(1) The Commission shall keep, in such form as the Commission may determine, a register of trades, businesses and other activities (whether carried on for profit or not) in which people are employed.
(2) References in this Part of this Act to a concern are to any such trade, business or other activity and include any activity in the service of the Crown, but only to the extent provided by section 26 of this Act.
(3) The Commission shall, on an application under section 23 of this Act, enter in the register the description of the concern given in the application, the name and address of the employer so given and the date of entry in the register and serve on the applicant notice of the contents and date of the entry.
(4) The Commission shall provide facilities for making the information contained in the entries in the register available for inspection (in visible and legible form) by members of the public during normal office hours free of charge and any person shall be entitled to obtain from the Commission a copy of the information contained in all or any of the entries in the register upon payment of such reasonable fee as the Commission may fix.
(1) Where, on or after the commencement of this section, a concern, other than a registered concern, satisfies the condition for registration at the end of any week, the employer shall apply under this section for the concern to be registered.
(2) For the purposes of this Act a concern satisfies the condition for registration at the end of any week if in that week more than ten employees have been employed in Northern Ireland.
(3) In relation to any employment in the period of two years beginning with the commencement of this section, subsection (2) above shall have effect for those purposes (except section 24(9) of this Act) as if for “ten” there were substituted “twenty-five”.
(4) An application under this section shall—
(a) describe the concern in general terms,
(b) give the name and address of the employer, and
(c) give the number of employees employed in Northern Ireland.
(5) If an employer fails to make an application under this section within the period of one month after the time, on or after the commencement of this section, when the concern first satisfies the condition for registration (in the case of a concern the entry for which has been removed from the register, first satisfies that condition since the removal), he is guilty of an offence.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) above—
(a) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, and
(b) if the failure continues after conviction, is liable on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale for each day on which the failure continues.
(7) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (5) above to show that he had a reasonable excuse for failing to make an application under this section within that period and that he made such an application as soon as it was reasonably practicable for him to do so.
(8) In determining for any of the purposes of this Act whether a concern satisfies the condition for registration, references to the employees of any person (referred to in this subsection as “the employer”) shall, if regulations made by the Department under this section so provide or in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations, include a reference to the employees of—
(a) any body corporate controlled by the employer and, if the employer is a body corporate, any associated body corporate, and
(b) any person connected with the employer,
and references to the employer’s concern shall be interpreted accordingly.
(9) This section does not apply to any person who is a public authority for the purposes of sections 27 to 37 of this Act or to any person falling within section 25(3)(a) or (b) of this Act.
(1) Where a person becomes an employer in relation to a concern that is already a registered concern, he shall, within the period of one month beginning with his becoming such an employer, apply to the Commission for his name and address to be entered in the register and the Commission shall include in the entry in the register the name and address given in the application.
(2) If an employer who is required so to apply fails to do so within that period, he is guilty of an offence.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) above—
(a) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, and
(b) if the failure continues after conviction, is liable on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale for each day on which the failure continues.
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (2) above to show that he had a reasonable excuse for failing so to apply within that period and that he made such an application as soon as it was reasonably practicable for him to do so.
(5) The Commission may, on an application by a registered employer, rectify the description in the register of the registered concern.
(6) The Commission shall remove from the register any entry in respect of a person who becomes a public authority for the purposes of sections 27 to 37 of this Act.
(7) The Commission—
(a) may remove from the register, in respect of any concern, the name of any person who appears to the Commission to have ceased to be an employer, and
(b) may remove from the register the entry for any registered concern which appears to the Commission to have ceased to exist.
(8) The power conferred by subsection (7) above is exercisable by the Commission of its own motion or on the application of any person.
(9) If a registered employer applies to the Commission to remove from the register the entry for the registered concern and the concern has been registered throughout the year ending on the date of the application, the Commission shall remove the entry if it is of the opinion that the concern did not, at the end of any of the weeks in the period of twenty-six weeks preceding the application, satisfy the condition for registration.
(10) If the Commission exercises its powers under subsection (7) or (9) above, it shall serve notice of its action on any person whose name is removed from the register.
(11) A person who knowingly makes a false statement in connection with an application under subsection (7) or (9) above is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(12) In this section, “registered employer”, in relation to a registered concern, means the person whose name and address is for the time being included in the entry for that concern in the register.
