85B.—(1) An employee may present a complaint to an industrial tribunal that his employer has unreasonably refused to permit him to take time off as required by Article 85A.
(2) An industrial tribunal shall not consider a complaint under this Article unless it is presented—
(a)before the end of the period of three months beginning with the date when the refusal occurred, or
(b)within such further period as the tribunal considers reasonable in a case where it is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented before the end of that period of three months.
[F2(2A) Article 249B (extension of time limits to facilitate conciliation before institution of proceedings) applies for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a).]
(3) Where an industrial tribunal finds a complaint under paragraph (1) well-founded, it—
(a)shall make a declaration to that effect, and
(b)may make an award of compensation to be paid by the employer to the employee.
(4) The amount of compensation shall be such as the tribunal considers just and equitable in all the circumstances having regard to—
(a)the employer's default in refusing to permit time off to be taken by the employee, and
(b)any loss sustained by the employee which is attributable to the matters complained of.]
F2Art. 85B(2A) inserted (27.1.2020) by Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 15), s. 29(2), Sch. 2 para. 27; S.R. 2020/1, art. 2(n)