Resolving disputes
On 28 May 2009, the Department began public consultation on possible reform of mechanisms for resolving employment disputes that arise at work. More details of the consultation are set out below.
Current System
On 3 April 2005, legislation came into effect giving new rights and responsibilities to both employers and employees in Northern Ireland.
Under this legislation, if a dispute cannot be sorted out informally, then both employers and employees must follow minimum procedures for resolving disputes about employment issues. These minimum procedures are for dealing with grievances (complaints by an employee) and with disciplinary action and dismissal (actions the employer can take against an employee).
Where a dispute over an employment issue can’t be resolved at work, the people involved can request help from the Labour Relations Agency or they can lodge a claim with an industrial tribunal (or, where relevant, the Fair Employment Tribunal). In most cases the Labour Relations Agency has a duty to try to resolve such claims without the need for a tribunal Hearing, but when all other efforts to resolve the issue have been unsuccessful the tribunal will be able to provide a legal judgement about the problem.
Further details of the current system for resolving disputes can be found on the What to do if a dispute occurs page.
Changes in Great Britain
In April 2009 new legislation saw significant changes made to Dispute Resolution procedures in Great Britain. These are intended to simplify the process and make it work better for both employers and employees. Under these changes the statutory disciplinary and grievances procedures have been repealed and replaced by a new ACAS statutory Code of Practice, with employment tribunals being given the power to take into account any failure to adhere to this Code.
It should be noted that these changes are only relevant to Great Britain and do not apply in Northern Ireland.
Review of dispute resolution in Northern Ireland
Over the past year and more, the Department for Employment and Learning has been conducting a formal pre-consultation on the major issues around workplace disputes, specifically within Northern Ireland, and to this end has held discussions with employers’ organisations, the trade union movement, and numerous other groups who have key interests in the area. It has become clear that there is a desire for a fundamental review of the systems that currently exist for resolving workplace disputes in Northern Ireland.
By way of response, the Department, on 28 May 2009, began a public consultation process covering the range of issues that have emerged from the pre-consultation process. This consultation closed on Friday 4 September 2009.
The formal consultation document, which is available to download, covers the following broad areas:
- Whether there is more that can be done to prevent disputes or stop them from becoming serious
- The future of the statutory dispute resolution procedures introduced in April 2005
- The potential for better use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms
- Possible changes to the way in which employment-related tribunals operate.
