The Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003
2003 No. 2902
Commentary on Provisions
Article 3: Conciliation
Article 3 provides for industrial tribunal procedure regulations to introduce a fixed period during which parties can avail of the conciliation service provided by the LRA. The aim of fixing a time period in this manner, albeit with a degree of inbuilt flexibility, is to focus the minds of disputants upon the importance of reaching agreement rather than allowing the dispute to become unduly protracted. Delayed settlements cost time, money and, on occasion, goodwill. The objective is to introduce a system that encourages earlier conciliated settlements where possible, without preventing settlements at the last minute if there seems a strong likelihood of this occurring.
The fixing of a time period is achieved by amending Article 9 of the Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“ITO”) to allow for regulations to be made enabling the postponement of the fixing of a time and place for a tribunal hearing to allow for proceedings to be settled through conciliation. It is intended that the regulations will set out the length of the conciliation period and will provide for its extension only in cases where the conciliator considers that settlement within a short additional timeframe is very likely. The aim is to encourage earlier settlements, where there is a present tendency towards last-minute settlements on the ‘doorstep’ of the tribunal. In the event of conciliation failing, the dispute will be passed back to the tribunal and a hearing date can then be fixed.
The LRA’s duty to conciliate cases, by an amendment to Article 20 of ITO, reverts to a power to do so after the conciliation period has ended. The effect will be that, once the conciliation period is over, the conciliation officer can judge whether to continue to conciliate the case or to pass it back to the Office of the Industrial Tribunals and Fair Employment Tribunal.
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