Northern Ireland’s employment laws are being left behind compared to neighbouring jurisdictions due to the ongoing absence of devolved government, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland Belfast has warned.

Ian McFarland, partner in the global law firm’s employment team in Belfast, said businesses and employees in Northern Ireland would benefit from new legislation and regulations which have come into force in Great Britain and south of the border in recent months.

In Great Britain, there are new legal rights for parents of children requiring neonatal care, the right to unpaid leave for employees with caring responsibilities, protection for workers who receive tips, and increased rights for employees on or recently returned from family leave in a redundancy situation.

Parents south of the border have been granted stronger working rights to avail of breastfeeding breaks and unpaid leave for carers for medical purposes through provisions in the Work Life Balance Act.

Meanwhile, local legislation, including in relation to gender pay gap reporting, domestic abuse “safe leave”, and zero-hours workers remains on hold pending restoration of the Executive.

It comes as the Department for the Economy’s 10X Delivery Plan 2023/24, published last week, included commitments to ensure “employment relations framework remains fit for purpose”. However, without a minister, policy proposals or new legislation cannot be progressed.

Mr McFarland said: “We’ve seen with recent legislation and...

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