Employment

Proposals to end religious discrimination in school recruitment in Northern Ireland have been put out to consultation by a Stormont committee. The Northern Ireland Assembly committee for the Executive Office has begun its examination of the Fair Employment (School Teachers) Bill, which would amend f

Students with an interest in employment law have the chance to win up to €750 in a new competition launched by the Employment Law Association of Ireland (ELAI). The competition, which is also open to law students in Northern Ireland, invites either an essay of up to 2,000 words or a video of up

Alan Eustace examines the government's proposed new remote working legislation and whether it lives up to the hype. This week, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, headed by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, published the draft Right to Request Remote Working Bill 2022. This legislation w

Employees will be given the statutory right to request remote working under new government legislation. Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste and minister for enterprise, trade and employment, yesterday published the general scheme of his Right to Request Remote Work Bill, which forms part of the government

Employees who lost out on redundancy pay due to their period on lay-off during Covid-19 restrictions will receive a special tax-free payment under new legislation. The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill provides for a special payment of up to a maximum payment of €1,860 tax-free to bridge the

Anne Lyne, partner at Hayes solicitors LLP, considers the dilemma for employers whose staff are working two jobs from home at the same time. We have been hearing about the pandemic trend known as the “Great Resignation”, where workers are looking to leave work, change their lives or refl

Seven vacancies on the board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) will be filled by next week at the latest, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said. The board has been unable to meet since September 2021 due to the unfilled vacancies because it is unable to reach the quorum to make decisions.

Ministers have announced plans for a one-off public holiday in March 2022 and a new annual public holiday in February from next year. Friday 18 March 2022 will become a public holiday "in recognition of the efforts of the general public, volunteers and all workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and i

Northern Ireland's labour market is showing "signs of continued improvement" with fears of mass unemployment seemingly averted, an employment law expert at DWF has said. The latest monthly labour market report was published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) yesterday.

Employment law specialist firm Lewis Silkin has announced the appointment of two new associates in its Dublin and Belfast offices. Laura Ensor, formerly of Matheson, has been appointed a senior associate in Dublin and Jack Balmer, formerly of Tughans, has joined as an associate in Belfast.

The board of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been unable to meet for months due to unfilled vacancies, according to reports. There are currently just two board members, with seven positions vacant since the end of September 2021, The Times reports. The board is therefore unable to reach

Northern Ireland's Labour Relations Agency (LRA) has reported a spike in calls from the hospitality sector following the emergence of the Omicron variant. The LRA's workplace information service (WIS) has seen a dramatic increase in calls over the past two weeks, most of which have been distress cal

The Irish government has published a new information handbook on rights and remedies available to employees facing collective redundancy. The publication of the handbook fulfils one of the key commitments in the government's plan of action on collective redundancies following insolvency.

Changes in Northern Ireland’s labour market are aligned with global post-pandemic trends, with the adoption of a ‘hybrid working’ model regarded as the best means of retaining and attracting talent, a conference as heard. The International Agencies Conference was co-hosted by the L

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has launched its latest strategy statement for the period from 2022 to 2024. The statement, titled Meeting Stakeholder Expectations in a Changing World of Work, sets out its plans to provide an "appropriate mix of remote, hybrid and in-person services", as we