Programme
Wednesday 5 February 2025
- 9.15
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Registration
- 9.20
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Introduction and welcome
Dr John Ballard, Occupational Health [at Work]
- 9.35
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OH legal update 1: Health, safety and disability
Prof Diana Kloss, barrister
- Implications of Rex v Wm Morrisons plc and the death of an employee with epilepsy
- Competing duties – health and safety versus equality for disabled people
- Legal duties and ethical obligations of OH professionals
- 10.25
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Keynote: Women’s health at work
Prof Dame Lesley Regan, UK woman’s health ambassador
- National priorities for women’s health
- Women’s health and work
- Role of OH professionals
- How employers can do better to support women’s health
- 11.15
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Coffee
- 11.35
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OH legal update 2: The new Employment Rights Bill 2024 and other hot topics
Prof Diana Kloss, barrister
- The Employment Rights Bill 2024 and its implications for OH – including enhanced rights to flexible working, unfair dismissal, paternity, parental and bereavement leave, and protection from harassment at work
- Sexual harassment, including by third parties
- Key cases update
- 12.25
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Lunch
- 1.15
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Supporting the health of unpaid working carers
Helen Walker, Carers UK
- Who cares? Profile and numbers of unpaid working carers
- Impact of unpaid caring on workers’ health and productivity
- Supporting carers’ health at work
- Why should employers worry?
- 2.05
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OH legal update 3: discrimination law
Emily Yeardley, Couchman Hanson Solicitors
- Implications of the new s.19A of the Equality Act 2010, which allows claims for indirect discrimination by someone without the protected characteristic
- Employees with unpaid caring roles
- Trial periods and other reasonable adjustments
- Key cases update
- 2.55
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Legal hot topics Q&A
Your questions answered, with Diana Kloss and Emily Yeardley
- 15.15
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Tea
- 15.35
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Managing complaints against OH professionals
Dr Deirdre Gleeson, Medwise
- How common are they, and why do they happen?
- Are the complaints different for OH doctors and nurses
- How complaints are dealt with
- What if it’s me?
- 16.30
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Close of day
Benefits of attending
You will gain:
- An understanding of the proposed changes under the Employment Rights Bill 2024 and their implications for OH, as well as an update on other legislation and recent case law. Our experts will take you through the complexities of the legal and ethical issues. You’ll be sure you know your obligations, and how to meet them.
- An update on key professional practice issues, from women’s health at work, managing complaints against OH professionals and supporting the health of employees who are also unpaid carers
- Knowledge of the legal dos and don’ts in some of the most difficult areas affecting OH professionals’ practice.
PLUS – you will receive printed documentation to keep for future reference.
This event is designed for:
• OH professionals and allied health professionals
• HR managers
• H&S practitioners
• Case managers
Our expert team – biographies
Dr John Ballard has been researching and writing on occupational health and disability at work issues for 30 years. He is a founding director of The At Work Partnership and is editor of its professional journal, Occupational Health [at Work]. John co-authored and edited the legal handbook Discrimination Law and Occupational Health Practice (The At Work Partnership, 2012) with Prof Diana Kloss. He is an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM), and an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham’s IOEM.
Prof Diana Kloss MBE Diana is a barrister, former employment judge and honorary senior lecturer in OH law at the University of Manchester. Her publications include Occupational Health Law (Wiley Blackwell, 2020), and she jointly edited Discrimination Law and OH Practice (The At Work Partnership, 2012). She writes a regular column for The At Work Partnership’s journal Occupational Health [at Work]. Diana is an honorary fellow of the FOM, an ACAS arbitrator, and she is honorary president of the Council for Work and Health.
Prof Dame Lesley Regan is professor of obstetrics & gynaecology, Imperial College at St Mary’s campus. Prof Regan is a globally recognised authority in women’s health, having been President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 2016 to 2019 and Honorary Secretary of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) from 2018-2023. She has chaired Wellbeing of Women since 2020. In June 2022, Dame Lesley became the first ever Women’s Health Ambassador for England.
Helen Walker is the Chief Executive of Carers UK. Helen brings a wealth of leadership experience in civil society organisations and strong experience of fundraising and strategic and business planning. Before joining the national volunteering charity, TimeBank, as Chief Executive in 2008, Helen was Director of Fundraising at the military charity SSAFA.
Emily Yeardley is a solicitor and is head of employment law at Couchman Hanson Solicitors. She advises employers and employees on all aspects of employment law and represents clients in Employment Tribunal proceedings on claims ranging from unfair dismissal to disability discrimination. Emily has a particular interest in advising on ill health and disability in the workplace and provides training and legal updates for OH and HR professionals and businesses, and has written legal case notes for The At Work Partnership’s journal Occupational Health [at Work].
Dr Deirdre Gleeson is specialist in occupational medicine and a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Dr Gleeson founded Medwise in 2005 which is accredited with SEQOHS since 2015. Dr Gleeson runs the Medwise Calcutta Project to help women and street children in Kolkata.
