Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

In our second live episode, recorded before a special audience of RPC clients, host Ellie Gelder

is joined by three leading voices in employment law to dissect - and make sense of - the transformational and ground-breaking Employment Rights Bill. The panel comprised:

• Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor of European law and employment law at the University of Cambridge;
• John Bowers KC, of Littleton Chambers. John is Principal of Brasenose College, University of Oxford, and also sits part-time as a judge in the Employment Appeal Tribunal; and
• Shantha David, Head of Legal Services at Unison, the UK's largest trade union.

The panellists each share their insights into the practical implications of many of the key reforms introduced by the Bill, including: "day one" rights to protection from unfair dismissal; restrictions on fire and re-hire; trade union-related reforms; changes to collective redundancy; bereavement leave and the strengthened duty to prevent sexual harassment.

They also provide their key watch-outs and tips for employers and business leaders, as they look to navigate the evolving employment law landscape.

Please note: This episode was recorded on 30 September 2025 in front of a live audience at RPC's London offices as part of the Employment, Engagement and Equality team's panel event exploring the Employment Rights Bill. All information is correct at the time of recording. The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

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References

1. Employment Rights Bill

2. Written evidence submitted by Professor Alan Bogg and Michael Ford KC to The Employment Rights Public Bill Committee (ERB69) (December 2024)

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Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

Host Ellie Gelder is joined by consultant employment lawyer Victoria Othen to explore the government's proposed changes to welfare and disability benefits and how this may impact the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments. In part one, they discuss:

· The background to the proposed "Right to try work" scheme;

· A reminder of the legal definition of disability as set out in the Equality Act 2010;

· Factors that employment tribunals take into account when assessing if a claimant is disabled within the meaning of the Act;

· The legal components of the duty to make reasonable adjustments; and

· Whether or not employers require knowledge of a disability to trigger their duty to make reasonable adjustments.

Join us for part 2, when we will discuss what reasonable adjustments look like at each stage of the employment life cycle.

* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer

We hope you enjoyed this episode. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with all the latest episodes.

All information is correct at the time of recording. The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

Please note: All information is correct at the time of recording. However, please note that this episode was recorded before the recent cabinet reshuffle and consequential changes in ministerial responsibilities, which took place on 5 September 2025.

References

1. Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper (Government consultation opened on 18 March 2025 and closed on 30 June 2025)

2. Employers: Influencing disabled people’s employment through responses to reasonable adjustments, Disability & Society (Research by Disability Research Specialists, 19 July 2022)

3. Work Couch episode: Addiction at work: Disciplinary or wellbeing issue? With Charlotte Reid and Eleena Misra, KC

4. Work Couch episode: Narratives, reasonable adjustments, and the business case for accessibility, with Samantha Renke

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast where we discuss all things employment.

As the Summer holidays draw to a close - and the backlog in employment tribunal cases continues - the Work Couch is going back to school with a lesson on judicial mediation (JM).

JM, which is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), has a reported success rate of 65-70%, but how does it work in practice? Host Ellie Gelder is joined by senior associate Charlotte Reid and trainee solicitor Brodie Walker to explain:

• How JM differs from other forms of ADR;
• How JM works in practice and what employers can expect;
• The role of the judge in JM;
• When, in the life cycle of an employment tribunal claim or dispute, might the employer look to instigate the JM process;
• The pros and cons of JM; and
• The impact that the incoming Employment Rights Bill may have on the use of JM in the future.

* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer

We hope you enjoyed this episode. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with all the latest episodes.

All information is correct at the time of recording. The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

References

1. Guidance on Alternative Dispute Resolution issued by the President of Employment Tribunals in England and Wales (July 2023)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.