TRADE UNION DESK: Wise law can make good jobs

John O’Farrell from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) welcomes the Executive’s Employment Rights Bill and gives an overview of the changes this should herald for workers in Northern Ireland.

On 28 April 2025, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald MLA outlined to the Assembly her department’s proposals for a new Northern Ireland Economy Bill. The ‘Good Jobs’ legislation follows a public consultation carried out last year which sought views on potential updates to employment law. It is several years since the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly has had any input into employment law, despite uniquely holding such devolved powers.

The last major update of workplace rights and duties was in 2016, when Alliance’s Steven Farry was minister at the old Department of Employment and Learning. In the decade since, changes have been made to employment law in Britain in response to the changing facts of working lives.

The consultation process completed last summer contains 31 proposals. Of these, 19 will simply bring Northern Ireland into line with Great Britain. They are largely uncontroversial and do not pose any significant cost or administrative burden on businesses here. Most were passed by Conservative governments at Westminster.

The remaining 12 proposals are currently under active consideration by the Labour government and ensure that working people in Northern Ireland are not allowed to be left behind again. The (GB) Employment Rights Bill is at an advanced stage of becoming legislation and will be in statute within a year. The only political opposition is coming from some trade unions who wish it were more ambitious, and the five MPs from Reform who claim to be the ‘voice of British workers’. Also opposed is the present leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch MP, who described the Bill as “back to the bad old days of the 1970s”. Badenoch was born in 1980.

In fact, much of what is proposed is not radical; it is basic, long-overdue modernisation to bring Northern Ireland’s employment rights up to the standards of most evolved economies. For example, the recognition of the essential role that trade unions play in representing workers. Acknowledging that unions not only have a place at the table but also make a meaningful, constructive contribution is a positive development.

The ‘costs’ are balanced by the gains. As Simon Deakin, Professor of Law at Cambridge says: “Our research shows that on average, strengthening employment laws in this country in the last 50 years has had pro-employment effects,” adding, “the consensus on the economic impacts of labour laws is that, far from being harmful to growth, they contribute positively to productivity. Labour laws also help ensure that growth is more inclusive and that gains are distributed more widely across society.”

The proposed new rights ought to include:

• Where a union member requests the support of their union on an employment-related matter, their union representative should have an automatic right to access the workplace
• Statutory recognition: 21-minimum employee threshold should be removed, allowing more enterprises to be covered by the statutory recognition rights.
• We also proposed greater protections from unfair dismissal for union reps as frequently they are targeted by employers seeking to resist unions
• Ban ‘fire and rehire’: Unions ought to engage in genuine consultation with employers to seek alternative solutions to both ‘fire and rehire’ and redundancies.
• Collective bargaining: Department for the Economy can increase collective bargaining coverage and of facilitating the exercise of the right to constructive, meaningful and informed negotiations on wages and other terms and conditions of employment between the social partners, on an equal footing.
• Zero-hours contracts are legal in Northern Ireland, and there are no specific laws prohibiting their use.
• Employment status: Northern Ireland maintains distinct employment categories: employees, workers, and the genuinely self-employed. Each category offers different rights and protections.
• Day one rights: As of now, certain employment rights in Northern Ireland require a qualifying period: A two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal; a right to request flexible working only after six months.
• Carer’s leave, there is currently no statutory entitlement to paid carer’s leave. The Carer’s Leave Act 2023, which provides a legal entitlement to five days’ unpaid carer’s leave per year for employees in England, Scotland, and Wales, does not apply in Northern Ireland.

These changes will improve the daily facts of every job in Northern Ireland. The next stage is for the Executive to endorse the policy proposals and allow them to proceed to the Assembly as an Executive Bill.

Then after drafting, the Northern Ireland Assembly can debate and scrutinise the Bill in the chamber and at committee stage before finally becoming law by the end of this mandate in spring 2027. The process of this legislation will be a lasting achievement for our 90 MLAs. They should grasp this opportunity.