Thursday 29 January 2015, 9.30am – 1.00pm, Geldards, Derby
A general update on employment law issues which are relevant to in-house lawyers
Presented by Geldards and Weightmans
Seminar Overview
Topics to be covered include:
Employment law is a pervasive area of law which is of relevance to all in-house lawyers regardless of their discipline. Knowledge of employment law issues can be extremely useful on a professional and personal level. In this session we will cover a range of topical employment law issues.
Alternative Service Delivery Arrangements
Budgetary constraints are a common theme in local government and are likely to continue to be for the foreseeable future. This has lead local authorities to look for alternative and in some cases innovative methods of delivering their services. Mutuals, Teckal companies and other commercial delivery arrangements are being adopted by local authorities. We will provide you with a background to these alternative service delivery arrangements and the associated employment law implications.
Social Media – The Employment Issues
A review of the key cases on social media and discussing how they are now very relevant to employees in the public sector. The do’s and don’ts for Councils when dealing with policies and practices on social media.
Restructuring
A by-product of ongoing budgetary constraints is the need to achieve the maximum productivity and efficiency from the workforce. This is relevant to local authorities as a whole and to individual service areas. We will take a look at options for restructuring and streamlining staffing structures and achieving efficiency gains which can be applied across the authority.
Duration Half a day (3 CPD points) including lunch
Speaker Profiles:
Kim Howell, Partner at Geldards has 20 years’ experience of delivering strategic solutions in the field of employment across variety of sectors including the UK Government, The Welsh Government, Local Government, Further and Higher Education, Schools, the NHS and Housing. Kim has developed a practice that is renowned for designing innovative solutions to a variety of key challenges for local government, examples include designing a national strategy to manage multiple equal pay litigation and developing alternative strategies and plans to implement Single Status, despite Trade Union resistance. Enabling a number of English and Welsh local authorities to achieve significant changes to its terms and conditions. Kim also has expertise in managing staff transfer projects in public body mergers, PFI and outsourcing scenarios.
Kim has been heavily involved in workforce redesign projects and has been a member of a number of Government Steering Groups, on workforce redesign. She has recently been commissioned by the Welsh Government to draft guidance on employment issues associated with collaboration projects and has also been invited to join a Steering Group consisting of Chief Executives representing the full breadth of public sector services, to plan and develop the shape and requirements of public services in 2025.
Stephen Jenkins, Partner at Geldards has advised the full range of the firm’s clients, in both public and private sectors, across the full spectrum of employment issues. He has advised on complex TUPE matters, including outsourcing projects involving negotiation of risk allocation. He has also acted for a broad range of clients in relation to performance and disciplinary issues, including acting as an independent investigating officer in relation to disciplinary issues relating to senior employees, up to and including chief officer level.
On the contentious side, Stephen is an experienced advocate and has represented clients at Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Pensions Ombudsman and the Civil Service Appeal Board. Stephen also sits as a part-time Employment Tribunal Judge.
Jawaid Rehman, partner at Weightmans has worked almost exclusively for EMLS local authorities since joining Weightmans 7 years ago. He has particular expertise in large scale restructures, changing terms and conditions, trade union issues, job evaluations schemes and equal pay. Jawaid regularly trains clients and has articles published in various publications.
Andrew Tomlinson is a solicitor at Weightmans specializing in employment law and advises employers on all aspects of employment law, including a number of local authority and other public sector bodies. He has significant tribunal advocacy experience gained over a number of years and frequently represents both private and public sector employers in relation to very complex matters including all forms of discrimination. Andrew also regularly presents training on the full spectrum of employment law topics and frequently writes articles for a wide range of publications.