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

This year's Carers week theme is "caring about equality" and highlights the inequalities faced by unpaid carers, including a greater risk of poverty, social isolation, and poor mental and physical health. Sadly, and far too often, carers of all ages are missing out on opportunities in their education, careers or personal lives just because of their caring role.

To explore how employers play a critical role in removing these barriers, host Ellie Gelder is joined by two passionate advocates for carers: RPC's own Rachel Pears and Zahra Lakhan-Bunbury from Carers UK.

Rachel is associate director for responsible business and employment counsel at RPC, and is a carer herself. Last year, she spearheaded RPC's collaboration with Carers UK, which culminated in the Mind the Caring Gap report, which garnered widespread press attention.

Zahra, who is an account manager at Employers for Carers, the workplace arm of Carers UK, works with leading organisations including government departments, retailers and local authorities to identify and share best practice for supporting carers in the workplace.

In part 1 of this series, Rachel and Zahra discuss:

• Their own experiences of caring and the impact on their respective personal and working lives;
• Existing statutory entitlements to time off work for carers, including the Carer's Leave Act 2023, which came into force on 6 April 2024;
• How an increasing number of employers are offering enhanced time off for their employees with caring responsibilities;
• The human and commercial reasons for employers to actively engage with this issue; and
• Why we need to be mindful when using the word 'resilience'.

Join us for Part 2 on 25 June, when we will look at the intersectional nuances of caring, the impact of caring on wellbeing, and how to create carer-friendly workplaces.

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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. Mind the caring gap: Exploring the impact of caring responsibilities in the legal sector (Report by RPC, LawCare and Next 100 Years, June 2024)

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

This week, host Ellie Gelder speaks to Patrick Brodie and Kelly Thomson about the landmark Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which has prompted many questions for UK businesses and employers.

Focusing on the law, Patrick and Kelly provide an accessible, balanced overview of the decision, including:

· A brief background to the case and the key question for the Supreme Court;

· The legal implications of the decision with respect to same-sex facilities;

· Divergence between the definition of 'sex', 'man' and 'woman' in the Equality Act 2010 and in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992;

· Biological sex definition and varying perspectives;

· The interim update guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission;

· Various legal challenges to the decision; and

· Practical measures for employers to balance their legal obligations with their cultural and inclusivity goals, especially in relation to their trans colleagues.

To learn more about trans inclusion and how to be an effective ally, please listen to this previous Work Couch episode, with Emma Cusdin, Global Butterflies.

* 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.

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

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

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week and this year's theme of community, host Ellie Gelder is joined once again by Rebecca Norris and Camilla Wells, co-founders of Trauma Informed Law, an organisation which offers specialist support for trauma, burnout and overwhelm in the legal sector.

In the second part of this series, we discuss:

• Identifying the less obvious signs of trauma;
• How to foster effective psychological safety;
• Key dos and don'ts when supporting a person affected by trauma;
• Commercial benefits of being a trauma-informed business; and
• The role of leadership in embedding a trauma-informed work culture.

You can listen to part 1 of this series here: Navigating trauma in the legal world (Part 1): Spotting the signs and understanding the science.

To access further support on mental health, you may wish to visit the Samaritans, Mind, or Rethink. Or you can use the text service from Shout on 85258.

* 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.

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