Employment law seminar
Back to News at Oatmeal full list
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE – BREAKFAST SEMINAR ON 5 JUNE 2007 DYLAN THOMAS CENTRE 8am to 10.15am Nick Huffer CLARKSLEGAL LLP
So, what has been happening in the last 12 months? The whole issue of equal pay is gripping the public sector at the moment with thousands of claims being filed. Neath Port Talbot Council has led the way in Wales in reaching settlements already worth over £6 million. Other authorities across the UK have a long way to go. It is estimated that less than half of all local authorities in the UK have implemented the “Single Status Agreement”, the historic national deal with public sector unions designed to end historic pay differences between men and women. This is in breach of the 31 March 2007 deadline and with local authorities estimating total back pay running into billions, there is much nervousness on the issue. Private sector employers are keeping a close eye on the situation as well. · We will be looking at what the future may bring, including the impact of the new Gender Equality Duty, which came into force on 6 April 2007 under the Equality Act 2006. This will place a positive legal duty on public bodies to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. · Plus in December 2006, a new Disability Equality Duty came into force for public bodies placing a positive obligation to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. · The Equality Act also establishes a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) – with effect from October 2007. This will bring together existing equality bodies for sex, race and disability and cover new areas of discrimination law including sexual orientation, religion and belief, and age. The new Commission will hope to promote equality and human rights through its provisions and practices already in place. An increase in the awareness of ‘religion’ and ‘belief’ will also be incorporated through many provisions. · Related to this, are the issues of sex discrimination and harassment, where proposals are being considered to widen the meaning of harassment following a successful case brought by the Equal Opportunities Commission. Harassment to be considered unlawful should in accordance with the European Directive be widened to ‘relate to sex’ compared to the previous discrimination, based on ‘grounds of sex’. · One of the most far-reaching changes in the last 12 months, is age discrimination. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force on 1 October 2006. We will be reminding employers of their new obligations and potential pitfalls. · Looking forward, arguably the biggest surprise, and welcome news for employers and arguably employees alike was the news this year that the Government was launching a consultation with a view to abolishing the statutory dispute resolution procedures. All very embarrassing since they were only introduced in October 2004 and were hailed as a major reform to improve workplace dispute resolution and the operation of the law on unfair dismissal, which is at the heart of UK employment law. We have all been struggling with the unnecessary complexity ever since this abortive attempt to simplify the law. So, after all that HR training, back to square one! · Where does that leaves us all now? We will be looking at the consultation and what may come out of it. · It has been all change on the family friendly front with the changes that have come in under the Work and Families Act 2006. For women due to have their baby on or after 1 April 2007, the statutory maternity pay period is extended from 26 to 39 weeks plus there is the extension of the right to 12 months maternity leave to all working mothers regardless of length of service. Another key development is the right for carers of adults to request flexible working arrangements from 6 April 2007. · The outcome of the consultation on increasing statutory holiday leave up to a maxium of 28 days, which will take into account statutory bank holidays, is due this month. · Finally, a mention for data protection, which is getting a revamp in the area of criminal checks on people working with children and vulnerable adults.
Notes to editors:
The Oatmeal Group is a UK company specializing in providing communication excellence to the executive workplace. The Oatmeal Group is served through four business divisions, consultancy, training, marketing and adventures.
More information on The Oatmeal Group can be found on the company website at www.oatmealgroup.com
Further enquiries to:
John Davies (Marketing) – 0843 289 1249
Testimonials
Working with Oatmeal opened our eyes to the many pitfalls of poor presentations. In accessible language, they showed us what to do, and what not to do, and gave us a series of practical guidelines and tools to ensure we inform, educate and inspire our audiences.
Oatmeal’s commitment to providing a first class service to its customer has been second to none and I have been extremely pleased with their openness and commitment to understanding the needs of Equalities training in relation to Business Support in Wales.
Since working with the Oatmeal team our staff have increased their productivity but more importantly their confidence and self worth has really improved. The business has benefited in financial terms with increased revenue coming into the club as a direct result of adopting the Oatmeal way of working.
As a company that has benefited from Oatmeal’s marketing consultancy I can say unreservedly that they are second to none with regard to their knowledge, flexibility, good advice and strong management.
Oatmeal opened our thoughts and got us to work in a new, better, more exciting way. The results for the business have been beyond our expectations. Our sales presentations are now twice as effective as before. We now regularly work with Oatmeal to ensure we don’t lose the edge.
The level of service has just been outstanding and John’s wealth of knowledge and experience has just shone through. The Oatmeal group not only come up with great ideas but work very closely with you to implement and evaluate them.
From the outset, the Oatmeal Group,has enlightened our views on what marketing really involves. I would not hesitate to recommend the Oatmeal Group and as a company, we are looking forward to a long and fruitful business relationship with them.
The Oatmeal Group came highly recommended to us. Their direct approach and commitment gave quick and tangible results.
John Davies of The Oatmeal Group has delivered a number of training workshops on 'Creating Presentations with Impact' for WIBF. These workshops tend to be hugely successful with an attendance of approximately 70, these events were very well presented and exceeded my expectations.
Tel: 0843 289 1249 Email: info@oatmealgroup.com