Between a rock and a hard place - navigating the challenges of conflicting employment rights in the workplace

Wednesday 8 March | 9:00am – 10:00am GMT
Thursday 23 March |2:30pm – 5:30pm GMT

Please join members of the DLA Piper employment team for a two part training programme, using a case study to examine the legal and practical challenges of navigating conflicting rights in the workplace.

Part one in our series will be delivered remotely on Wednesday 8 March (9:00am – 10:00am GMT). The session will consider the legal and logistical challenges for employers arising out of a dispute in the workplace where one employee is relying on the protected characteristic of gender reassignment and another employee is relying on the protected characteristic of religion or belief.

The second part in our series will be held in person on Thursday 23 March (2:30pm – 5:30pm GMT) as a mock Employment Tribunal hearing providing participants the opportunity to experience how a Tribunal hearing operates. The session will be hosted at DLA Piper’s London office in collaboration with leading barristers from Littleton Chambers. Places are limited and subject to availability.

At the end of this series, employers will be better equipped to develop effective and proactive people strategies to mitigate the legal, business and reputational risks in this notoriously difficult and divisive area of workplace dispute.

The series will cover the following topics:

• The importance of clear and comprehensive workplace policies that are properly communicated to staff, including respect in the workplace, grievance, disciplinary and social media policies;
• Ensuring that training is up to date, effective and regularly refreshed;
• Identifying who is protected by gender reassignment;
• The importance of not making assumptions, managing expectations and protecting confidentiality when working with people protected on grounds of gender reassignment;
• Assessing those beliefs that qualify for protection under discrimination law as philosophical beliefs;
• Taking disciplinary action when an employee is unreasonably manifesting a philosophical belief rather than just holding that belief;
• Managing overlapping grievance and disciplinary processes;
• Good practice when conducting workplace investigations, including when it is appropriate to protect confidentiality; and 
• Managing internal communications and not acting in such a way as is likely to destroy or damage the relationship of trust and confidence in the workplace.

Please contact Aaron Woodley with questions.