Borderwise Booklets
Issue 1
10TH January 2007
Going North – Work
© NIACAB (Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux)
This booklet provides general advice and information for people living in the Republic of Ireland who are working in Northern Ireland. It provides information on how to find work, what your rights and entitlements at work are, and what tax you may have to pay.
N1 Going North – Work
1. Introduction
If you live in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) this factsheet gives a general overview of working in Northern Ireland (NI). It provides information on how to find work, what your rights and entitlements at work are, and what tax you may have to pay. Everyone who is legally employed in NI has the same work related rights regardless of their citizenship. You may get further information from the addresses and websites listed in Appendix 1.
The information in this leaflet was compiled in October 2007. Subsequent changes may affect the accuracy of the content.
2. Looking for a Job
If you are currently living in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) you can find out what jobs are available by going to a FÁS centre and checking for vacancies in NI.
If you have already arrived in NI then there are various ways you can find work. There is a network of 35 Jobs and Benefits offices and JobCentres in all main towns and cities which advertise a wide range of vacancies. You can call into a local JobCentre in NI or check the website http://www.jobcentreonline.com
If you are coming to work in NI for the first time, you will have to apply for a National Insurance number.
3. What is a National Insurance Number?
A National Insurance number is required for employment and to receive Social Security benefits. It is the equivalent of your Personal Public Service Number (PPS No) in ROI. You must apply for a National Insurance number before starting work in NI otherwise your tax and National Insurance contributions will not be recorded.
3.1 How do I apply for a National Insurance Number?
National Insurance Numbers are issued by the Social Security Agency. An application for a National Insurance Number can be made at any local Jobs and Benefits Office were you will be assisted with the completion of form CA5400. When applying for a National Insurance number you will have to provide documentary proof of identity. Examples might include:
- Your Birth of Marriage certificate
- Your passport
- A letter from a solicitor, or official representative of any organisation
4.Becoming self-employed
If you want to set up your own business, you may get help from Invest NI, which has 42 centres in its Local Enterprise Agency Network. You may get information, advice, training and some financial support. Further information is available online at www.investni.com
5. Your Rights as a Worker
If you work in NI you will normally have the following basic rights, however you and your employer may agree better terms and conditions. Further information is available from the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning www.delni.gov.uk, the UK Department for Work and Pensions www.dwp.gov.uk and the Labour Relations Agency in NI www.LRA.org.uk.
5.1 Contract of Employment
A contract of employment is an agreement between an employer and a worker setting out the terms under which they will have a working relationship. A contract gives both an employee and an employer certain rights and obligations.
5.2 Pay
Every person is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The current rates for 2008 are:
· If you are aged 22 or over you are entitled to £5.73 per hour
· If you are aged 18-22, you are entitled to £4.77 per hour
· If you are aged 16 or 17 years, you are entitled to £3.53 per hour
The National Minimum Wage is enforced by HM Revenue and Customs (formerly called the Inland Revenue) www.hmrc.gov.uk
The National Minimum Wage Helpline, operated by Citizens Advice in conjunction with HM Revenue and Customs is: 0845 6500 207
5.3 Deductions form wage
Certain deductions can legally be taken from your pay by your employer, for example Tax and National Insurance. Otherwise deductions are only allowed if they are notified to you in writing as part of your contract, or if you sign authorisation in advance of the deduction being made. For example, you may agree to have your trade union membership fees, pension contributions or student loan repayment deducted from your pay.
5.4 Hours of Work
With a number of exceptions, you have the right to a maximum working week of 48 hours but you may choose to waive that right. This must be in writing. Young workers (aged under 18) may work an average maximum of 40 hours.
You are entitled to 11 hours rest each day (young workers are entitled to 12 hours). You must get a day off (young workers get two) every week or two days off every two weeks.
You are also entitled to rest breaks during your working time. After a working period of 6 hours, adult workers (those aged 18 and over) are entitled to a rest break of at least 20 minutes. People with disabilities may be entitled to extra rest breaks. There are special rules for workers aged under 18 and for night workers.
Your employer is obliged to keep records of your hours of work and you are entitled to see these records if you ask to do so.
5.5 Flexible Working
Parents of young children (under 6) children with disabilities (under 18), or carers of adults may ask for flexible working conditions but there is no absolute right to get this. Employers must consider the request seriously but may refuse if there are business grounds for doing so. The onus is on the employee to prove the work can be carried out within flexible working hours.
5.6 Sunday Working
Certain shop workers have the right to opt out of working on a Sunday.
