Consultation on Northern Ireland’s new right to domestic violence safe leave
Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy is consulting on the introduction of a new right for victims of domestic abuse to access paid safe leave from work.
The consultation comes more than two years after the Northern Ireland Assembly approved the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act (NI) 2022, which requires the Department to consult and make regulations to operationalise the Act.
Economy minister Conor Murphy said: “This progressive legislation will give workers who are the victims of domestic abuse up to 10 days’ paid leave in each leave year to deal with issues related to domestic abuse.
“The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the practicalities of how we implement this important new employment right.
“Once implemented, safe leave will provide an important workplace support to some of the most vulnerable in our society.”
He added: “I want to take the views of all stakeholders, including workers, employers, trade unions and support organisations, so that we develop regulations that provide support for all users of this important new legislation.
“I encourage everyone with an interest in this important area to respond to the consultation and share their views.”
The consultation is running for 12 weeks from 5 July to 27 September 2024.