Northern Ireland Government consults on workplace dispute resolution

The Northern Ireland Government has launched a consultation on proposals to amend the procedures used to resolve workplace disputes. 

The current procedures came into operation in April 2005 and prescribe a minimum three-step procedure (or two-step in certain circumstances) for use in most grievance and disciplinary situations. The procedures mirror the statutory dispute resolution regime introduced in Great Britain in October 2004, which was repealed on 6 April 2009. Employers in Great Britain are now expected to comply with the "Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures". 

The Government has launched the consultation because it recognises that some employers find the current procedures too rigid and unnecessarily burdensome. The consultation document sets out the various stages of the current system and asks questions about how the arrangements could be improved, bearing in mind a number of guiding principles also set out in the consultation document. The existing arrangements explored in detail by the consultation document are:

• informal attempts to resolve disputes at work;
• formal processes for resolving disputes at work;
• alternative dispute resolution;
• legal remedies; and
• appeal of a legal judgment. 

The closing date for responses to the consultation is 4 September 2009. 

• The consultation document Disputes in the workplace: a systems review, which provides details for submission of responses, is available on the Department for Employment and Learning website. 

Also

The XpertHR employment law manual provides information on the law on disciplinary and grievance procedures in Great Britain.