“The leading employment law event of the year”

Paul Secher, Head of JSB's Employment Law Faculty

Managing discipline and grievances and the future for dispute resolution
Peter Frost, Partner, Herbert Smith
Anna Henderson, Professional Support Lawyer, Herbert Smith

• An update on recent legislative developments: the Employment Bill reforms and what this means for the workplace
• Evaluating recent case law and top tips on common pitfalls
• Conducting workplace hearings and investigations effectively and how to exercise best practice
• Understanding alternative dispute resolution and the business case for ‘in-house’ mediation techniques

Discrimination law: key changes and case law developments
Sarah Keeble, Partner, Olswang

• Looking back on the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006: ‘Heyday’, Bloxham and how to demonstrate best practice
• What is the position on redundancy and the ‘first in last out’ rule?
• Understanding disability discrimination: the Disability Discrimination Act, ‘reasonable adjustment’ and the impact of Coleman v Attridge
• A round-up of the recent legislative developments in discrimination law: a Single Equality Bill and future implications for the workplace

Managing ill-health within the workplace
Susan Fanning, Partner, DLA Piper

• Understanding the law: what duties, legal and implied, do employers owe?
• Practical advice for HR on absence policies and implementing disciplinary procedures for absence related issues
• Sick pay: the rights of ‘Workers’ and ‘Employees’ and the Stringer case
• Unfair dismissal and ill-health: the ‘band of reasonable responses’, procedural defects and common pitfalls

Managing long-term sickness absence and creating a well-being culture at East Sussex Council
Leatham Green, Assistant Director, Personnel and Training,
East Sussex Council

• What were the main challenges for HR and how were strategies put in place?
• The absence process and exercising well-being practices and initiatives
• How can HR and Occupational Health work together to achieve results?
• Evaluating the business case: how has the Council benefited and what’s in the pipeline?

A comprehensive update on the contract of employment
Catherine Wilson, Partner, Eversheds

• Employment status: evaluating the latest European developments on temporary workers and the implications of the Court of Appeal decision in James v London Borough of Greenwich
• An update on annual leave and how this affects the employment of temporary labour
• Using restrictive covenants and ensuring compliance with the law
• What is the current position on notice clauses and enforcing ‘garden leave?’

Flexible working at BT: responding to the demands of the workforce and keeping abreast of legislative developments
Christine Moore, Head of Diversity Enterprises and Consulting, BT

• The Work and Families Act 2006: Assessing the impact on the workplace and potential developments for 2008
• The position of carers and parents with older children
• How BT has implemented a work-life balance ethos within the workplace: home working, job sharing and changing organisational attitudes
• Managing flexible working requests: who qualifies and what are the appropriate responses?

Simon Jeffreys, Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna

• TUPE and change of service provision: a case law update and best commercial practice
• Changing terms and conditions post-transfer: Jackson v Computershare and Regent Security v Power
• Understanding the law on TUPE and insolvency and the position on ‘offshoring’ after Holis Metal v GMB
• A current update on redundancy: information and consultation, alternative employment and protective awards and liquidation
• Relocation, mobile employees and contractual redundancy schemes

Charles Wynn-Evans, Partner, Dechert

• An update on recent developments in equal pay law including ‘night work,’ ‘hypothetical comparators,’ and the ‘material factor’ defence
• The new Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act: the key changes and likely impact on the workplace
• Changes to immigration law and practical advice on employing overseas workers
• An update on working time and holiday pay issues