AQW 48069/11-15 Written question to the Minister of Finance and Personnel

To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel to estimate, in the event of an employment tribunal establishing that the Swedish Derogation contracts for temporary agency workers in NICS between 2011 and 2015, imposed by a recruitment agency under contract to her Department, were not lawfully administered in accordance with the Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011, and that equal pay rights had been wrongfully withheld during this period, the potential (i) legal and (ii) financial liabilities her Department may face as the hirer of these workers.

Asked by Stewart Dickson MLA on 1 July 2015

  • Answered
  • Written
  • After due date
Tabled
1 July 2015
Answer due by
20 July 2015
Answered
22 July 201521 days after tabling
Department
Department of Finance
Priority question
No

Answer

The contract of employment for temporary agency workers in the NICS is with their respective agency, not the Department; therefore, my Department would not face any legal or financial liabilities as the hirer of the agency workers in the event of an employment tribunal establishing that the Swedish derogation contracts were not lawfully administered.

Official sources