5.7 Health and Safety
Your employer must provide a safe and healthy working environment. Your employer should provide first aid equipment, an adequate means of escape from the building in which you work in case of fire and protective clothing if applicable. Health and safety rules are enforced by the:
Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland
83 Ladas Drive
Belfast
BT6 9FR
Telephone: 028 9024 3249
Helpline: 0800 0320 121
5.8 Trade Union Membership
You may not be penalised for joining or refusing to join a trade union. Disputes about trade union recognition are dealt with by the Industrial Court of the Department for Employment and Learning. Further information can be found online at: www.delni.gov.uk
6.Leave from Work
You may be entitled to paid and unpaid leave from work in certain circumstances. A minimum period of employment is required in some cases.
6.1 Annual Leave
If you are working full time, you are entitled to a minimum of 24 days per year plus statutory holidays. You accrue or build up this entitlement during your period of employment. Part time employees are entitled to proportionate leave. You do not have a right to have paid for unpaid leave on public holidays.
6.2 Sick Leave
If you are not able to work because you are ill or injured, your employer may be obliged to pay you Statutory Sick Pay (see Leaflet N2).
6.3 Maternity Leave
Mothers are entitled to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave. During this time, they may receive Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance (see Leaflet N2). Women whose baby is due before 01 April 07 and who have a minimum length of service (roughly 10 months at the date of birth) are then entitled to a further 26 weeks unpaid leave known as additional maternity leave. If the baby is due on or after 01 April 07 the mother is entitled to this additional maternity leave regardless of the period of service.
6.4 Adoption Leave
Mothers are entitled to adoption leave on the same basis as maternity leave. Statutory Adoption Pay is paid for the same period as Statutory Maternity Pay (see leaflet N2).
6.5 Paternity Leave
Fathers are entitled to two weeks paternity leave around the time of the birth or adoption of the child. Statutory Paternity Pay (see Leaflet N2) may be paid.
6.6 Parental Leave
Parents, employed by the same employer for one year, may be able to take unpaid parental leave to look after a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. They may take 13 weeks unpaid parental leave for each child born or adopted and while parents of a disabled child may take 18 weeks in total. This leave may be taken until the child’s fifth birthday or until five years after they have adopted a child. The timing of parental leave must be agreed with your employer. Employers and employees can agree their own procedures for taking parental leave. They can do this by using workforce or collective agreements or through individual arrangements. Any of these agreements will apply to an employee only if it is part of the employee’s contract of employment.
6.7 Other Paid time off
Pregnant women are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care. You may be entitled to paid time off for a number of other reasons, for example, you are entitled to reasonable paid time off for carrying out training or duties in relation to industrial relations or as a safety representative or a pension scheme trustee.
Young people aged 16 or 17 are entitled to reasonable paid time off to study or train for a relevant qualification.
6.8 Time off Without Pay
You may be entitled to reasonable time off, but you are not entitled to be paid, for various events, for example, if you have to deal with an emergency involving a dependent (illness, death, breakdown of care arrangements) or if you are serving in various public offices.
7. Discrimination
Discrimination happens when an employer treats one employee less favourably than others. Legislation protects employees from discrimination of different types.
7.1 Sex Discrimination
You may not be discriminated against on grounds of sex, sexual orientation or marital status. The non-discrimination rules apply to all aspects of employment.
7.2 Racial Discrimination
The 1976 Race Relations Act makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you on racial grounds. Race includes:
· colour
· nationality
· ethnic or national origins
Under the Act, it doesn't matter if the discrimination is done on purpose or not. What counts is whether (as a result of an employer's actions) you're treated unfavourably because of your race.
The Race Relations Act protects all racial groups, regardless of their race, colour, nationality, religious beliefs, national or ethnic origins.
7.3 Religious and Political Discrimination
You may not be discriminated against on grounds of religion or political opinion.
Employers may take affirmative action to help members of one religious or political group. If there are more than 10 employees, the employer must monitor the composition of the workforce. They must ask employees whether they are Protestant, Roman Catholic or neither and give this information to the Equality Commission. If this shows under representation of one group, employers may be required to take steps to remedy the situation. Dismissal on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion is automatically unfair.
7.4 Disability Discrimination
Employers may not discriminate against people with disabilities in recruitment or at work. This means that you may not be treated less favourably because of your disability unless there is good cause. It also means that employers must take reasonable steps to make the workplace suitable for a person with a disability.
7.5 Age Discrimination
It is unlawful to discriminate against a worker on the grounds of age. Age discrimination in recruitment, promotion and training are prohibited. It is unlawful to discriminate against a worker for being too young as well as too old. Upper age limits for claiming unfair dismissal and redundancy are removed and a default retirement age of 65 is introduced, making compulsory retirement below this age unlawful unless the employer can justify the requirement for an earlier retirement age. Employees will also have the right to request to work beyond the age of 65 and employers will have a 'duty to consider' such requests.
8. The Role of the Equality Commission
The Equality Commission's task is to use its powers to enforce Northern Ireland's equality legislation on disability, gender, racial equality, sexual orientation, age and equal pay. In addition it has responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the statutory duty on public authorities concerning equality of opportunity and good relations arising from Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
9. Disputes at Work
Since April 2005, employers are obliged to have formal disciplinary and grievance procedures and you must use these procedures if informal methods have failed. There is a 3-step process whereby the employer or the employee must put their complaint or grievance in writing. There must be a meeting to discuss it and there must then be an appeal meeting if agreement has not been reached.
