This month's episode of the Personnel Today HR Podcast, brought to you by Deel, explores what employers need to do when trade unions come knocking, ahead of new statutory access rights later this year. We also examine the rise of agentic AI, and what the newly established Fair Work Agency means for employers.

Every month, we focus on some of the most significant events of the previous weeks and delve into the implications for HR professionals.

Employment law trainer and commentator Darren Newman joins the PT team again to discuss trade union access rights and what HR professionals should be doing to prepare for new measures which are scheduled to come into force in October 2026. How will the new regulations affect organisations that already engage with trade unions? And what about employers that have not had to manage trade union relationships before?

We look at AI agents and "digital twins" and what they mean for the workplace. And we look at the Fair Work Agency and ask whether the new body will be any more powerful than the four enforcement bodies it replaces.

Presented by Rob Moss, Jo Faragher and Adam McCulloch
Produced and edited by Rob Moss
Music: Eternity Bro/Shutterstock

This month’s episode of the Personnel Today HR Podcast, brought to you by Deel, includes an exclusive interview with the head of HR at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). We also look at the employment law changes coming in April, and what the rise in diagnoses of neurodivergent conditions means for employers.

Every month, we focus on some of the most significant events of the previous weeks and delve into the implications for HR professionals and employers.

Jo Faragher talks to Mariella Giancola about the challenges of deploying staff to work at BAS research bases in Antarctica, including how they recruit and onboard not just scientists, but a whole range of occupations to spend the whole summer (our winter) “South”.

Employment law trainer and commentator Darren Newman joins the PT team again, this time for a whistlestop tour of new employment laws coming into force in April. These include: statutory sick pay from day one, paternity and parental leave, sexual harassment and whistleblowing, trade union recognition and the establishment of the Fair Work Agency.

And we discuss the rise of neurodivergent conditions in employment tribunal claims and the challenges for HR in making reasonable adjustments.

Presented by Rob Moss, Jo Faragher and Adam McCulloch
Produced and edited by Rob Moss
Music: Eternity Bro/Shutterstock

This month's episode of the Personnel Today HR Podcast, brought to you by Deel, focuses on fire and rehire, how AI could help with AI-generated grievances, and on Reform UK proposals to repeal the Equality Act.

Every month, we focus on some of the most significant events of the previous weeks and delve into the implications for HR professionals and employers.

The PT team are joined again by Darren Newman, the employment law trainer and commentator, to explore the "restricted variations" that would render any dismissal and re-engagement "automatically unfair", and where exceptions would apply.

We look at whether AI could be part of the answer for how HR handles a burgeoning number of AI-generated grievances, and whether it could do the heavy lifting in workplace investigations.

And we examine Suella Braverman's promise to repeal the Equality Act 2010 on "day one" of a Reform UK government. How would that work, when the law comprises more than 50 years of anti-discrimination measures?

Presented by Rob Moss, Jo Faragher and Adam McCulloch
Produced and edited by Rob Moss
Music: Eternity Bro/Shutterstock