Northern Ireland
Employment rights in Northern Ireland: what is different
Employment law is devolved, so Northern Ireland keeps its own Order, its own tribunals and several rules that Great Britain changed and Belfast did not.
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Northern Ireland has its own employment law, made under the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, so several figures differ from Great Britain in 2026/27. Redundancy pay uses a weekly cap of £783 instead of £751. Paternity leave still needs 26 weeks’ service and must be one block of one or two consecutive weeks finishing within 56 days of the birth, while Great Britain made it a day-one right with separate weeks across a year. The Great Britain holiday reforms, including the 12.07 % accrual and rolled-up holiday pay, do not extend to Northern Ireland, and variable holiday pay is averaged over 12 weeks rather than 52. There are 10 bank holidays in 2026. Statutory notice, SMP and SPP rates, and Statutory Sick Pay from day one are the same on both sides. Claims go to an industrial tribunal, and free advice comes from the Labour Relations Agency.
Paternity leave: Northern Ireland against Great Britain
NI leave must end by
8 May 2027
| Leave in Northern Ireland | No: 26 weeks’ service needed |
| Must have started by (NI) | 13 June 2026 |
| Leave in Great Britain | Yes, from day one |
| GB leave can run until | 11 March 2028 |
Same subject, different statute book
Employment rights in Great Britain sit in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Working Time Regulations 1998. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent texts are the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and Northern Ireland’s own social security legislation. Most of the time the wording is identical, but each set is amended separately, so a reform made at Westminster for Great Britain does not reach Belfast unless it says so. Disputes go to the industrial tribunals; the Labour Relations Agency does the advisory work Acas does in Great Britain, alongside Advice NI and trade unions.
Where the figures differ
| Topic | Northern Ireland rule | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redundancy pay | Week’s pay capped at £783 (GB £751) | SR 2026/57, art. 23 of the 1996 Order | NI redundancy pay |
| Paternity leave | 26 weeks’ service; one block of up to 2 weeks within 56 days | nidirect, Paternity leave | Paternity leave |
| Irregular hours holiday | 5.6 weeks a year; no 12.07 % accrual | SI 2023/1426 extends to GB only | Irregular hours |
| Holiday pay, variable earnings | Average of the last 12 weeks (GB 52) | nidirect, Taking your holidays | A week’s pay |
| Unfair dismissal | 1 year’s service to claim | Art. 140 of the 1996 Order | |
| Bank holidays 2026 | 10, including St Patrick’s Day and Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) | GOV.UK bank holidays | Bank holidays |
Paternity leave in practice
The paternity difference is the one most likely to catch people out, because Great Britain’s rules changed on 6 April 2026 and GOV.UK’s paternity guide now describes the British version, with a short note that Northern Ireland differs. Take a father who joined his employer on 12 October 2026, with the baby due on 14 March 2027. In Great Britain he can take paternity leave, in two separate weeks if he wishes, until 11 March 2028. In Northern Ireland he has no statutory right to it, because he would have needed to start by 13 June 2026; a colleague who does qualify must take one or two consecutive weeks, starting no earlier than the birth and finishing by 8 May 2027 if the baby arrives on time. Statutory Paternity Pay needs the 26 weeks’ service on both sides of the Irish Sea, plus average earnings of at least £129 a week.
Holiday
The basic entitlement is the same 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days, and part-timers get it pro rata. What Northern Ireland did not adopt is the 2024 package: there is no hours-based accrual for irregular-hours and part-year workers, no rolled-up holiday pay, and nidirect still gives a shorter reference period for variable pay than the 52 weeks used in Great Britain: it says variable holiday pay is the average weekly wage over the previous 12 weeks and should reflect guaranteed and non-guaranteed overtime, commission and work-related travel payments. Northern Ireland’s 10 bank holidays are 2 more than the 8 in England and Wales; in 2026 the Battle of the Boyne holiday falls on 13 July 2026 because 12 July is a Sunday.
What is the same
- Statutory notice. Article 118 of the 1996 Order copies section 86: 1 week after a month, a week per complete year from two years, up to 12; 1 week from an employee.
- Redundancy formula. 2 years’ service, the three age bands and the 20-year limit; only the cap differs.
- Family pay rates. SMP, SPP, SAP and ShPP pay £194.32 a week or 90 % of earnings if lower, under the Northern Ireland Up-rating Order, with the same £129 lower earnings limit.
- Statutory Sick Pay. Since 6 April 2026, from the first day of sickness and without a lower earnings limit, at £123.25 or 80 % of earnings.
- Tax. The £30,000 threshold for redundancy pay is UK-wide.
Every calculator on this site asks where you work and switches to the Northern Ireland rule where one exists.