1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
(2) This Order shall come into operation on the expiration of 2 months from the day on which it is made.
2.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.).] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) For the purposes of this Order, section 20(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 applies with the omission of the words “the liability of whose members is limited” and, where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
(3) In this Order—
“the Agency” means the Labour Relations Agency;
“contract of employment” means a contract of service or apprenticeship, whether express or implied, and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing;
“the Department” means the Department of Economic Development;
“employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment;
“employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person by whom the employee is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed;
“employers' association” has the same meaning as in the [1995 NI 12.] Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;
“employment” means employment under a contract of employment and “employed” shall be construed accordingly;
“the Employment Rights Order” means the [1996 NI 16.] Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;
“government department” means a Northern Ireland department or a department of the Government of the United Kingdom;
“industrial tribunal procedure regulations” has the meaning assigned by Article 9(1);
“statutory provision” has the meaning assigned by section 1(f) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.).] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;
“successor”, in relation to the employer of an employee, means (subject to paragraph (4)) a person who in consequence of a change occurring (whether by virtue of a sale or other disposition or by operation of law) in the ownership of the undertaking, or of the part of the undertaking, for the purposes of which the employee was employed, has become the owner of the undertaking or part;
“trade union” has the same meaning as in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.
(4) The definition of “successor” in paragraph (3) has effect (subject to the necessary modifications) in relation to a case where—
(a)the person by whom an undertaking or part of an undertaking is owned immediately before a change is one of the persons by whom (whether as partners, trustees or otherwise) it is owned immediately after the change, or
(b)the persons by whom an undertaking or part of an undertaking is owned immediately before a change (whether as partners, trustees or otherwise) include the persons by whom, or include one or more of the persons by whom, it is owned immediately after the change,
as it has effect where the previous owner and the new owner are wholly different persons.
(5) For the purposes of this Order any two employers shall be treated as associated if—
(a)one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control, or
(b)both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control;
and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.