You may get help to resolve the dispute from:
Labour Relations Agency
Head Office
2-8 Gordon Street
Belfast
BT1 2LG
Telephone (028) 9032 1442
www.lra.org.uk
If this fails, you may go to an Industrial Tribunal or the Fair Employment Tribunal. Industrial tribunals deal with most employment disputes including, for example, wages, sex discrimination and dismissal. The Fair Employment Tribunal deals with religious or political discrimination in employment.
Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal (OITFET)
Long Bridge House
20-24 Waring Street
Belfast
BT1 2EB
Telephone (028) 9032 7666
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk
10. If you Lose your Job
Minimum Notice
You are entitled to get a minimum period of notice if you are being dismissed and you must give a minimum notice if you are leaving. You must give a week’s notice if you have been employed for a month or more. Your employer must give notice as follows:
One month – 2 years employment 1 week
2 years 2 weeks
3 years 3 weeks and so on up to a maximum of
12 weeks after 12 years or more.
If you are dismissed without notice or with incorrect notice you may be entitled to pay in lieu of notice.
10.1 Written Statement of Reasons
If you are dismissed after at least a year’s employment, you are entitled to a written statement of the reasons for your dismissal within 14 days. If you are dismissed while you are pregnant you must get such a statement regardless of how long you have worked.
10.2 Unfair Dismissal
If you think you have been unfairly dismissed you may take a case to an Industrial Tribunal if you have been employed for at least a year. The year’s limit does not apply in all cases. There is no limit in, for example, dismissal for pregnancy or trade union membership, or dismissal for trying to assert certain statutory rights. Generally, you must take the case within three months.
10.3 Redundancy
If you have been working for at least two years and you are made redundant you may be entitled to receive a lump sum in compensation. The amount is related to your age, length of service (maximum 20 years) and your pay. There is a maximum amount that can count as a weeks pay for the purposes of the calculation. At present this is £290 per week.
10.4 Employer Insolvency
If your employer is insolvent and you are owed money, you may be able to claim some payments from the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund which is administered by the Department of Employment and Learning.
1 Taxation
The income tax year starts on 6 April each year. The amount you have to pay in tax depends on your income, and the allowances to which you are entitled. The taxation system is implemented by HM Customs and Revenue www.hmrc.gov.uk
Employees pay tax on the PAYE system. Self-employed people pay annually under a self-assessment system. The deadline for filing returns and paying the tax due is 31 January after the end of the relevant tax year.
12.1 Allowances
For the tax year 2007 -2008 you are entitled to personal allowances as follows:
Basic allowance £5,225
Allowance if aged 65 -74 £7,550
Allowance if aged 75 or over £7,690
These allowances are available to each of a married couple as each employee is taxed individually. You may also get allowances for items such as pension contributions and contributions to charity.
12.2 Tax Rates
The tax rates for the year 2007/8 are:
10% on the first £2,230 of taxable income
22% on income between £2,230 and £34,600
40% on income above this
These bands are applied to gross income less personal allowances.
Frontier workers (ie people living on one side of the border and employed on the other side) who are resident in the South still have a responsibility to complete a return to the Revenue Commissioners in the South in relation to their earnings from NI (‘foreign income’). Whether they have additional tax to pay in the South will depend on the operation of what is known as Trans – Border Workers Relief. For additional information see the Revenue’s website www.revenue.ie.
12.3 Tax Credits
Tax credits in NI are amounts which may be payable to people with incomes below certain limits. They are administered by HM Revenue and Customs. The most important tax credits are the Child Tax Credit and the Working Tax Credit. They are described in Leaflet N2. (In the South, tax credits are amounts by which your income tax liability is reduced.) Tax Credits helpline : 0845 300 3900
Appendix 1
You may obtain further information and advice from the organisations listed below. Please note that the telephone numbers are given as if you are calling from NI. If calling from the ROI you place the digits 048 before the number and drop the 028 or place the digits 0044 before the number and drop the first zero in the number.
Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland
83 Ladas Drive
Belfast
BT6 9FR
Telephone: 028 9024 3249
Helpline: 0800 0320 121
The Equality Commission Northern Ireland
Equality House
1 Shaftesbury Square
Belfast
BT2 7LB
Telephone (028) 9050 0600
www.equalityni.org
Labour Relations Agency
Head Office
2-8 Gordon Street
Belfast
BT1 2LG
Telephone (028) 9032 1442
www.lra.org.uk
Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal (OITFET)
Long Bridge House
20-24 Waring Street
Belfast
BT1 2EB
Telephone (028) 9032 7666
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.gov.uk