The Employment Rights (Revision of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order revises, from 7th March 2010, the limits applying to certain awards of industrial tribunals, and other amounts payable under employment legislation, as specified in the Schedule to the Order. The revisions made by this Order apply where the event giving rise to the entitlement to compensation or other payment occurred on or after 7th March 2010.

Under Article 33 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, if the retail prices index for September of a year is higher (or lower) than the index for the previous September, the Department is required to change the limits, by Order, by the amounts of the increase (or decrease). The revisions made by this Order reflect the change in the index from September 2008 to September 2009.

In making the calculation required by Article 33, the figures are required to be rounded up in certain ways. This has resulted in three of the limits remaining the same and therefore they have not been included in this Order. The unchanged limits are those in Articles 77E(3) and 154(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. These limits were last revised in the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R. 2009 No. 45) and the current limits are set out in the Table at the end of this Explanatory Note.

The Order does not revise the remaining two of the specified limits, namely those in Articles 23(1) and 231(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. These sums were increased from £350 to £380 from 1st October 2009 by the Work and Families (Increase of Maximum Amount) Order (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R. 2009 No. 317). Article 3 of that Order excluded the operation of Article 33 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 in relation to the sums increased in that Order on the occasion of an increase or decrease in the retail prices index for September 2009. Therefore those sums are not, on this occasion, revised in line with the retail prices index, but the limits are included in the Table below for information.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as it has no impact on the costs of business.

Limits not revised by this Order
Relevant statutory provision	Subject of Provision	Current limits
Article 23(1) of the 1996 Order	Maximum amount of “a week’s pay” for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal.	£380
Article 154(1) of the 1996 Order	Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of Article 132(1)(a) and (b), 132A(d)(1), 133(1), 134 or 136(1) of the 1996 Order.	£4,700
Article 231(1) of the 1996 Order	Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of debt to which Part XIV of the 1996 Order applies and which is referable to a period of time.	£380
Article 77E(3) of the 1996 Order(2)	Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to trade union membership or activities, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining.	£3,100

(1)

Article 132A(d) was inserted by regulation 32(6) of the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 (S.R. 1998 No. 386)

(2)

Article 77E(3) was inserted by Article 14 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 2004