Covid-19 employer webinar: what to do this week - 14th May 2020

Elizabeth is director of research and a founding co-director at Business Forums International. She is responsible for all programme content and writing, and researches current areas of interest for senior HR professionals in large organisations. BFI is the UK’s leading HR risk specialist conference and training provider, delivering key and timely information to over 3,000 delegates a year both through public and in-house training courses.

Before founding BFI in 1996, Elizabeth specialised in researching corporate financial programmes in Asia and the Middle East, based in Dubai. She also worked in advertising and publishing in the Middle East and London.

Elizabeth was educated in the West Indies, Saudi Arabia and Belgium before reading Modern Languages at Durham University.

In 30 years as a solicitor specialising in employment law I have learned to listen, ask questions, not talk like a lawyer and find practical solutions to problems. My job is to shoulder the worry of dealing with difficult employment situations, which in turn allows my clients to get on with the day job. Whether it be small companies, FTSE 100 PLCs, charities, Formula 1 racing teams or advising senior executives, my role is to do the very best for them.

An experienced employment lawyer and act for employers and senior employees to ensure their rights are protected. To get the best outcomes for both, I negotiate and advance litigation that protects both their financial and reputational positions. Acting for both sides means I am adept at identifying what weaknesses the other side have and knowing how best to exploit these areas.

A particular interest is in discrimination matters, advising senior executives and directors as well as cases involving the misuse or theft of confidential employment information.

I am experienced in representing a wide range of clients in high-value matters, especially in the financial services industry. Outside of that industry I have represented clients ranging from private individuals to airlines, professional service firms, a world-famous non-governmental organisation, train operating companies and charities. I have acted in cases ranging from the Employment Tribunal to the High Court.

Other specialisms include advising SMEs on staff policy documents, drafting contracts and handbooks as well as in contentious and sensitive matters often involving disciplinary processes and the exiting of senior members of staff. I enjoy providing training sessions to companies to keep them up to date on employment law developments and keep them out of the employment tribunal.

I regularly provide informed comment on employment law in the local and national press, most recently in The Times, the Financial Times, People Management and City A.M.. I am a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and have been published in the ELA Briefing.

https://www.girlings.com/

Penny is the consultant trainer for the Workplace programme at the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. She has more than 25 years’ experience as a counsellor and trainer, starting with Relate in 1992. She became a sessional counsellor at the University of Huddersfield in 1995 and then moved to a full-time counselling post at the University of Leeds in 2003, where she became Senior Counsellor in 2006.

Between 1995 and 2003, Penny also worked in private practice and as a counsellor and consultant in two local Industries, offering one-to-one support, staff training and policy development. Her Master’s research ‘Is counselling good for business?’ examined the impact of counselling on productivity at Zeneca Huddersfield works.

While at the University of Leeds, Penny developed and managed an extensive group work and psychoeducational training programme for students, as well as delivering staff training on mental health awareness. She worked at the University of Bradford from 2014 – 18, joining as Head of Counselling and then taking on disability as an additional area of responsibility in 2016.

Penny has also worked in NHS settings as a counsellor in GP surgeries and as a staff counsellor, as well as being a practitioner and clinical lead with Take Time, a counselling and psychotherapy service for junior doctors in Yorkshire and Humber NHS trusts.