Minister announces consultation on Domestic Abuse Safe Leave

Economy Minister Conor Murphy today launched a consultation on the introduction of a new right for victims of domestic abuse to access paid safe leave from work.

Consultation on Domestic Abuse Safe Leave

The Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act (NI) 2022 was passed by the Assembly in March 2022. The Department for the Economy is required to consult and make regulations to operationalise this Act.

The Minister said: “This progressive legislation will give workers who are the victims of domestic abuse up to 10 days paid leave in each leave year to deal with issues related to domestic abuse. The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the practicalities of how we implement this important new employment right.

“Once implemented, safe leave will provide an important workplace support to some of the most vulnerable in our society."

The Minister continued: “I want to take the views of all stakeholders, including workers, employers, trade unions and support organisations, so that we develop regulations that provide support for all users of this important new legislation. I encourage everyone with an interest in this important area to respond to the consultation and share their views.”

The consultation will be open for 12 weeks from 5 July to 27 September 2024.

The consultation is available on the Department for the Economy website.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Domestic Abuse (Safe Leave) Act NI 2022 is available at the legislation.gov.uk website.

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