The Employment Rights Bill seminar and panel: navigating the recruitment challenges
After much talk, debate and lobbying, the Employment Rights Bill unleashes a timetable of mammoth legislative changes on businesses and employers. The question is – are HR leaders ready?
From increased sickness costs, restrictions of changing contracts of employment and new rights for working parents, the Employment Rights Bill impacts all aspects of the employee lifecycle and wider workforce planning. However, the change to ordinary unfair dismissal rights and its impact on recruitment is one of the biggest “headline grabbers”. There is much for HR leaders to grapple with. So, let us help you understand the changes, plan ahead and navigate the recruitment challenges.
We partnered with Doyle Clayton and Wasserman for a high-level practical discussion focusing on how HR professionals can guide their organisations, HR teams and leadership populations through the maze of new dismissal rules and processes, whilst balancing their business recruitment plans.
Employment lawyers Emma O’Connor and Dan Begbie-Clench, recruitment experts Aseel Ibrahim and Abigail Benham and industry thought leaders Alysha Adams and Jenny Pollard led an interactive discussion on targeted issues impacting your HR strategies.
During the session We:
- Learnt from employment lawyers about key aspects of the new Bill, its planned implementation timetable and the impact provisions will have on workforce planning
- Heard from experts in the field recruitment, HR and business about how their clients and organisations are preparing for the new Bill and day-one unfair dismissal rights
- Engaged with peers to share experiences, challenges and solutions
- Discussed strategies for how you can raise the impact of the Employment Rights Bill and the necessary internal next steps within your own organisation
- Met other likeminded HR and talent recruitment specialists to enhance your own network
Event agenda
- 08:00 – 08:30: registration and networking breakfast
- 08:30 – 09:00: welcome and interactive discussion “Preparing for Change: The Employment Rights Bill” with Emma O’Connor, Partner, Doyle Clayton
- 09:00 – 09:30: panel discussion “Navigating the recruitment challenges”
- 09:30 – 10:00: tips, takeaways and next steps
If you would like to attend, please register your interest below and we will be in touch to confirm your place.
Meet Your Panellists
Alysha Adams
People and Culture Leader
NED
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Alysha is a strategic People and Culture leader with experience across founder-led businesses, FTSE-listed fintech, and federated charities. She specialises in aligning people experience with organisational growth, designing cultures where performance and wellbeing thrive together.
An advocate for AI augmentation since 2022 and an Oxford AI Programme graduate, Alysha has driven transformation in culture, leadership development and workforce capability. Her track record includes co-creating organisational values, embedding strategy into performance, and leveraging AI to boost talent acquisition efficiency by 63%.
Beyond her role, Alysha is a trustee, founding NED, documentary producer, and entrepreneur.
Aseel Ibrahim
Manager | Commerce and industry
Frazer Jones
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Aseel started her career in luxury retail, building and managing high performing teams for some of the world’s most successful brands.
She then undertook her CIPD level 5 qualification and decided to move into HR recruitment. Her commercial background coupled with her passion for all things HR has proven to be highly successful. Aseel has built fantastic relationships across technology, fintech, media, creative industries and retail.
She looks after Frazer jones permanent hiring and executive search across HR, learning and development, talent acquisition and other roles across the people function.
Dan Begbie-Clench
Partner | Employment Law
Doyle Clayton
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Dan is a leading employment and partnership law specialist, recognised by Chambers UK, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500 UK for advising both employers and senior executives. He works with businesses across financial services, tech, insurance, retail, and healthcare on strategic employment issues, post-termination restrictions, and workforce reorganisations.
Dan also represents senior executives, partners, and employees on contract negotiations, exits, disputes, whistleblowing and discrimination matters. A key contributor to Doyle Clayton’s international network (ELLINT), he regularly writes for publications including The Times and leading HR journals.
Jenny Pollard
Senior Vice President | People and Real Estate | EMEA & APAC
Wasserman
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Jenny brings over 15 years of HR expertise, including more than a decade at Wasserman, where she leads the People Team across EMEA and APAC. In her role, Jenny partners with senior leadership to shape and deliver people strategies that enable business growth, foster innovation and support a diverse, high-performing workforce.
She is passionate about creating environments where creativity and entrepreneurial thinking thrive, while ensuring operational excellence and scalability in fast-paced, global organisations. Jenny’s experience spans talent development, organisational design, employee engagement and change management, with a strong focus on aligning people initiatives to business objectives.
Meet Your HOSTS
Emma O’Connor
Partner
Doyle Clayton
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Emma is a highly experienced employment lawyer, specialising in providing strategic and practical advice to businesses across the UK, EU, and globally. With a reputation for delivering commercially focused legal advice and training solutions, she works closely with HR teams, Boards, managers, and senior leadership teams to navigate complex employment issues effectively.
With over 20 years of experience in employment law, Emma has a proven track record in advising businesses across various sectors, including finance, technology, healthcare, leisure, hospitality and professional services, providing pragmatic, commercially relevant and legally tailored advice to the specific needs of each business.
Abigail Benham
Manager | Financial services
Frazer Jones
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Abigail leads our permanent financial services division at Frazer Jones, with a team beneath her operating across various levels. Her specialism is supporting mid-senior level HR professionals across asset management, private equity, quantitative trading, investment management, banking and fintech.
She’s supported several HR appointments scaling newly created people and culture teams for the highest performing boutique buy-side firms, alongside partnering with the largest, most established financial services and fintech organisations in the world on their hunt to find top-tier HR talent. She thrives working collaboratively in “people-first” organisations with the ability to be part of a real journey with an organisation.