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Diploma in Employment Law
The Diploma is designed primarily for experienced trade union representatives who have completed the basic ICTU Union Reps stage 1 & 2 courses or similar course with their own unions.
It is aimed at enhancing reps understanding of employment law in supporting and representing members.
The course is run over an academic year and consists of three main modules:
- The origins and development of employment law
- Individual rights and employment law
- Collective rights and employment law
The course is run over an academic year (September to June), delivered once a week over 36 weeks.
Course Dates (Tuesdays)
- 15 September 2026 - 8 December 2026
- 12 January 2027 - 23 March 2027
- 13 April 2027 - 29 June 2027
Diploma in Health and Safety
This course is designed for experienced Health and Safety Reps (who have completed stage 1 & 2) who wish to further develop their knowledge, skills and expertise.
It supports the development and practice of health and safety and enables safety reps to move to higher levels of study and activism.
The aims of the diploma are:
- to help learners develop their knowledge of health and safety
- to help learners build health and safety organisation in the workplace
- to help learners to tackle health, safety and welfare and environmental issues in the workplace
- to deepen and extend the capacities of learners, enabling them to access union health and safety posts or higher education opportunities
- to develop personal/study skills, the ability to work collectively and improve the confidence of learners to study at a higher level.
Although there are no entry requirements for the course, other than a commitment to trade unionism, the course does require some significant written work by way of assignments and a project.
The Tutor will provide any support necessary to assist the completion of the assignments and the project.
The course is run over an academic year (September to June), delivered once a week over 36 weeks.
Location: ICTU Office, 45-47 Donegall St., Belfast
Course Dates (Fridays)
- 11 September - 11 December 2026
- 15 January - 19 March 2027
- 09 April - 25 June 2027
NIPSA Reps 1 (In Person or Online)
This is the first stage course for union reps. It introduces the key concepts and provides a thorough foundation for workplace representatives to develop their knowledge and skills to enable them to carry out their role effectively.
The course will help you:
- understand the job of the union rep in the workplace and the wider union
- dealing with members problems
- represent members with employers
- use and make agreements
- understand how grievances and disciplinaries are handled
- understand employment rights at work
- recruiting members and getting them involved in the union
- meeting management to discuss a range of issues at work
- keeping members in touch with wider issues
- build confidence in your role and responsibilities as a union rep
- develop the skills you need to be an effective rep.
This is a 10-day course, delivered one day a week over 10 weeks and you can select either the in-person or online course.
Dates: Every Thursday between 01 October - 03 December 2026 (10 weeks)
In Person: NIPSA HQ, Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park, Belfast BT9 6DP, from 10am
Online: MS Teams, 6-9pm (Note: you will need to haveyour own laptop/computer, access to MS Teams and a good internet connection to participate)
Health and Safety Stage 1
This course will cover the essential knowledge of the role and skills including organising and an understanding of health and safety legislation and how this can be interpreted for the workplace.
The course focuses on the following key areas:
- The role and functions of a trade union health and safety representative.
- Organising for health and safety.
- Preventing accidents and ill health.
- Introduce H&S legislation
- Key skills for a trade union health and safety representative.
The course will help you:
- Identify problems – the main health, safety and welfare issues faced by your members
- Involve members – by making them more aware of health and safety issues and the need for union action
- Improve health and safety – by proposing plans for controlling hazards and improving the working environment
- Use information and the law – tracking down information and knowing how to use it effectively
- Get things done – by working with your union organisation and negotiating effectively with your employer
- Develop skills – to do an effective job as a trade union health and safety representative.
Location: ICTU Office, 45-47 Donegall St., Belfast
Dates: 10-day course, delivered one day a week over 10 weeks.
Every Monday between 14 September - 07 December 2026 (no class on 02 Nov, 09 Nov or 23 Nov)
Health and Safety Stage 2
This stage 2 course is a necessary progression for health and safety reps.
Course content includes:
- Building a Safe and Healthy Workplace
- Trade Union Health and Safety Organisation
- Trade Unions Keeping up to date on Health and Safety
- Trade Unions Effecting Change in Health and Safety
- Health and Safety Representatives – Expanding Skills
Location: ICTU Office, 45-47 Donegall St., Belfast
Dates: 10-day course, delivered one day a week over 10 weeks.
Every Tuesday between 15 September - 08 December 2026 (no class on 03 Nov, 10 Nov or 24 Nov)
Handling Grievances
The course will include:
- Understanding discipline and grievance process and procedures.
- Increasing knowledge of the law surrounding the handling of discipline and grievance in the workplace.
- Increasing skills and knowledge to prepare strategies for representing members at grievance and discipline hearings.
This is a 5-day course, delivered one evening a week over 5 weeks.
Location: Online
Dates: 5-day course, delivered one day a week over 5 weeks.
Every Tuesday between 29 September - 27 October 2026, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
ULR
This course is designed to introduce the role and rights of the ULR, provide the skills and knowledge the ULR will need to develop and support a culture of learning in the workplace.
The course includes:
- Workplace Learning and the Union Learning Representative
- Equalities and Learning for Trade Unions
- Unions Addressing Learning Needs in the Workplace
- Union Learning Representative Role and Functions
- Unions Getting Organised to Promote Learning
- Union Learning Representatives – Skills
- Working with Employers and Education Providers
Location: ICTU Office, 45-47 Donegall St., Belfast
Dates: 7-day course, delivered one day a week over 7 weeks.
Every Wednesday between 23 September - 04 November 2026, Full Day
Menopause in the Workplace
OCN Level 2 Accredited 5-day Course
Many women will experience menopause symptoms, which can be a real challenge and impact their day to day lives. This four-day course has been designed to create greater awareness of the menopause as a workplace issue. The course aims to:
- Create awareness of the menopause and the symptoms women can experience
- Help reps consider various workplace factors that may negatively impact on workers experiencing the menopause
- Consider practices and environments with the workplace that may put the health and safety of menopausal women at risk and/or may be considered discrimination against workers experiencing the menopause
- Consider best practice for workplaces and unions to tackle the workplace issues facing workers experiencing the menopause.
Who is the course aimed at? This course is designed for all trade union reps, officials, and people with an interest in menopause in the workplace.
Location: ICTU Office, 45-47 Donegall St., Belfast
Dates: 5-day course, delivered one day a week over 5 weeks.
Every Monday between 12 October- 16 November 2026 (no class 02 Nov)
Registration
If you are interested in any of these courses, please return a completed application form by email to
Your branch secretary or branch chair needs to endorse your application to be considered for the course and it is also important that you seek time off to attend from your employer at an early stage:
Confirmation of acceptance will be issued directly from NIC-ICTU. You will also receive pre-course materials nearer the time of the course from NIC-ICTU.
Further information
If you require any further information about the above courses, please contact either