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Helping voluntary organisations to tackle the ‘thorny issues’

Published: 19/06/22 | Categories: Training & events, Author: Rachel Ford-Evans

Hybrid working, mental health in the workplace & good governance, a few of the topics on offer from gofod3 sponsor, Darwin Gray this year. Senior Associate, Rachel Ford-Evans tells us more.

Darwin Gray’s Employment and HR team is delighted to be presenting four webinars at this year’s gofod3.

Over the last year, as our clients have emerged gradually from the turmoil of the pandemic, we have seen organisations grappling with difficult questions over homeworking, mental health, bullying and harassment in the workplace. Our webinars will tackle these thorny issues, together with good governance practices for charity trustees. Our aim is to equip you to be able to answer difficult questions about these topics from staff, develop your policies, and prevent disputes involving your employees from arising or escalating.

Whilst our popular gofod3 sessions in 2021 focused especially on firefighting and damage control, our webinars this year will look at how practices have developed and are developing in the long term as a result of COVID-19 and what organisations should think about and do in order to keep up.

We like our training sessions to be informal and interactive, and attendees are always welcome to ask us questions during or after the sessions or to share their own experiences with us.

The topics we will cover are…

THE FUTURE OF HOMEWORKING AND THE WORKPLACE: GETTING THE MIX RIGHT

Tuesday 21 June 2022, 10 am

We believe that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to a hybrid working policy. For some organisations, remote working will not be possible at all, and these employers will need to be able to communicate the right messages to both their existing employees and potential job applicants in order to keep up with a challenging recruitment market. For others, homeworking is here to stay – but the employment law implications of this need to be considered in the long term.

Our view is that developing a clear policy and strategy on this issue is key for employers in 2022.

In this webinar, we will talk about the employment law and HR implications of changing someone’s place of work, whether it is possible to compel a reluctant employee to attend the workplace, and we’ll provide guidance on developing a clear policy on homeworking that is right for your organisation.

We will also discuss the practicalities of managing employees when they are working remotely and what to do if this is affecting their productivity.

BULLYING AND HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE – DOS AND DON’TS

Wednesday 22 June 2022, 10 am

Reports of bullying and harassment in the workplace continue to flood in, but the types of behaviours displayed in 2022 are becoming different to typical pre-COVID cases. Not only are cyber-bullying and online harassment on the rise, but many organisations are discovering that their employees’ attitudes and behaviours have changed after many months spent in lockdown.

It is an essential requirement for employers to have robust policies in place dealing with bullying, harassment, discrimination and equal opportunities: this will help you to avoid or defend discrimination claims if things go wrong.

We deal with this type of claim for our clients every day, and in this webinar we will outline the principles of protecting Equality and Diversity in the workplace, how to avoid harassment claims, how to identify and stamp out bullying, and the potential consequences if employers fail to take steps to do so.

GOOD GOVERNANCE – WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE, AND HOW TO ACHIEVE IT

 Thursday 23 June 2022, 10 am

All charity trustees and non-executive directors should understand how their roles work and what they must and must not do under charity law and from a good governance perspective. However, we know that many organisations have let their trustee training slip during the pandemic.

Fflur Jones will provide webinar attendees with an invaluable and practical summary of trustees’ obligations and good governance practices, as well as looking at the governance documents a charitable organisation should have in place and how they should be followed and kept up to date.

Fflur is not only an expert in governance and charity law, but is also a highly experienced trustee of several organisations. Her summary will draw on her experience and expertise and leave newer trustees feeling up-to-speed with their obligations, as well as giving longer-serving attendees a useful refresher.

 PROTECTING WORKERS’ MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE

 Friday 24 June 2022, 10 am

It is hard to dispute that the nation’s mental health has suffered during the pandemic, and many organisations have found that this has spilled over into the workplace. While mental health-related absences were already rising rapidly pre-COVID, this is becoming an even bigger issue in 2022 – compounded by the complications caused by remote working and how this may be linked to presenteeism.

Our employment law team specialises in disability discrimination and is highly experienced in dealing with mental-health related workplace problems and disputes. We will be sharing our experience of some difficult cases with attendees of this webinar, and showing you how the employers in those cases have gone wrong and how this could have been avoided.

As well as discussing the legal issues around disability discrimination under the Equality Act (including when a mental illness may amount to a disability and what this means for the employee and employer if so), we will also talk about how to recognise signs of mental ill health among employees, how to support them when issues arise, and the dos and don’ts of the duty to make reasonable adjustments.

ABOUT GOFOD3

gofod3 – Wales’ space for the voluntary sector – is taking place online, 20-24 June 2022.

gofod3 is an event organised by WCVA, in collaboration with the voluntary sector. It is the biggest voluntary sector event of its kind in Wales.

Whether you’re a trustee, staff member, volunteer or all three, gofod3 is designed especially for people involved in Welsh voluntary organisations.

With over 70 different (and FREE to attend!) masterclasses, panel debates and workshops taking place over the course of the week, there’s something for everyone.

To view the full programme and book your places please visit gofod3.cymru