of this as it will impact things like pensions or statutory redundancy pay.
• Pay – an employer is entitled to deduct an employee’s pay for participation in industrial action.
• Pension – participation in industrial action is regarded as unauthorised service and therefore will not count towards pensionable service; pension contributions will not be made for the period during which an employee is on strike.
• Annual Leave – if an employee is on annual leave when industrial action begins, they will be treated by their employer as being on leave as opposed to participating in the strike.
• Dismissal – an employee is protected from dismissal if they are taking part in industrial action for 12 weeks or less; any dismissal in these circumstances will leave an employer vulnerable to a claim of unfair dismissal.