The Xperthr Podcast

Susie Munro, senior legal editor at Brightmine, looks at three cases where employers have lost "discrimination arising from disability" claims after treating workers unfavourably because of disability-related absence.  Related resources Disability-related absence: Tribunal round-up On your radar Disability discrimination - line manager training

Justine Woolf, director of consulting at Innecto Reward Consulting, joins the podcast to tell us about pay transparency legislation in the US and EU and why employers in the UK need to be prepared for change - and how their organisations can benefit by taking a proactive approach. To access the white paper discussed by Justine, click here. Read the transcript What to read, listen to and watch next Pay transparency - do the right thing Demystifying the EU Pay Transparency Directive for UK employers Podcast: Gender pay gap reporting - a global view Webinar: Pay transparency - the value of honesty and some pitfalls to avoid

WhatsApp and other informal instant messaging platforms are an invaluable communication resource for individuals and groups. But as some recent legal cases have shown, they can also create problems when they are used in a work environment. Sam Dickinson, an employment lawyer and partner at Mayo Wynne Baxter solicitors, joins the podcasts to talk about the pitfalls - and what employers can do to manage risk. Related resources Sexual harassment liability: Employment tribunal round-up Compensation awards: Employment tribunal round-up Use of email, instant messaging and internet at work policy

A significant proportion of the population have criminal records. So what are the legal requirements when thinking about recruiting someone with a spent or unspent conviction? And are employers that shy away from engaging with ex-offenders failing to make use of a valuable resource and even damaging their organisations? Debbie Sadler of Unlock and Brightmine senior legal editor Laura Merrylees join the podcast to discuss these questions and more.  Related resources Job applicants with convictions Recruitment of people who have criminal record policy Six key takeaways from the 2023 CIPD conference

Psychological safety is one of the cornerstones of a productive, progressive workplace. Strategist, futurist and data scientist Wilson Wong joins the podcast to discuss how to build it, how to measure it and what can go wrong when it’s lacking in an organisation. Read the transcript Related resources How to create psychological safety at work Developing employee performance: Purpose, psychological safety and belonging Materials referenced/recommended by Wilson Amy Edmondson's book The Fearless Organization The APA 2024 survey on Psychological Safety in American Workplaces A meta-analytic review examining the antecedents and outcomes of psychological safety Wilson's own blog about identity at work: Navigating Identity at the workplace and Corporate Behaviour in 2024: How did it get so bad?

Laura Kimpton, HR strategy and practice editor at Brightmine, discusses how organisations, and line managers in particular, can support and champion neurodiversity in the workplace. Topics include: employers' legal duties under the Equality Act; the value of adopting a "needs-led" approach; making reasonable adjustments; approaches to onboarding and communication. Read the transcript Related resources Neurodiversity policy Introduction to neurodiversity - line manager training Supporting neurodivergent candidates - line manager training Onboarding: Workplace orientation - line manager checklist Tailored reasonable adjustments plan for disabled employee Employment law cases concerning neurodiversity

The Labour Government published its highly anticipated Employment Rights Bill on 10 October 2024. In this edition of the podcast, Brightmine employment law experts Zeba Sayed and Stephen Simpson analyse the key proposals in the Bill and offer advice on how HR can begin to prepare for the changes. Read the transcript The accompanying slides can be downloaded here Related resources Podcast: Employment Rights Bill Q&A  Employment Rights Bill published: 10 highlights for HR from the first draft  On your radar  Webinar: Employment Rights Bill – how HR can get ahead of the changes 

The Labour Government published its highly anticipated Employment Rights Bill on 10 October 2024. In this edition of the podcast, Brightmine employment law experts Zeba Sayed and Stephen Simpson answer questions on different aspects of the Bill, from the timeline for the measures coming into effect to the nuances of the proposed unfair dismissal and fire and rehire changes. Read the transcript Related resources On your radar  Podcast: What changes should HR prepare for from the Employment Rights Bill? Employment Rights Bill published: 10 highlights for HR from the first draft  Webinar: Employment Rights Bill – how HR can get ahead of the changes 

What will the people profession look like in 2035? How will AI transform HR practices over the next decade? And how can HR teams prepare for the ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies like AI? Tessa Hilson-Greener joins the podcast to answer these questions and many more besides. Related resources AI fundamentals: How to identify AI needs in HR Three areas of focus for the AI workplace revolution Revolutionising AI rules for global employers Use of AI chatbots at work policy

