The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 No. 1919 (NI. 16)

PART VII N.I. TIME OFF WORK

[F1 Adoption appointments N.I.

F1 Arts. 85ZJ-85ZS and cross-headings inserted (5.4.2015) by Work and Families Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (c. 1), ss. 17(2), 23(1); S.R. 2015/86, art. 4(1)(e)

Complaint to industrial tribunal N.I.

85ZM— (1) An employee may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal that his or her employer—

(a) has unreasonably refused to let him or her take time off as required by Article 85ZJ or 85ZL, or

(b) has failed to pay the whole or any part of any amount to which the employee is entitled under Article 85ZK.

(2) An industrial tribunal may not consider a complaint under this Article unless it is presented—

(a) before the end of the period of three months beginning with the day of the appointment in question, or

(b) within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable in a case where it is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period of three months.

[F2 (2A) Article 249B (extension of time limits to facilitate conciliation before institution of proceedings) applies for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a).]

(3) Where an industrial tribunal finds a complaint under paragraph (1) well-founded, it must make a declaration to that effect.

(4) If the complaint is that the employer has unreasonably refused to let the employee take time off as required by Article 85ZJ, the tribunal must also order the employer to pay to the employee an amount that is twice the amount of the remuneration to which the employee would have been entitled under Article 85ZK if the employer had not refused.

(5) If the complaint is that the employer has failed to pay the employee the whole or part of any amount to which the employee is entitled under Article 85ZK, the tribunal must also order the employer to pay to the employee the amount which it finds due to the employee.

(6) If the complaint is that the employer has unreasonably refused to let the employee take time off as required by Article 85ZL, the tribunal must also order the employer to pay to the employee an amount determined in accordance with paragraph (7).

(7) The amount payable to the employee is—

where—

a

A is the appropriate hourly rate for the employee determined in accordance with Article 85ZK(2) to (4), and

b

B is the number of working hours for which the employee would have been entitled under Article 85ZL to be absent if the time off had not been refused.]

F2 Art. 85ZM(2A) inserted (27.1.2020) by Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 15), s. 29(2), Sch. 2 para. 25; S.R. 2020/1, art. 2(n)