Domestic Abuse Leave Introduced in Northern Ireland
Published on: 11/04/2022
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Kevin Gallagher Legal Director, Lewis Silkin
Kevin Gallagher Legal Director, Lewis Silkin
Kevin gallagher

Kevin is a Managing Associate in the Employment, Immigration and Reward team based in Belfast. He provides practical and commercial advice to clients on a wide range of employment related issues including contentious disputes, the conduct of internal procedures and compliance with statutory requirements.

Kevin has particular expertise defending complex claims for clients in the Industrial Tribunal, Fair Employment Tribunal, the County Court and High Court in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has passed legislation that will entitle victims of domestic abuse to 10 days’ paid leave each leave year. The law was passed in the Assembly’s final week of sitting before the forthcoming Assembly elections in May. The commencement date of the new right remains to be confirmed.

During the Assembly process for the Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Bill (the Bill), the Assembly heard that from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021, the Police Service of Northern Ireland responded to 32,219 incidents of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland. This statistic represents a response approximately every 16 minutes and does not account for unreported incidents of abuse. In 2021 domestic abuse crimes in Northern Ireland increased by

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 11/04/2022