With changes to the law regarding sexual harassment in the workplace coming into effect this autumn · and further changes promised in the Government·s Employment Rights Bill · we are joined by Lisa Bell from Tell Jane to discuss the new legal duty on employers, the impact of technology and generational shifts in attitude.  Related resources Building a working environment free from harassment and sexual harassment – Leading practice guide New sexual harassment prevention duty: 10-point checklist for HR Sexual harassment risk assessment form

The phrase ·four-day week· has been trending in the media of late · and being used to refer to quite different things, to the confusion of many! In this edition of the podcast we aim to clear up some common misunderstandings. Related resources Right to request flexible working  Flexible working requests policy Compressed hours policy  Managing hybrid/flexible workers - line manager training

Justine Woolf, director of consulting at Innecto Reward Consulting, offers tips for HR to boost employee engagement and ensure that organisations get a better ROI on their benefits. Related resources Webinar: Why now is the time to align your rewards with your EVP Podcast: Evolving your EVP to meet the needs of a multigenerational workforce How to develop a reward strategy Rebuilding in 2024: Strategies for reshaping worker expectations

Andrew Walker, new business development director with Personal Group, joins us to discuss the significant changes and trends shaping the future of work, and to explore strategies to evolve your employee value proposition (EVP) to meet the diverse needs of a multigenerational workforce. Related resources Webinar: Why now is the time to align your rewards with your EVP How to develop a reward strategy Rebuilding in 2024: Strategies for reshaping worker expectations What is an employee value proposition (EVP)?

From wellness and neurodiversity to ·hotelification·, Rachel Basha, founder and CEO of the architecture and design practice Basha-Franklin, discusses the ways in which the shifting needs and character of the 21st-century workforce are reshaping office design. Related resources Deskless and disengaged - how can you stop me from leaving? Introduction to neurodiversity - line manager training Health and wellbeing policy Webinar: Hybrid working - how to personalise the employee experience

Bags for life, tea containing a surprising substance and more: Susie Munro, senior legal editor at Brightmine, discusses four recent employment tribunal cases where employees were dismissed for misconduct after making what they said were mistakes.  Related resources Misconduct dismissals following employee mistakes: Employment tribunal round-up How does a tribunal gauge whether an employee has been unfairly dismissed on the basis of misconduct? Misconduct - line manager training

Steve Allan joins us to talk about HR's role in mergers and acquisitions and offers five top tips for getting M&As right. We talk about: company culture; the impact of AI; understanding TUPE; and how to get integration right. Related resources Hiring across borders: Five compliance challenges and how to solve them Podcast: Global hiring - AI, EORs and worker misclassification risks  Guide for global employers: Recruitment and selection

Miranda Zolot, general counsel at Oyster, talks about the benefits and challenges of distributed working and global hiring. Join her as she discusses subjects including: •    EORs and PEOs; •    compliance issues; •    employee/contractor misclassification risks; and •    AI. Related resources What is an employer of record? Hiring across borders: Five compliance challenges and how to solve them Guide for global employers: Recruitment and selection Guide for global employers: International assignments

According to research, almost half of the skills used by the workforce today will no longer be relevant in a couple of years. Given this context of a fast-evolving workplace with shifting needs, it's perhaps unsurprising that organisations are struggling to hire people with the right skills. What is to be done? Career mentor Laurie Macpherson joins us to discuss ways for HR and employees to begin to rethink recruitment and reskilling. Related resources Four steps HR can take to help businesses and employees embrace the new "squiggly" careers era Whose responsibility is employee development anyway? Managing retention: Creating a retention strategy Global learning and development 2024: XpertHR survey report

A raft of employment law changes have come into effect over the past few months. In this edition of the podcast, Zeba Sayed and Stephen Simpson discuss some developments that have perhaps received less attention than others: the changes to special redundancy protection for family-related leave that came into force on 6 April 2024. Want to learn more? April 2024 employment law changes: Eight-point checklist for HR Redundancy policy Redundancy: Letter offering suitable alternative vacancy to pregnant employee Redundancy during or after maternity leave: Letter offering suitable alternative vacancy to employee

International and domestic politics, issues of gender and sexuality: people disagree about lots of things. Understandably, many organisations worry about the impact of controversial beliefs being expressed in the workplace - perhaps because of the effect on other employees, perhaps just because of the distraction that disputes can cause. In this edition of the podcast, employment law specialist Darren Newman joins us to discuss how organisations can navigate conflicts of belief in the workplace. Darren sets out the relevant case law and tackles questions including: Can employers distinguish between what is said in the workplace and what is said elsewhere, eg on social media? Can they put rules in place governing how people talk about controversial issues? What can they do to protect themselves and their employees? Related resources Gender reassignment discrimination: Gender fluid and non-binary identities are protected Religion or belief discrimination: Gender-critical belief is protected, EAT holds Bal