About the Department
The Labour Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network is responsible for employment rights and workplace safety for the staff of member organisations of the Velocity Interoperability Network. It sets the minimum terms on which staff are employed within the Network, inspects workplaces, receives reports of safety concerns and incidents, and resolves disputes between staff and their employers.
The Department was established on 6 September 2026. At establishment, 312 member organisations are registered with it as employers, employing 38,600 staff at the six principal sites of the Network: Central Exchange, Northgate Relay, Southbank Terminal, Eastfield Campus, Westbrook Distribution Site and Meridian Court. Every member organisation that employs staff within the Network is an employer for the purposes of the Department's work and is bound by the Employment Rights Standard.
The Department does not itself employ the staff of member organisations, set their pay above the minimum terms or represent them. Its role is to fix the floor beneath which employment within the Network may not fall, to see that workplaces are safe, and to settle disputes that staff and employers cannot settle themselves.
Responsibilities. The Department's work falls into six areas.
- Employment rights
- Setting and maintaining the Employment Rights Standard, the minimum terms on which the staff of member organisations are employed within the Network, and checking that employers comply with it.
- Working time and leave
- Limits on working hours and night work, minimum rest periods, and the annual, sick, parental and compassionate leave to which staff are entitled.
- Workplace safety
- The duties of employers to provide a safe workplace, the receipt and assessment of reports of safety concerns, and the notification of deaths, injuries and dangerous occurrences.
- Inspection of workplaces
- A programme of announced and unannounced inspections of the workplaces of member organisations at the six principal sites, with the power to serve improvement and prohibition notices.
- Resolution of disputes
- Conciliation and determination of disputes between staff and their employers through the Dispute Resolution Service, with remedies including payment of wages owed, reinstatement and compensation.
- Statistics and reporting
- Quarterly statistical releases on the register of employers, safety concerns and incidents, inspections and their outcomes, and the work of the Dispute Resolution Service.
Organisation. The Department is organised in four offices. The Inspectorate has 22 inspectors at establishment, based at the six principal sites.
- Office of Employment Standards
- Maintains the Employment Rights Standard, issues guidance on its application and answers enquiries from employers and staff.
- Inspectorate
- Carries out the inspection programme, investigates reports of safety concerns and notifiable incidents, and serves improvement and prohibition notices.
- Dispute Resolution Service
- Receives referrals of disputes, conducts conciliation and makes determinations. Opens on 14 September 2026.
- Office of the Spokesperson
- Issues press releases and official statements and maintains this website.
For the Department's origins and the milestones since its establishment, see History; for its first statistical release, see Statistics. General enquiries may be sent to contact@labour.gov.vin.