Ministers say the proposed legislation would bring the biggest employment rights changes in a generation.

Northern Ireland’s Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill has moved closer to formal Assembly scrutiny, with Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald confirming that the Bill was with the Executive for approval.

The Minister said she was hopeful it would be considered at the next Executive meeting, allowing it to be introduced to the Assembly and referred to the Economy Committee before the summer recess. The Bill has been described by the Minister as the biggest upgrade to employment legislation since the Good Friday Agreement.

For employers, the proposals cover several areas of day-to-day workplace practice. Measures highlighted by the Minister include a right for zero-hours workers to move to a banded-hours contract, while still allowing zero-hours contracts where work is genuinely casual or seasonal and where that flexibility suits both employer and worker.

The Bill would also require tips, gratuities and service charges to be passed on to workers in full. Other measures include neonatal care leave and pay, a new entitlement to unpaid carer’s leave, reform of paternity leave, and stronger redundancy protections for pregnant employees and those returning from family-related leave.

There has also been movement on the employee voice and trade union elements of the Bill. On 29th May, the Economy Minister confirmed that micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees would be exempt from the proposed new right for trade unions to request access to workplaces, a change from the original proposal which would have applied to all workplaces. The Minister said the change followed engagement with employers, trade unions and others.

Business organisations, including NI Chamber, welcomed the exemption as recognition of the pressures facing the smallest employers, but warned that wider concerns remain around trade union access, recognition, scrutiny and the need for workable safeguards in the final legislation.

For Chamber members in Derry and across the North West, the Bill will be important to follow closely. Businesses with shift-based staffing, seasonal labour, hospitality teams, agency workers or family-leave policies may need to review contracts, payroll systems and HR procedures once the final legislation and implementation timetable are clear.

The takeaway:

The Good Jobs Bill is moving towards Assembly scrutiny, and employers should begin identifying where proposed changes could affect contracts, rotas, pay practices, family-leave policies and workplace engagement arrangements.

Read the full The ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill – A Way Forward here.