2024 was a big year for employment law – with 2025 set to become even bigger. With the NI Executive getting back to work after a 2-year hiatus, significant changes and updates to employment law was high on the agenda.

Key proposals last year included the ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill consultation, which has aimed to overhaul employment law after a decade of inaction. Topics included the reform of zero-hours contracts, trade union rights, flexible working, and updates to family rights at work. The consultation period ended in September 2024, and we await an outcome in the next few months.

Another key development was the consultation on the Domestic Abuse ‘safe leave’ Act, which finished in September 2024. This grants up to 10 days of paid leave for domestic abuse victims. In passing the Bill, Northern Ireland was the first jurisdiction within the United Kingdom and Ireland to provide a legal entitlement to paid leave for those affected by domestic violence.  We now await draft regulations in the coming months.

The trailblazing for NI employment law continued, with the Parental Bereavement Leave policy being expanded to include miscarriage, the first in the UK, and we expect GB to follow suit.

Additionally, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is set to be overhauled in GB, and Northern Ireland is expected to do the same. Tribunal rules were amended to simplify the dispute process, and the usual changes to the National Living Wage will apply from April 2025, with a small increase from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour.

But how will these changes impact the labour market? 2024 provided clarity on holiday pay issues following the Agnew case, which increased employers’ financial exposure for incorrect holiday pay calculations and, as a lot of these reforms offer more protections to workers, it is anticipated that employers may be taking a more cautious approach to recruitment.

So, what can we expect in 2025? We will likely see a focus on updating Northern Ireland’s equality legislation to ensure its fit for purpose and in line with GB. As our equality legislation is made up of many individual pieces of legislation, there are inevitably gaps where workers protections are exposed and not as stringent as they could be. Potential recommendations for change in equality legislation in Northern Ireland is expected to be published in early 2025.

What about Gender Pay Gap reporting? This is another area in which we will see a focus in 2025. Legislation was put in place via the Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 to allow for gender pay gap reporting in NI, but the consultation on regulations to implement this was released 8 years later, in November 2024. The consultation remains open until February 2025 and so, whilst we may see some discussions surrounding how these changes will be implemented, we don’t anticipate substantive change coming in until possibly 2026/2027.

Although a lot of implementation dates are still fluid, now is the time for businesses to prepare for the changes which are coming down the track. The first step is creating an environment where employees feel they can disclose their concerns and issues, with policies and procedures being updated to reflect the new proposals.

For further information on how these changes will impact your business or team, or if you have any employment law issues, please contact Marie-Claire Logue at Turley Legal.