(1) In this Part of this Act “public authority” means a person specified in an order made by the Department.
(2) The order may provide for a person to be a public authority for all or any of the purposes of this Part of this Act.
(3) The Department shall not exercise the power conferred by this section so that a person becomes a public authority for any of the purposes of this Part of this Act unless the person is—
(a) a Minister of the Crown or the head of a Northern Ireland department,
(b) a body created by a statutory provision within the meaning of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.).] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 or the holder of any office so created, or
(c) a person appearing to the Department to exercise functions of a public nature.
(1) For the purposes of sections 27 to 37 of this Act, any reference to an employer includes any person who is a public authority for the purposes of those sections.
(2) For the purposes of those sections, in relation to any such authority—
(a) “employee” includes any person in the service of the Crown for the purposes of the functions of the authority, but an order under section 25 of this Act may specify the persons who are to be treated for the purposes of those sections as the employees of that authority, and
(b) “concern” means the activities of those who are the employees of the authority for the purposes of those sections.
(3) Those sections shall apply in relation to a person who becomes an employer for the purposes of those sections by virtue of an order under section 25 of this Act as if his concern were a registered concern and the description of his concern had been entered in the register on the commencement of the order (without prejudice to the effect of any previous order).
(4) The Department shall not exercise the power conferred by section 25 of this Act so that a person becomes an employer for the purposes of those sections unless it appears to the Department that any of the people—
(a) who are employed by that person or are in the service of the Crown for the purposes of the functions of that person, or
(b) who are to be treated by virtue of the order as so employed or as in such service,
are employed or serve in Northern Ireland.
(1) For the purpose of enabling the composition of those employed in a registered concern in Northern Ireland to be ascertained, the employer shall prepare for each year and serve on the Commission a return (in this Part of this Act referred to as a “monitoring return”) in a form provided by or on behalf of the Department.
(2) A monitoring return shall contain such information about the employees of the employer as may be prescribed.
(3) For the purpose of enabling the composition of those applying to fill vacancies for employment in Northern Ireland in any concern of a person who is a public authority for the purposes of this section to be ascertained, the employer shall include in a monitoring return such information as may be prescribed.
(4) For the purpose of enabling the composition of those applying to fill vacancies for employment in Northern Ireland in any other registered concern in which more than 250 employees are employed there to be ascertained, the employer shall include in a monitoring return such information as may be prescribed; and for the purposes of this subsection where, at the beginning of or at any subsequent time in any prescribed period, more than 250 employees are employed there in the concern, that condition is to be treated as satisfied for the whole or, as the case may be, the remainder of that period.
(5) If no monitoring return for a year in respect of any registered concern is served on the Commission before the time for serving the return expires, the employer is guilty of an offence.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (5) above—
(a) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, and
(b) if the failure to submit the monitoring return continues after conviction, is liable on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale for each day on which the failure continues.
(7) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (5) above to show that he had a reasonable excuse for failing to serve on the Commission a monitoring return for that year before the time for serving the return expired and that he served such a return for that year on the Commission as soon as it was reasonably practicable to do so.
(8) For the purposes of this section the time for serving a monitoring return expires in the case of each year at the end of the first four months of the year.
(9) In this section “year”, in relation to a registered concern, means any period of twelve months beginning with—
(a) the date on which the description of the concern is entered, or treated by virtue of section 26 of this Act as entered, in the register, or
(b) the anniversary of that date.
(10) In this section and section 28 of this Act “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations under section 28 of this Act.
(11) In this Part of this Act—
“community” means the Protestant community, or the Roman Catholic community, in Northern Ireland, and
“composition” in relation to those employed or, as the case may be, applying for employment in a registered concern means the number who are to be treated for the purposes of monitoring as belonging to each community.
(1) The Department shall, by regulations made after consultation with the Commission, make provision for the purposes of section 27 of this Act.
