Employment Law Support for Belfast and Northern Ireland Employers

Northern Ireland is a separate employment jurisdiction, and this page is written on that basis rather than as a Great Britain page with the city name swapped.

What is different here. Claims are heard by the Industrial Tribunal, or the Fair Employment Tribunal where the complaint concerns religious belief or political opinion under FETO 1998 — protection with no GB equivalent. Conciliation runs through the Labour Relations Agency; notification is mandatory before lodging, and the tribunal clock pauses for up to a calendar month. A prescribed response must reach the Office of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal within 28 days.publishing+3

The unfair dismissal qualifying period remains one year. The statutory three-step dismissal procedure has been retained — failure to complete it renders a dismissal automatically unfair. Conciliated settlements are recorded in a CO3, binding once agreed even verbally. Exit documents are still routinely called compromise agreements.business+6

If you also employ in Great Britain, you are running two regimes. Your NI contracts, handbooks and disciplinary procedures should not be GB documents with the address changed.[ Book an NI documentation review →] 0121 256 8043