People & Diversity

Fostering a diverse and ethical workplace in the glare of public scrutiny

People & Diversity

Overview

Workplace culture and employee engagement at all levels within an organisation remain an important area of focus for us and our clients. Organisations and their senior leadership are accountable for people  issues, and have attracted  greater scrutiny of their actions as regards people in or affected by their organisation. However, these predominantly cultural issues are increasingly underpinned by enhanced regulatory obligations and we are expecting this trend to continue in light of the UK Government's policy agenda. Businesses which fail properly to engage with people and diversity issues face a variety of legal, business and reputational risks.

Our Employment team has extensive experience in advising businesses on mitigating these risks as well as providing management training, and guidance when things go wrong. Our specialist offering includes:

  • Diversity and inclusion measures
  • Whistleblowing, discrimination, and harassment claims
  • Confidentiality issues
  • Employee grievances and investigations
  • Equal pay, gender/ethnicity pay gap reporting obligations
  • Health and safety responsibilities
  • Codes of Conduct and other people-related policies and procedures
  • Parent company risk and directors' duties

Examples of work in this area include

supporting a client drafting up a new "speak up" policy and procedure, and training all managers and staff in the new policy and the positive cultural impact of promoting speaking up

conducting an investigation on behalf of a client into allegations against a senior employee of bullying and discrimination, and providing a report of findings to the Board of the client

advising on an investigation and next steps in response to a sexual harassment allegation raised by a former employee of a financial services firm against a senior manager, including associated notification and regulatory reference implications

successfully defending a multi-million pound discrimination claim in the Employment Tribunal

successfully defending a whistleblowing claim in the Employment Tribunal brought against a leading financial services business

carrying out an investigation following a whistleblowing complaint at a major PLC

supporting a client in initial crisis response to a fatality inquest and providing advice relating to investigation processes, procedures and interviews relating to the same

advising clients on compliance with Government guidance and regulatory requirements relating to Covid-19 "return to work" policies and risk assessments

advising a major US medical device manufacturer on a multi-jurisdictional product liability mandate including defence of UK proceedings

defending a health and safety criminal prosecution in the Crown Court and representing at the Coroner’s Inquest

advising a major multinational independent investment bank and financial services company on obligations and permitting under UK health & safety regimes

providing support to a significant American chemical company in connection with EU and UK food and pharmaceutical ingredient restrictions and labelling

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