Elaine Clarke

The independent appeals service is one of a suite of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services provided by the LRA, mostly to organisations in the public sector.

The option to have the LRA facilitate an independent appeal hearing, as the final stage of appeal in an organisation’s procedure, is written into a number of collective agreements between trade unions and employers.

However, the full detail of how the service would operate was not determined by those collective agreements.

Elaine Clarke, director of employment relations services at the LRA, said: “Traditionally, the service was not supported by a detailed, nor prescriptive, governance framework because the parties to the collective agreements did not flesh out that level of precision at the time of signing.

“At times this has resulted in delays and procedural issues. The new governance framework addresses these issues.

“Our aim is to ensure the service runs more efficiently and effectively for all involved.”

To support the independent appeals hearing service, the LRA has appointed 16 additional independent appeal panel chairs.

The new chairs are Scott Alexander, Nicola Barber, Stephen Boyd, Ryan Cushley, Gerard Laverty, Emma McIlveen, Linda McMillan, Catrina Miskelly, Mike Mullan, Philip O’Rawe, Alexander Redpath, Paul Upson, Tommy Wright, Alison Millar, Michelle McGinley and Gillian Robinson.

The new cohort join a group of independent appeal and arbitration panel chairs, many of whom have been working with the LRA for several years.

Ms Clarke said: “Whilst both groups of panel chairs conduct work on behalf of the LRA for these specific tasks and roles, they are not employees.

“As such, they are free — if approached directly — to work in an independent, private capacity, completely unrelated to the LRA.

“Therefore, the distinction and context in which the panel chair is performing the service must be absolutely clear and agreed by all parties before they commence.”