Assembly Written Question 18296/17-22

To ask the Minister for the Economy whether her Department has identified areas where new primary legislation is required in regards to improving employment rights.

Answer: The significant impact of the pandemic has resulted in a need to prioritise Covid-19 related employment legislation. Legislation has already been introduced to protect workers’ rights in respect of annual leave and in relation to statutory family-related payments and redundancy entitlements for those on the furlough scheme.

Legislation to extend protections against detriment to all workers in relation to any action they may take to protect themselves or others where they reasonably believe there is serious and imminent danger comes into operation on 31 May 2021. Previously this health and safety provision had only been afforded to employees. To date, it has been possible to use secondary legislation for these purposes.

In terms of primary legislation, I am pleased to be have been able to make progress towards the introduction of a Bill to provide for Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay, an important employment right for those parents in work who suffer the loss of a child. This will be the only piece of employment related primary legislation I will have time to introduce during this mandate.

While Northern Ireland already has a robust framework of employment rights in place, the unprecedented impact of the pandemic means that it will be necessary to keep other aspects of employment law under review. Employment law is also continually evolving at UK level and internationally. There will therefore inevitably be requirements to introduce further secondary legislation and to introduce primary legislation in the future. Any policy proposals for new legislation would be subject to appropriate public consultation and the necessary approvals from the Executive and the Assembly.