(2) The regulations may—
(a) require information to be given separately by reference to the sex of the employee or applicant or by reference to different descriptions of employment,
(b) provide for section 27(4) of this Act to apply either generally or in prescribed circumstances as if the reference to 250 employees were a reference to the prescribed number of employees,
(c) provide that—
(i) the date or period to which any information given in a monitoring return is to relate, and
(ii) the period in which that information is to be obtained,
is to be determined by or in accordance with the regulations,
(d) require information to which section 30(1)(a) or (b) of this Act applies to be retained by the employer for such period as may be prescribed and provide that a person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with such a requirement is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,
(e) make such other provision as to the manner of preparing monitoring returns (including provision for the disclosure of information held for the purposes of monitoring to the person to whom it relates) as appears appropriate to the Department,
(f) provide that—
(i) an employer who without reasonable excuse serves on the Commission a monitoring return which is not prepared in accordance with the regulations or does not contain the prescribed information is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £10,000, and
(ii) if a person knowingly gives any false information to another who, with a view to including any information in a monitoring return to be served on the Commission, is seeking information or knowingly includes any false information in such a monitoring return, he is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,
(g) require the Commission to maintain a list classifying each school in Northern Ireland, or each school in Northern Ireland in any class specified by the Department, for the purposes of monitoring and to publish the list from time to time, and
(h) make different provision for different cases.
(3) The regulations may authorise or require the employer to determine which community (if any) a person employed or applying for employment in the concern is to be treated as belonging to for the purposes of monitoring by applying the principal method, or one of the principal methods, prescribed or, where that method does not enable him to make that determination or, as the case may be, none of those methods enables him to make that determination, by applying the residuary method, or one of the residuary methods, prescribed; so that, for example—
(a) where an applicant—
(i) has stated that he attended a particular primary school, being a school classified in any list maintained by virtue of subsection (2)(g) above as a school attended mainly by members of a particular community, or
(ii) has stated that he belongs to a particular community,
the employer may be required to determine that he is to be treated as belonging to the community concerned, and
(b) where, in any case not within paragraph (a) above, the employer has information about the applicant, being information which the employer is authorised by the regulations to take into account as tending to show that the person to whom it relates has a connection with a particular community, the employer may be required to determine the community to which the applicant is to be treated as belonging by reference to that information.
(4) The regulations may require compliance with any direction of the Commission to a particular employer to apply the prescribed methods for determining the community to which a person is to be treated as belonging for the purposes of monitoring in a manner different from that otherwise authorised or required by the regulations.
(5) Subsections (2) to (4) above do not prejudice the generality of subsection (1) above.
(1) The Department may, by regulations made after consultation with the Commission, provide that the employer shall, for the purpose of enabling the composition of those applying to fill vacancies for employment in any registered concern in Northern Ireland to be ascertained (whether or not section 27(3) or (4) of this Act has effect in respect of their applications), seek to obtain such information about them as may be prescribed.
(2) The regulations may—
(a) require information to which section 30(1)(a) of this Act applies to be retained by the employer for such period as may be prescribed,
(b) provide that a person who—
(i) without reasonable excuse fails to comply with such a requirement, or
(ii) knowingly gives any false information to another who is seeking to obtain information in pursuance of the regulations, or
(iii) knowingly includes any false information in any records kept in pursuance of the regulations, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, and
(c) make different provision for different cases.
(1) This section applies—
(a) to information about a person employed or applying for employment in a concern which might be used if any of the methods prescribed by regulations under section 28 of this Act for determining the community to which a person is to be treated as belonging for the purposes of monitoring were applied,
(b) to information as to the community to which a person employed or applying for employment in a concern is to be treated as belonging for those purposes, and
(c) to any other information from which that community might be deduced.
(2) If person discloses any information which—
(a) he holds or has held in his capacity as an employee in a concern or as the employer, and
(b) is information to which this section applies or has applied,
he is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(3) This section does not apply to any disclosure—
(a) to the Commission or to any person employed in the concern the nature of whose duties renders it reasonable for the disclosure to be made to him,
(b) which is necessary for the purposes of any proceedings under this Act, either before a court or before the Tribunal,
(c) which is necessary for the purposes of any criminal proceedings or to comply with the order of a court, or
(d) made in pursuance of regulations made by virtue of section 28(2)(e) of this Act or where the employee or applicant to whom the disclosure relates has given his consent in writing.
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that he has also obtained the information otherwise than in his capacity as an employee in the concern or the employer.
