The Work Couch RPC

To mark Mental health awareness week this month, we are devoting a four-part mini-series to mental health at work. In part 1, Ellie Gelder is joined by Jonny Benjamin MBE, whose incredible story touched many people all around the world when his search to find the stranger, who talked him down from taking his life on Waterloo Bridge, went viral with the hashtag #findMike.
 
We discuss:
 
·       Jonny's experience of mental illness;
·       How a stranger on a bridge changed his life forever;
·       Jonny's work to champion mental health, especially among young people;
·       The importance of support for relatives;
·       The power of listening without judgment; and
·       How colleagues can effectively support someone at work who is struggling with their mental health.
 
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To access further support on mental health, you may wish to visit: the Samaritans, Mind, or Rethink. Or you can use the text service from Shout on 85258.
 
We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.
 
 

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Whistleblowing commonly features in today's top news stories, recent examples including the Post Office and Horizon dispute, and the harrowing Lucy Letby case. It's also a notoriously complex, and sometimes misunderstood, area of employment law, which can present challenges for line managers, HR teams and business leaders.
 
In part 3 of our mini-series on whistleblowing, Ellie Gelder is joined by Sybille Raphael, legal director at whistleblowing charity Protect, to run through the five key challenges in the world of whistleblowing for employers to tackle in 2024 and beyond. We discuss:
 
·     How whistleblowing legislation may change in the future to reflect the shift in the types of wrongdoing at work that workers are reporting today;
·     The increasingly pivotal role that whistleblowing plays in relation to a business's ESG obligations and associated risks, including greenwashing and social washing;
·     Whether AI will help or hinder whistleblowing, including potential risk areas and opportunities;
·     Why some people are more or less likely to speak up than others, including a possible connection between certain neurodivergent conditions and whistleblowing;
·     How whistleblowing can help employers to comply with their legal and regulatory duties to protect employees from bullying and harassment at work; and
·     The impact of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the first UK anti-SLAPPS law), and the extent to which this applies to whistleblowing.
 
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We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addiction comes in many forms; it is often hidden and, due to social stigma, is rarely discussed. In the work context, addiction and dependency can raise complex challenges for line managers and HR teams.
 
In this week's Work Couch podcast episode, Ellie Gelder is joined by Charlotte Reid, senior associate in RPC's Employment, Engagement and Equality team and Eleena Misra KC, of Old Square Chambers, to explore how employers can respond appropriately to a colleague who is affected by addiction, while at the same time also ensuring that the safety of others are protected, and business interests are preserved.
 
We discuss:
 
·     The importance of considering why a person may have an addiction or dependency;
·     Factors to take into account when responding to a situation where a person's addiction is impacting their work or others;
·     How addiction, in certain situations, could form the basis of a disability discrimination claim;
·     Making reasonable adjustments, where appropriate;
·     Employment tribunal cases involving alleged misconduct due to alcohol or drugs; and
·     Helping employees open up about their addiction or dependency in a "safe space".
 
* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer
 
To access further support on addiction, you may wish to visit: With You, (formerly known as Addaction), GamCare, or Talk to Frank.
 
We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.
 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whistleblowing commonly features in today's top news stories, recent examples including the Post Office and Horizon dispute, and the harrowing Lucy Letby case. It's also a notoriously complex, and sometimes misunderstood, area of employment law, which can present challenges for line managers, HR teams and business leaders. 
In part 2 of our mini-series on whistleblowing, Ellie Gelder is joined by Sybille Raphael, legal director at whistleblowing charity Protect, to explain how employers can approach whistleblowing complaints proactively and effectively. We discuss:
 
·       The reasons why employees don't speak up about wrongdoing at work, and how to foster a "speak up" culture;
·       Protecting whistleblowers from victimisation;
·       The shifting perceptions of whistleblowers, and how the nature of complaints has changed over the last decade;
·       How the employer's approach to whistleblowing will differ to its approach for grievances;
·       Balancing the duty of confidentiality to both the whistleblower and to the subject(s) of the complaint; and
·       Using whistleblowing reporting as a positive tool to achieve wider commercial goals.
 
* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer
We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking off part 1 of our mini-series on exploring the cost of untapped talent, we look at social mobility at work, inclusive hiring and the commercial drivers for generating social value.
 
Host Ellie Gelder is joined by two champions for social inclusion, James Fellowes and Chance Bleu-Montgomery from Bridge of Hope, a pioneering organisation that matches job-ready candidates from a pool of untapped talent, who face various social barriers to employment, with inclusive recruiting employers.
 
We discuss:
 
·     James and Chance's contrasting lived experiences of social exclusion and unemployment;
·     Social barriers to employment and the unique qualities that disadvantaged or system-impacted people can offer to employers;
·     The role of empathy in inclusive hiring;
·     Real-life examples of how organisations are adapting their recruitment processes to identify and attract untapped talent;
·     How inclusive hiring can generate more social value than other social impact initiatives;
·     Inclusive hiring through the commercial lens, including how it can help secure pitches, attract and retain the best talent, as well as boost productivity and brand perception; and
·     How the benefits of social mobility and inclusive hiring extend beyond the individual candidate to their family and wider communities.
 
* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer
We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The term "social washing" is increasingly used to name and shame businesses – with substantial commercial consequences. But what does it actually mean? And how can businesses avoid the pitfalls?
 
Ellie Gelder is joined by Kelly Thomson, partner and RPC's ESG lead, to explore the issue of social washing, including:
 
·     What the "S" in ESG means, how far it extends, and how it overlaps with the "E" (environmental) and the "G" (governance);
·     The conflicting commercial drivers for businesses to engage with today's pressing social concerns;
·     The concept of social washing and examples of how it can arise;
·     Potential commercial risks of social washing;
·     The links between social washing and greenwashing;
·     Future trends in respect of regulatory scrutiny and stakeholder focus on a business's social engagement and accountability; and
·     Key anchor points to bear in mind when engaging with a social issue to reduce the risks of social washing.
 
* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer
We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
 
All information is correct at the time of recording. 
The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.
References
 
1.    United Nations Foundation: Sustainable Development Goals
2.    Article by Harvard Business Review "Woke-washing your company won't cut it" (27 July 2020)
3.    Research by Kantar Mistrust and rejection: The impact of greenwashing and social washing on brands (9 November 2023)
4.    Research by RepRisk on the link between social washing and greenwashing (3 October 2023)
 

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