BEERG Bytes: bite sized online discussions on current labour issues
Most of our BEERG Byte videocasts are also available as podcasts so search for “BEERG Bytes” via your favourite Podcast platform, or use these links: Google.podcasts / Apple.podcasts / Pocket Cast
BEERG Bytes #42 - Is Collective Bargaining Making A Comeback?
In this episode Tom Hayes and Rick Warters discuss ideas around unionisation and collective bargaining, specifically the proposed EU Directive on minimum wage protections which promotes collective bargaining.
The episode gives a flavour of the open and informed discussions at BEERG/HR Policy Global training programs, including the upcoming in-person event in Sitges, Barcelona in October, and the online global program in December.
Recorded on August 4th, 2022. This episode is also available as a Podcast
BEERG Bytes #41 - UK Legal Developments Update
In this episode Tom chats with Vince Toman and David Hopper of Lewis Silkin LLP about UK legal developments, including the aftermath of the P&O Ferry dispute; the decision in the Tesco “fire and rehire” case, and the government law change to allow companies to bring in agency workers to replace striking employees.
They also discuss the now complicated law about “final offers” in collective bargaining and when an employer can go directly to the workforce and wonder if a new Prime Minister might try to make it even more difficult for unions to strike.
Recorded on July 26th, 2022. This episode is also available as a Podcast
BEERG Bytes #40 - Supply Chain Due Diligence
In this episode Tom chats with Auret Van Heerden about how companies can meet the due diligence expectations of the supply chain laws in a way that is scalable and affordable.
As Auret explains, there are more “know and show” laws being introduced, some on specific topics like child or forced labour, and most cover the whole supply chain.
This can be challenging for a company with a large footprint and Auret has been developing means and methods for companies to honour their obligations across their supply chains.
Recorded on July 18th, 2022. This episode is also available as a Podcast
BEERG Bytes #36 - Remote working - not working for everyone?
In this first BEERG Byte of 2022, Tom chats with Philip Bickerstaffe, an experienced labour relations leader, with a successful career on the union and management side.
As he set out in a recent blog, Philip believes the current conversation on remote/hybrid working excludes a huge part of the workforce, those who cannot take advantage of its benefits.
Tom and Philip discuss what, if anything, we can offer to those who can’t share the benefits of remote working, what is the differentiator?
Recorded on January 13th, 2022. This episode is also available as a Podcast
BEERG Bytes #35 - IR in Northern Ireland and the NI Protocol
We know Northern Ireland from its troubled past and the current argument over the NI Protocol… but does Northern Ireland have a distinct IR culture? Is that different from the rest of the UK?
What might the Protocol mean for IR in NI? Would NI legislation be very different from that of the UK? What about the Equality Directives? What about Data Adequacy? Tom Hayes is joined by Ciara Fulton of Lewis Silkin LLP and Mark McAllister of the Northern Ireland the Labour Relations Agency, to discuss these issues.
Recorded Nov 16th 2021 This episode is also available as a Podcast.
BEERG Bytes #34 - The UK Supreme Court decision in the Kostal case
Tom is joined by Vince Toman of Lewis Silkin LLP to discuss the UK Supreme Court decision in the Kostal case, published earlier on the day this video was recorded, and explore if this may be a pyrrhic victory for the union?
Recorded Oct 27th 2021
BEERG Bytes #33 – Lea Rossi & Marco Sideri on Italy's “Green Pass” workplace system
Tom is joined by Lea Rossi and Marco Sideri, partners in the law firm, Toffoletto De Luca Tamajo e Soci, to discuss the “Green Pass” obligation on employees, introduced last Friday in Italy. The pass, accessed via an App, shows if the person has met one of three criteria. It is a Green/Red (yes/no) system. The criteria are:
- has the required Covid vaccination(s),
- recovered from Covid-19 within the past 6 months, or
- has a negative swab test taken in the past 48-72 hours.
The App does not indicate which criteria was matched, just that the person has matched one and is able to enter the workplace.
Recorded Oct 18th 2021 This is also available as Podcast
BEERG Bytes #32 – Pernille Rudlin on how Japanese companies are responding to Brexit
Tom is joined by Pernille Rudlin. Pernille helps Japanese companies to internationalise their operations and provides research on Japanese companies based in Europe. She is also the UK based, EMEA representative of Japan Intercultural Consulting.