(1) In the case of each registered concern, the employer shall from time to time review the composition of those employed in the concern in Northern Ireland and the employment practices of the concern for the purposes of determining whether members of each community are enjoying, and are likely to continue to enjoy, fair participation in employment in the concern.
(2) In a case where it appears to the employer in the course of the review that members of a particular community are not enjoying, or are not likely to continue to enjoy, such participation, he shall as part of the review determine the affirmative action (if any) which would be reasonable and appropriate.
(3) In a case where the employer determines in the course of the review that affirmative action would be reasonable and appropriate he shall as part of the review—
(a) consider whether, assuming the action is taken, it is practicable to determine, by reference to one or more periods, the progress towards fair participation in employment in the concern that can reasonably be expected to be made by members of a particular community, and
(b) if he considers that it is practicable to determine such progress, determine the period or periods concerned and, in respect of each period, the progress that, in his opinion, can reasonably be expected to be made towards fair participation by members of the community concerned—
(i) in employment in the concern in Northern Ireland or among those whose employment in the concern there begins after the determination, or
(ii) among applicants to fill vacancies for employment in the concern there.
(4) A review under this section shall be carried out not more than three years after the date on which the description of the concern is entered, or treated by virtue of section 26 of this Act as entered, in the register and subsequent reviews at intervals of not more than three years.
(5) In carrying out a review under this section the employer shall have regard to the code of practice and the Commission shall, if requested to do so by the employer, give advice as to the manner in which a review under this section should be carried out.
(6) In this Part of this Act—
(a) references to a review are to a review under this section, and
(b) “employment practice”, in relation to a concern, means a practice affecting recruitment or training for employment in the concern or training or promotion of employees in the concern.
(1) The Commission may from time to time require the employer to give the Commission such information held by the employer, being information to which section 30(1)(a) or (b) of this Act applies, as the Commission may specify; but an employer who has been required on any date to give any information under this subsection shall not be required to do so again before the expiry of the period of six months beginning with that date.
(2) Where a monitoring return in respect of any registered concern has been served on the Commission, the Commission may require the employer to give the Commission such information as to the manner in which the return was prepared as it may specify.
(3) The Commission may, in the case of any registered concern, require the employer to give the Commission such information as it may specify as to the steps the employer has taken or proposes to take to carry out a review and as to the manner in which the review has been or is to be carried out.
(4) The Commission may, where a review has been carried out in the case of any registered concern, require the employer to give to the Commission such information as it may specify—
(a) as to the matters disclosed by the review,
(b) as to any determination under subsection (2) of section 31 of this Act, and
(c) in a case falling within subsection (3) of that section, as to his consideration of the matters referred to in paragraph (a) of that subsection and any determination under paragraph (b) of that subsection.
(5) The Commission shall, where a review discloses that members of a particular community are not enjoying, or are not likely to continue to enjoy, fair participation in employment in the concern, make such recommendations as it thinks fit as to the affirmative action to be taken and, assuming the action is taken, as to the progress towards fair participation in employment in the concern, by reference to any period or periods, that can reasonably be expected to be made by members of that community.
(6) Where the employer discloses to the Commission a determination to take any affirmative action, the Commission may from time to time require him to give the Commission such information as it may specify as to the affirmative action that he has taken or proposes to take, but the Commission may not require an employer to give any information under this subsection before the expiry of the period of six months beginning with—
(a) the date of the disclosure, or
(b) if he has previously been required to give any information under this subsection, the date on which he was last required to do so.
(7) Where the employer discloses to the Commission a determination as to the progress towards fair participation in employment in the concern, by reference to any period, that can reasonably be expected to be made by members of a particular community, the Commission may from time to time require him to give the Commission such information as it may specify for the purpose of determining the extent to which the progress has been made on the date of the requirement, but the Commission may not require an employer to give any information under this subsection before the expiry of the period of six months beginning with—
(a) the date of the disclosure, or
(b) if he has previously been required to give any information under this subsection, the date on which he was last required to do so.
(8) A requirement under this section to give any information in respect of a registered concern—
(a) shall be made by notice served on the employer, and
(b) shall specify the time by which the information is to be given,
and the reference in subsections (1), (6) and (7) above to the date of the requirement is to the date on which the notice was served.
