publication of summarised employment rights

Summary

The requester asked for information on the publication of summarised employment rights under Section 172 of the Employment Act 2006 for the most recent three years. The authority disclosed that the section was repealed in 2017 and provided a 2014 document detailing the proposal to repeal it due to high costs, while noting that summaries are now distributed via booklets and the website.

Key Facts

• Section 172 of the Employment Act 2006 was repealed by the Equality Act 2017 in June 2017.
• The repealed section required annual publication of employment rights notices in two newspapers.
• The Department proposed repeal in April 2014 because newspaper adverts were expensive and they preferred distributing booklets and online guides.
• The Department last produced a summary of employment rights in March 2022.
• No information was found regarding the publication of notices between 2014 and 2017 other than the repeal proposal.

Data Disclosed

• 2022-03-22
• 2022-04-14
• 2017
• 2014
• 2006
• Section 172
• 2 newspapers
• March 2022
• 2345069

Original Request

Please supply information related to the publication of summarised employment rights as per section 172 in the Employment Act 2006 in the most recent 3 years.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

14th April, 2022

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 685375) Website: www.gov.im/ded Email: dpo-dfe @gov.im

Our ref: 2345069 Dear ####

Re: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2015

I write further to your request which was received on 22nd March 2022, which states:-

"Please supply information related to the publication of summarised employment rights as per section 172 in the Employment Act 2006 in the most recent 3 years."

In accordance with the criteria laid out under the above mentioned Act all of the information you have requested can be provided. My response is as follows:-

Section 172 of the Employment Act 2006 was repealed by the Equality Act 2017 in June 2017. The section provided that the Department for Enterprise's predecessors publish at least once a year notices in the Island's newspapers summarising a number of specified employment rights.

Given that section 172 was repealed in 2017, I am making the assumption that your reference to the "the most recent three years" actually refers to the years 2014 to 2017.

Having conducted a search for any information on this subject covering the years 2014 to 2017, the only reference I have identified is the following paragraph relating to a repeal of the section, which is contained within a set of drafting instructions for the Equality Bill, dated April 2014:

"5. Repeal of requirement to publish information about employees' rights.

Original Proposal

S. 172 of the Employment Act 2006 requires the Department to publish information about employment rights annually in 2 newspapers. Such adverts are very expensive and the Department does, in any case prefer to distribute booklets in newspapers summarising employment rights and to publish downloadable guides on the DED website. It is proposed that the section be repealed.

Commentary

This is dealt with at Sch. 21 para. 16. It could, however, be dealt with by way of inclusion in the list of repeals at Schedule 23."

By way of further information: The Department last produced a summary of employment rights in March this year, which can be found here and is shortly to consult again on employment rights with an emphasis on family rights. Whilst there is no longer a requirement to publish annually, as part of this planned consultation the Department intends to remind businesses of the existing key requirements around employment law in addition to the publication referred to above.

Please quote the reference number 2345069 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask for an internal review, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by mail.

An electronic version of the complaint form can be found by going to the Isle of Man Government’s website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of this form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as possible. I will respond once the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning the information provided to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. This concludes my response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2015.

Yours sincerely,

Data Protection Officer