Tom and Pernille discuss how Japanese companies have responded to Brexit, tracing the progress of UK/EU/Japanese trade relations from Margaret Thatcher’s promotion of Britain as a Japanese gateway to the EU in the early 1980’s, through to the present day
Recorded Oct 4th 2021 This is also available as Podcast
BEERG Bytes #31 - The health and psychological issues of 18+ months of remote working
Tom is joined by Stuart Worker of thepurposeful.co.uk. Stuart is a leadership development coach, specialising in human motivation and team dynamics.
Tom and Stuart talk about the health, safety and psychological issues that arose over the past 18 months of working from home. This is the first of two conversations with Stuart. The next one will focus on the problems we can expect to see arise from hybrid working.
Recorded Sept 30th 2021 This is also available as Podcast
BEERG Bytes #30 - German Election - with Dr Fabian Zuleeg, CEO, EPC
Here Tom discusses the recent German election with Dr Fabian Zuleeg, CEO of the European Policy Centre in Brussels. They consider the possible policy changes you might see from a traffic light coalition government comprising the Red (SPD), Yellow (FDP) and Green (The Greens) parties.
This episode was recorded on Sept 30th and was published just as a podcast: Anchor.fm/BEERG-Bytes-30
BEERG Bytes #29 - Brexit 9 months on…
Tom Hayes is joined by Vince Toman and Stephen O’Flaherty of Lewis Silkin LLP to discuss the impact of Brexit on labour relations issues across the UK, particularly Northern Ireland. The conversation looks at issues around: the Northern Ireland Protocol; the end of Freedom of Movement and the position of EWCs in the UK. It concludes with a look at what the British government may do on labour/employment legislation over the coming months and a chat about the proposals published by the opposition UK Labour Party.
Recorded Sept 28th 2021 This is also available as Podcast
BEERG Bytes #28: Auret Van Heerden on forced labour due diligence
Tom is joined by Auret van Heerden Equiception founder/CEO to discuss to discuss the pressures on companies to report what they are doing to prevent modern forms of slavery and forced labour. Auret has taken the 11 ILO indicators of forced labour and explored how companies can do remote human rights due diligence using basic HR data.
Recorded July 28th 2021
BEERG Bytes #26: Prof Tom Kochan on the state of US industrial relations
Tom Hayes chats with with Tom Kochan, professor of industrial relations, work and employment, at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In this edition, the two Toms discuss the current state of US industrial relations. They explore whether the system is broken, if it can be fixed and what the future holds for U.S. industrial relations.
Recorded May 26th 2021
Tom Hayes chats with Tom Kochan
BEERG Bytes #25: Axel Voss MEP calls for urgent reform of GDPR
Tom Hayes chats with Axel Voss MEP (EPP/CDU Germany) the EPP group spokeperson on data privacy. Mr Voss will soon be publishing a detailed paper setting out possible reform to GDPR to ensure it keeps pace with digital developments and to make it less cumbersome for citizens and businesses alike.
Recorded April 29th 2021
BEERG Byte #25 audio
BEERG Bytes #24: Anne Hill says there has never been a better time to get into HR
Anne Hill believes there has never been a better time for people to get into HR. Tom Hayes chats with Anne, whose career has spanned 2 continents, 3 industries and working with Fortune 500 companies. They discuss her experience as a senior CHRO and her thoughts on the future for HR.
Recorded April 27th 2021
BEERG Byte #24 audio
BEERG Bytes #21: Do German unions have a right to communicate with employees digitally?
Tom speaks with Labour Lawyer, Dr Burkard Göpfert, from the German law firm: Kliemt, about a recent court case which raises question over whether German unions have a right to communicate with employees digitally
Recorded on March 31st, 2021
BEERG Byte #21 Audio
BEERG Bytes #20: Three weeks since the TCA commenced, how is Brexit going for the UK?
Tom discusses digital hate and fake news with Imran Ahmed CEO of the London and Washington DC based, Center for Countering Digital Hate, one of the people behind the 2019 pamphlet “Don’t Feed the Trolls: How to Deal with Hate on Social Media
Recorded on March 18th, 2021
BEERG Byte #20 Audio
BEERG Bytes #19: How 2020 has changed our working lives and how we view our offices
Tom chats with Laura Bougourd and Niamh Crotty, real estate and employment lawyers with Lewis Silkin LLP about their very comprehensive recent article, entitled: Reimagining the office of the future: How 2020 has changed our working lives and how we view our offices. You can find out more on the Future of Work Hub website www.futureofworkhub.info
Recorded on Feb 12th, 2021
BEERG Byte #19 Audio
BEERG Bytes #18: Three weeks since the TCA commenced, how is Brexit going for the UK?
