The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Exception for provision of enhanced redundancy payments to employees

35.—(1) Nothing in Part 2 or 3 shall render it unlawful for an employer—

(a) to give a qualifying employee an enhanced redundancy payment which is less in amount than the enhanced redundancy payment which he gives to another such employee if both amounts are calculated in the same way;

(b) to give enhanced redundancy payments only to those who are qualifying employees by virtue of sub-paragraph (a) or (c)(i) of the definition of qualifying employee below.

(2) In this regulation—

“the appropriate amount” has the same meaning as in Article 197 of the 1996 Order(1);

“enhanced redundancy payment” means a payment of an amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (3) or (4);

“qualifying employee” means—

(a)

an employee who is entitled to a redundancy payment by virtue of Article 170 of the 1996 Order;

(b)

an employee who would have been so entitled but for the operation of Article 190 of the 1996 Order;

(c)

an employee who agrees to the termination of his employment in circumstances where, had he been dismissed—

(i)

he would have been a qualifying employee by virtue of paragraph (a) of this definition; or

(ii)

he would have been a qualifying employee by virtue of paragraph (b);

“a redundancy payment” has meaning given by Part XII of the 1996 Order;

“a week’s pay” has the meaning given by Chapter IV of Part I of the 1996 Order.

(3) For an amount to be calculated in accordance with this paragraph it must be calculated in accordance with Article 197(1) to (3) of the 1996 Order.

(4) For an amount to be calculated in accordance with this paragraph—

(a) it must be calculated as in paragraph (3);

(b) however, in making that calculation, the employer may do one or both of the following things—

(i) he may treat a week’s pay as not being subject to a maximum amount or as being subject to a maximum amount above the amount laid down in Article 23(1) of the 1996 Order(2);

(ii) he may multiply the appropriate amount allowed for each year of employment by a figure of more than one;

(c) having made the calculation as in paragraph (3) (whether or not in making that calculation he has done anything mentioned in sub-paragraph (b)) the employer may increase the amount thus calculated by multiplying it by a figure of more than one.

(5) For the purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4), the reference to “the relevant date” in Article 197(1)(a) of the 1996 Order is to be read, in the case of a qualifying employee who agrees to the termination of his employment, as a reference to the date on which that termination takes effect.

(1)

Paragraphs (4), (5) and (8) of Article 197 of the 1996 Order are repealed by regulation 53(2) of, and Schedule 8 to, these Regulations

(2)

Article 23(1) was amended by paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2)) and paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 5 to the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/2902 (N.I. 15). The amount laid down in Article 23(1) may be increased or decreased by order made by the Department for Employment and Learning under Article 33 of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/2790 (N.I. 9)); see S.R. 2006 No. 75