(9) A notice under this section served on the person whose name and address is for the time being included in the entry for any concern in the register is to be treated as served on the employer.
(10) A person required to give any information under this section who fails to comply with the requirement by the specified time is guilty of an offence.
(11) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (10) above—
(a) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, and
(b) if the failure continues after conviction, is liable on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale for each day on which the failure continues.
(12) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (10) above to show that he had a reasonable excuse (which may include unreasonable expense or inconvenience) for failing to comply with the requirement by the specified time and, in a case where it was reasonably practicable for him to comply with it after that time, to show that either—
(a) he complied with it as soon as was reasonably practicable, or
(b) it was not reasonably practicable for him to comply with it before the proceedings were commenced,
and for the purposes of this subsection the making of a complaint is to be treated as the commencement of the proceedings.
(13) A person required to give any information under this section who knowingly gives false or misleading information is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(1) The following provisions of this section apply where the Commission is of the opinion, in the light of information received in respect of any registered concern in pursuance of a requirement under section 32 of this Act—
(a) that the manner in which the employer prepares his monitoring returns is in any respect unsatisfactory or that the information sought by him for the purposes of monitoring is in any respect inadequate, or
(b) that the employer has no proposals for carrying out a review or that the manner in which he proposes to carry out the review, or the timing of the review, is in any respect unsatisfactory or that the information sought by him for the purposes of the review is in any respect inadequate.
(2) The Commission shall use its best endeavours for the following purposes (as the case may be)—
(a) to ensure that the manner in which the employer prepares his monitoring returns is satisfactory,
(b) to ensure that the information sought by the employer for the purposes of monitoring is adequate,
(c) to ensure that the information sought by the employer for the purposes of a review is adequate, or
(d) to ensure that a review is carried out at a time and in a manner that is satisfactory,
and shall where appropriate use its best endeavours to secure a satisfactory written undertaking by the employer for the purpose in question.
(3) Where the Commission asks the employer for an undertaking, on such terms as appear satisfactory to the Commission, for the purpose in question, then—
(a) if the undertaking is not given, the Commission shall serve on the employer a notice containing directions such as are mentioned in section 34 of this Act, and
(b) if the undertaking, although given, is not complied with, the Commission shall either—
(i) serve on him a notice containing such directions (which shall supersede the undertaking), or
(ii) make an application to the Tribunal under section 16 of this Act for enforcement of the undertaking.
(4) Subsection (3) above does not apply in any case where the Commission decides that no further action by it is appropriate.
(1) The directions contained in a notice served under section 33(3) of this Act shall be those which the Commission considers to be, in all the circumstances, reasonable and appropriate for the purpose in question.
(2) The directions may in particular include such directions as the Commission considers necessary to ensure that other directions are duly carried out.
(3) The terms of the directions contained in a notice served under section 33(3)(b)(i) of this Act which supersede an undertaking shall be such as, in the opinion of the Commission, are not substantially more onerous than the terms of the undertaking.
(4) A notice served under section 33(3)(a) or (b)(i) of this Act shall inform the employer of the right of appeal against the directions which is conferred by section 15 of this Act.
(5) The Commission, on the written application of the employer, may—
(a) revoke all of the directions, or
(b) modify the directions in accordance with the application—
(i) by revoking any of them, or
(ii) by substituting new directions for all or any of them,
and, in substitution for any directions which are revoked under paragraph (a) above, may accept from the employer an undertaking such as is mentioned in section 33(2) of this Act.
(6) The Commission shall serve notice of the revocation or modification on the employer.
(7) The directions—
(a) are binding on the employer (except to the extent that they are quashed, or other directions are substituted for them, by the Tribunal under section 15 of this Act), and
(b) are enforceable only in accordance with section 16 of this Act.
Sections 15 to 18 of this Act shall have effect for the purposes of sections 33 and 34 of this Act as they have effect for the purposes of sections 12 and 14 of this Act but as if—
(a) references to section 12(2) or (3) were references to section 33(2) or, as the case may be, (3),
(b) references to section 14(3) were references to section 34(5), and
(c) for paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 15(2) there were substituted—
“(b) that in all the circumstances the directions are not appropriate for the purpose in question, or
(c) that the appellant is already taking appropriate steps for the purpose in question and the directions are, therefore, unnecessary.”