Business law firm Baines Wilson is launching another series of its highly regarded employment law seminars next month.
Half-day sessions in Preston, Morecambe, Kendal and Carlisle cover handling a grievance successfully, dealing with data breach claims, and how to manage drug and alcohol misuse at work and employees with long Covid.
They also provide an update on case law and legislative changes and an opportunity to raise questions on any employment law or HR matter.
Joanne Holborn, partner and head of employment at Baines Wilson, said: “Grievances can take up a lot of valuable management time for employers and it is vital that employers know how to deal with them effectively.
“Likewise, alcohol and drug misuse is all too common but employers sometimes don’t know how to deal with it. Their drug and alcohol policies may not be fit for purpose and they miss opportunities to gather evidence.”
Baines Wilson – which has offices in Carlisle and Lancaster – has detected an increase in data breach claims against businesses as, increasingly, law firms take on cases on a no-win, no-fee basis.
The seminar sets out how businesses should respond to such claims.
Joanne said: “A data breach can be just leaving someone’s personal information where someone else can see it. We’ve seen cases where an employee alleges their employer has breached their data protection rights.”
Long Covid is another emerging issue with the Office for National Statistics reporting that 2m people had experienced symptoms up to July 31.
Joanne said: “There’s no doubt that long Covid is having a significant impact. We will be looking at whether it amounts to a disability under the Equality Act and what reasonable adjustments employers should make.”
The seminars are aimed at HR professionals and anyone else who has responsibility for HR.
“We also get business owners and managing directors attending to get an overview of employment law issues,” Joanne added.
She will deliver the seminars with Tom Scaife, Caroline Rayner and Heather Bottomley, fellow members of the employment team at Baines Wilson.
They take place at Brockholes, Preston, on October 6; The Midland, Morecambe, on October 11; J36 Rural Auction Centre, near Kendal, on October 13; and The Auctioneer, Carlisle, on October 18.
Registration opens at 9am with tea, coffee and pastries. The sessions run from 9.30am to 12.30pm followed by a buffet lunch.
Places are available at £75 plus VAT. Reserve yours online at: https://www.baineswilson.co.uk/seminar-booking-form-2
