The sessions are being organised FBC Manby Bowdler by to support organisations to improve their HR functions. The first workshops will be at the firm’s Wolverhampton and Telford offices on February 23 and 24 and will focus on sickness absence management. 

The topic was chosen by FBC Manby Bowdler clients as the subject they wanted to focus on and they will also set the themes for future events. 

Research from Britain’s Healthiest Company recently claimed that unhealthy lifestyles are causing British firms to lose an average of 23.5 days of productive time per employee, costing £57 billion a year in lost productivity.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has also called on employers to do more to address poor working environments. It says tackling issues like long and irregular hours, discriminatory practices and bad management can lead to a happier and more productive workforce. 

Employment lawyer Amber Bate said: “An unhealthy workplace environment can have a devastating effect on your business. Employees spend the majority of their time at work so it makes sense for employers to safeguard their best asset and ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

“A healthy and happy workforce is a productive one and effective HR processes are key to achieving this.”

Amber said that training was vital to ensure that HR issues were dealt with properly and don’t lead to legal wrangles.

She explained: “There were two cases this year that highlighted where better HR training would have prevented cases going to Employment Appeal tribunals.

“In Thomson v Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, the tribunal ruled that the dismissal procedure was unfair because the panel chair had no previous experience of disciplinary hearings.

“In the other, Ramphal v Department of Employment, it said the employee’s dismissal may have been subject toimproper influence from HR and the case was referred back to the tribunal to investigate HR’s involvement.

“Both of these cases show how important it is have HR staff properly trained and to make sure they are kept abreast of the latest developments in employment law. We hope our training workshops will help local businesses do that.”

The training workshops are open to all business owners, HR personnel or anyone managing staff at any level. Places are limited and demand is expected to be high. Advance booking is essential by emailingmarketing@fbcmb.co.uk.

Photo: Amber Bate, Employment solicitor with FBC Manby Bowdler