Other provisions
Settlements of redundancy cases
12.—(1) In Article 20(1) of the [1996 NI 18.] Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (which specifies the proceedings in relation to which the provisions about conciliation apply), in sub-paragraph (c) (proceedings under the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996) after head (ix) there shall be inserted—
“(ixa)Article 170 (redundancy payment);”.
(2) In Article 201(2) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (which defines “employer’s payment” for the purposes of the provisions requiring the Department to make a payment to an employee whose employer is liable to pay him an employer’s payment), after sub-paragraph (a) there shall be inserted—
“(aa)a payment which his employer is liable to make to him under an agreement to refrain from instituting or continuing proceedings for a contravention or alleged contravention of Article 170 which has effect by virtue of Article 245(2)(e) or (f), or”.
(3) In Article 203(1) of that Order (which specifies the amount which the Department is required to pay in respect of an employer’s payment), after sub-paragraph (a) there shall be inserted—
“(aa)where the employer’s payment to which the employee’s application under Article 201 relates is a payment which his employer is liable to make to him under an agreement having effect by virtue of Article 245(2)(e) or (f), is a sum equal to the amount of the employer’s payment or of any redundancy payment which the employer would have been liable to pay to the employee but for the agreement, whichever is less, and”.
Dismissal procedures agreements
13.—(1) In Article 142 of the [1996 NI 16.] Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (which provides that the statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed does not apply to employees covered by a designated dismissal procedures agreement), for paragraph (2) (which provides that the statutory right nevertheless applies in the case of dismissals specified in certain statutory provisions) there shall be substituted—
“(2) But if the agreement includes provision that it does not apply to dismissals of particular descriptions, paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to a dismissal of any such description.”.
(2) In paragraph (3) of that Article (which specifies the matters as to which the Department must be satisfied before designating a dismissal procedures agreement), for sub-paragraph (e) (which requires a dismissal procedures agreement to provide for arbitration or independent adjudication where a decision cannot otherwise be reached) there shall be substituted—
“(e)the agreement includes provision either for arbitration in every case or for—
(i)arbitration where (by reason of equality of votes or for any other reason) a decision under the agreement cannot otherwise be reached, and
(ii)a right to submit to arbitration any question of law arising out of such a decision, and”.
(3) After paragraph (5) of that Article there shall be added—
“(6) Where an award is made under a designated dismissal procedures agreement it may be enforced, by leave of a county court, in the same manner as a judgment of the court to the same effect and, where leave is given, judgment may be entered in terms of the award.”.
(4) In Article 229 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (which specifies the debts which the Department must satisfy if an employer has become insolvent) in paragraph (1)(d) (which specifies a basic award of compensation for unfair dismissal payable by the employer), after “dismissal” there shall be inserted “or so much of an award under a designated dismissal procedures agreement as does not exceed any basic award of compensation for unfair dismissal to which the employee would be entitled but for the agreement”.
(5) The amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) do not affect any dismissal procedures agreement designated by the Department before those paragraphs come into operation.