AQW 16358/17-22


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 15/03/2021
Answered On Date: 13/04/2021
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail what actions she has taken, and plans to take, to incentivise employers to reduce the number of redundancies of young people, given their redundancy payments will naturally be less because of fewer years in their role.


Answer:
Rights and responsibilities relating to redundancy in Norther Ireland are set out in the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
Redundancy has two different meanings for the purposes of employment law in Northern Ireland. One meaning is used for entitlement to redundancy payments and the other meaning is used for the right to be consulted.
If an employer decides to make compulsory redundancies, they will need to create an objective and non-discriminatory redundancy selection criteria. A pool of employees should be identified from which all or some employees will be made redundant. The criteria that can be used to select employees for redundancy can include:
skills, qualifications and aptitude
standard of work performance
attendance/disciplinary record
experience
Criteria used should be verifiable and be precisely defined, non-discriminatory and applied consistently, to avoid the possibility of unlawful discrimination.
Employers should consult employees regardless of the number they plan to make redundant. If an employer fails to do so, any subsequent dismissals may be unfair.
Analysis of the impact of previous recessions have shown that young people are disproportionally impacted as a result of both redundancy and a lack of opportunities to join the workplace. In order to mitigate against these risks in September 2020 I announced an Apprenticeship Recovery Package that is channelling financial support to local businesses to help support the retention and recruitment of apprentices.
Furloughed apprentices, the vast majority of whom were under 25, were identified as an at risk group in terms of redundancy. The Apprenticeship Return, Retain and Result Scheme (RRR) was specifically developed to mitigate against this risk, through this scheme my Department is providing direct financial support with up to £3,700 available per apprentice to help and encourage employers to return apprentices from furlough. Payments are staged to support longer term retention through to successful completion of their apprenticeship. Further information on the scheme is available at: www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/coronavirus-apprenticeship-return-retain-and-result-scheme
Another key element of the package is The New Apprentice Recruitment Incentive which offers up to £3,000 per apprentice employed. In addition to this support being available to employers of new apprentices it is also available to those who employ apprentices who have been made redundant by other employers in order to stimulate the creation of opportunities to get them back to work and enable them to complete their apprenticeship. Further information on the scheme is available at:
https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/coronavirus-new-apprenticeship-incentive-scheme
In relation to employees of all ages, Invest NI’s role is to support the businesses they work for to recover, rebuild and take advantage of opportunities as a result of new product development, innovation and sales; access to new markets and supply chains; and improved productivity and profitability.
In parallel to this support, Invest NI also works with industry (and partners in Government and the academic sector) to help businesses to reskill and upskill, enabling existing workforces to ‘pivot’ towards new opportunities.
Interventions available include: the Skills for Growth Programme; the Skills Advancement Grant; the Collaborative Growth Programme; various Leadership Programmes; the Supply Chain Resilience and Development Framework; and access to expertise in the areas of Operational Excellence and Manufacturing 4.0.
Last month I launched an Economic Recovery Action Plan which sets out a range of decisive actions to kick-start economic recovery under four pillars, one of which is ‘Supporting a Highly Skilled & Agile Workforce’.  A number of planned actions include extension of the current incentives to support employers returning apprentices from furlough and recruiting new apprentices and making apprenticeships available to more people and sectors through the introduction of Public Sector Apprenticeships.