National Inclusion Week Webinar Series

Join the Freeths Employment team as we celebrate National Inclusion Week later this month. We are delighted to be involved in this Inclusive Employers initiative to explore the theme of United for Inclusion. During National Inclusion Week, the Freeths Employment team will be hosting a series of webinars to raise awareness about current D&I issues, improve our own inclusion efforts and celebrate every day inclusion in all its forms. These webinars have been developed specifically for D&I and HR professionals or anyone leading inclusion efforts within their organisation.

You can pick and choose to attend one, or all three webinars for free.

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Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 12pm – 1pm

The cost of exclusion

Many organisations are working towards creating and growing an inclusive workplace culture where everyone can succeed. In this session, we will bring organisations together to celebrate, share and inspire inclusion practices. We will explore the theme of United for Inclusion and how organisations set the tone around inclusion for their staff and what can happen when they fail to do this well. We will also be examining recent case law and exploring the wider the cost of ignoring inclusion.

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Date: Wednesday 29th September
Time: 12pm – 1pm

Menopause in the workplace

There is a significant, unspoken impact of menopause in the workplace. Those experiencing menopausal symptoms are negatively impacted at work; some have faced disciplinary action and many have been forced to take time off, work part-time or stop working altogether. This means that many women leave organisations at the peak of their experience, leading to a reduction in diversity at a senior level and a widening gender pay-gap which feeds into a disparity in pensions. Join us to discuss the business case for raising awareness about menopause and the challenges experienced by those experiencing menopausal symptoms at work. We will explore what legal protection is available to those experiencing menopause at work and how organisations can reduce the taboo around menopause to create a more inclusive culture.

We are delighted to be joined by Deborah Garlick who will share her insights on how organisations can factor in the needs of employees going through the menopause and address workplace discrimination. 

Deborah Garlick is passionate about helping people live better lives by raising awareness and understanding of the menopause, changing perceptions and getting everyone talking about it. She is a Director of Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace, founder of Henpicked.net and author of Menopause: the change for the better Deborah and her team have been working with UK-wide and international organisations for the last 5 years to make it easy for them to introduce the right training, policies and practices to raise awareness and education of this critical area.

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Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 12pm – 1pm

Creating an inclusive hybrid workforce

With many organisations implementing hybrid working models for good reasons, we should note the risk of creating an uneven playing field and disadvantaging certain groups of employees. Those working remotely may risk missing out on promotion and development opportunities and conversations or decisions made in the office, potentially broadening pay gaps and creating discrimination risks. Unless everyone feels included and has equal access to opportunities, remote working arrangements could lead to less favourable treatment and indirect discrimination claims. Office based staff may also have inaccurate perceptions about their remote colleagues’ productivity. Join us to discuss the potential discrimination risks, how you can overcome these challenges and how employers can manage their hybrid workforce in an inclusive way.

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If you have any questions regarding these webinars, please get in touch with the Employment team.