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Employment Law Training

A practical series of bespoke training courses as well as free to attend essential employment law webinars covering key employment law and related HR issues brought to you by one of the leading employment law teams in Scotland.

All of our courses are applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

 

Employment law training

Keep up-to-date with the key legal requirements and best practice in the workplace saving your organisation time and money. Our open programme allows organisations to access high quality training delivered to smaller groups. We also design and deliver bespoke training for organisations.

Our courses are designed for business owners, HR professionals, line managers, in-house lawyers, finance team members, charity trustees and board appointees seeking an understanding of, or an update on, specific selected areas.  

All of our training courses have a very practical focus, drawing on our many years of experience of advising both employers and employees on these matters and appearing before Employment Tribunals.

Training Programme Leader - Innes Clark

Innes is one of Scotland's most experienced and well known employment lawyers having specialised in employment law for nearly 25 years.  He is an accredited specialist employment lawyer and has been listed in the elite "Leading lawyers" list in the Legal 500 UK 2020 guide to outstanding lawyers nationwide.

In addition to providing advice to clients, Innes has also been involved in the provision of employment law training to organisations of all sizes, drawing on his many years of experience in private practice.  He also lectures in employment law at the University of Edinburgh and at Edinburgh Napier University.

Innes is Signet Accredited in employment law, a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 

Our training programme 

We provide both in depth training on particular subjects and regular free essential employment law webinars.

Essential employment law webinars

Our essential employment law webinars cover both current issues and future employment law changes.  They last for approximately 50 minutes and are free to attend.  They are applicable to the law of Scotland, England and Wales.  Click on the links below for more details of our upcoming webinars:-

If you are unable to attend any of the webinars you can still register and will be sent a recording.  You can view our recent webinars via the links below:-

In depth training programme

Equality and diversity training 

Claims for discrimination are uncapped with six and even seven figure sums having been awarded by Employment Tribunals in the past few years. Employers who can show that they have taken 'all reasonable steps' to avoid discrimination through appropriate training on equality issues may be able to use this statutory defence against certain discrimination claims arising from the acts of their employees. Recent cases such as Allay (UK) Limited v Gehlen and Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover Ltd highlight the issues caused by lack of training, 'stale' training and the absence of refreshing training regularly.

Sarah Gilzean is a leading discrimination expert and an accredited specialist in discrimination law. This training course has been designed to help employers establish a 'reasonable steps' defence in the event that a harassment claim is raised against them. In this course they will cover:-

  • The protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010
  • Different types of discrimination
  • Harassment and the dangers of workplace 'banter'
  • Recent cases and Employment Tribunal awards
  • Practical tips and red flags
  • The reasonable steps defence and how to ensure that you can argue it
  • Cascading training down through the workforce

This training is applicable to the legal position in Scotland, England and Wales and is suitable for HR professionals and managers who wish to update their training and also for managers and employees who have limited prior knowledge of the topic. The attendees will be limited to 15 to ensure that the session is as engaging as possible and to allow sufficient time for questions. Attendees will receive a copy of the Powerpoint slides, a detailed handout and a certificate of participation.

It is intended that this training can be referred to as part of any reasonable steps defence.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details. 

Understanding contracts of employment 

Contracts of employment have grown over the past 25 years from being simple one or two page documents to now being many pages long, often with complex provisions and references to legislation. This course will cut through the jargon and make sure you have a clear understanding of the key provisions in a contract of employment as well as an understanding as to how the contract can best protect your organisation. We will also look at the concept of constructive dismissal. In this course we will cover:

  • What needs to be in your employment contracts as required by the Employment Rights Act
  • Other key contractual provisions
  • What form they should take and what happens if nothing is in writing
  • What type to use: permanent, fixed term, casual, zero hours
  • How to vary contracts
  • Contractual strategies to protect your organisation on termination of employment
  • Common mistakes and how to avoid them
  • Breach of contract and constructive dismissal

This course is applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details. 

Managing workplace change 

The last 18 months have required constant adaptions and reviews of business needs. Many organisations have had to consider redundancies or significant changes to working patterns or other terms and conditions of employment. This course will focus on the main areas where it is important to have a working knowledge of certain elements of employment law when planning for and dealing with work place change. We will cover: 

  • Varying terms and conditions of employment
  • The legal and practical implications of handling redundancies 
  • Managing a TUPE transfer 
  • Information and consultation requirements 
  • Practical hints and tips to ensure as smooth a process as possible 
  • Managing the aftermath of workplace change

This course is applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details. 

Managing employees - sickness absence 

Sickness absence is estimated to cost UK employers billions of pounds each year. This course will help you understand how to navigate the legal risks, particularly where disability-related absence is involved. In this half day course we will look at how best to manage short and long term sickness absences including:

  • Sickness absence during the probationary period
  • Effective return to work interviews
  • How to get the most out of GP and OH reports
  • Tricky issues when dealing with disabilities and the need for reasonable adjustments
  • Annual leave during periods of sickness absence
  • Protected conversations: when and how to have them
  • Employee well being
  • Practical tips

This course is applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details. 

Disciplinaries, Grievances and Dismissals 

Disciplinary and grievance issues can cause significant disruption in the workplace and can take up a great deal of management time as well as exposing your organisation to significant financial risk. This course will support you in dealing effectively and efficiently with these issues by looking at all aspects of the disciplinary and grievance process including:

  • Techniques to avoid matters escalating in the first place
  • Short service dismissals (and their risks!)
  • The key requirements of fairness and the ACAS Code of Practice
  • When and how to suspend
  • Effective workplace investigations
  • Conducting disciplinary hearings and appeals
  • Recording the decision
  • Tricky issues including overlapping grievance and disciplinary matters, delays caused by sickness absence, witnesses wishing to remain anonymous, employees making recordings of hearings, criminal issues/police involvement
  • Practical tips

This course is applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details. 

Employment tribunal procedure and witness familiarisation training 

This course will help you understand and, most importantly, prepare for what happens when a workplace dispute reaches the Employment Tribunal. Being asked to give evidence as a witness can be a very daunting prospect and we can help you by providing you with key information on what to expect at the Employment Tribunal hearing as well as providing practical tips to ensure that you are able to give evidence in the most effective way possible. We'll also highlight the differences in procedure when giving evidence as a witness in Scotland or England and Wales. This course will cover:

  • Understanding the Employment Tribunal process
  • The role of the witness
  • Effective preparation in advance of the hearing
  • How to present evidence to best effect
  • How to deal with cross-examination
  • How to use the documents in the bundle
  • Practical tips and dos and don'ts

This course is applicable to the law of Scotland and England and Wales.

We would be very happy to discuss the costs for provision of this training tailored to your workforce. Please contact innes.clark@morton-fraser.com for further details.