Tom discusses how Brexit is going so far with UK trade expert David Henig of EPICE. David is Director of the UK Trade Policy Project. They explore the issues that have arisen since the TCA deal kicked in: from seafood caught off the Scottish coast talking 2/3 times as long to reach EU markets; to just in time delivery chains; to the unlikelihood of securing an EU adequacy decision on UK data transfers.
Recorded on Jan 21th, 2021
BEERG Byte #18 Audio
BEERG Bytes #17: The implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland and the unity of the UK
Tom discusses Brexit and its implications for Northern Ireland and the UK with Baroness Margaret Ritchie, a non-affiliated (independent) member of the House of Lords. Margaret was the MP for South Down, she was also a Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive and leader of the SDLP.
Recorded on Nov 20th, 2020
BEERG Bytes #16: Spanish Govt Royal Decree on company equality plans
Tom Hayes is joined by Iñigo Sagardoy de Simón from Sagardoy Abogados and Oriol Abello from HP to discuss the Spanish government’s Royal Decree 901/2020 which requires companies with more than 50 employees to draw up and negotiate equality plans.
Recorded on Nov 6th, 2020
BEERG Bytes #15: Chris Herd discusses remote and hybrid working
Tom Hayes and Chris Herd founder and CEO of Firstbase, discuss the issues arising from moving to remote working and/or hybrid working.
Chris explains how Firstbase works and talks about practical and cultural issues he has found found helping companies move to remote working.
Recorded on Oct 14, 2020
BEERG Bytes #14: Annemarie Muntz discusses the future of work from social impact to social innovation
Tom Hayes and Annemarie Muntz, MD Global Public Affairs, Randstad and WEC President discuss the future of work with, and after, Covid-19.
Annemarie says the future of work is now. Today. Changes in the world of work over the the past few have already multiplied. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this evolution, not created it.
Recorded on Sept 17, 2020
BEERG Bytes #13 - Pt 2: Wilma Liebman discusses U.S. Labor Relations model and social media activism
This is Part 2 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Wilma Liebman, former Chair and long serving member of the U.S. national Labor Relation Board.
Wilma and Tom discuss issues with the U.S. Labour Relations model. The impact of social media activism and ad-hoc groups and her hopes for the changes a Biden administration might bring
Recorded on July 30, 2020
BEERG Bytes #12 - Pt 1: Wilma Liebman discusses labor relations implications of gig economy
This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Wilma Liebman, former Chair and long serving member of the U.S. national Labor Relation Board.
Wilma and Tom discuss the current U.S. political environment and the labor relations implications, and policy responses to date, of the development of the gig economy in the U.S. and E.U.
Recorded on July 30, 2020
BEERG Bytes #11 - Pt 2: Oliver Patel on data transfers, Brexit and will there be UK adequacy?
This is Part 2 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Oliver Patel, a Research Associate and Manager at the University College London European Institute working on EU data protection.
In this episode Oliver and Tom discuss discuss how difficult the Schrems II ruling makes it for the EU Commission to give the UK an adequacy decision on data transfers post Brexit
Recorded on July 20, 2020
BEERG Bytes #10 - Pt 1: Oliver Patel on EU/US Data transfer issues after Schrems II
This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Oliver Patel, a Research Associate and Manager at the University College London European Institute, conducting research on EU data protection.
In this episode Oliver and Tom discuss the recent CJEU Schrems II ruling and explore what it means for businesses that rely on the export of data to the US
Recorded on July 20, 2020
Credits: BEERG Theme Music by Philip Ryckman aka Obscure Wave Music Facebook Production by: Derek Mooney Comms
BEERG Bytes #9 - Pt 2: EWC subsidiary requirements under Irish law
BEERG Bytes #9 is Part 2 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Kevin Duffy. Kevin formerly served as Irish Congress of Trade Unions deputy Gen Sec and went on to become Chairman of the Irish Labour Court.
In this episode Kevin and Tom discuss EWC Subsidiary Requirements under Irish law and what happens where there is a dispute between and EWC and management?
Recorded on 17 July, 2020
BEERG Bytes #8 - Pt 1 Ex Irish Labour Court Chair, Kevin Duffy discusses voluntarism model etc
BEERG Bytes #8 is Part 1 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Kevin Duffy. Kevin was deputy Gen Sec of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and became Irish Labour Court Chairman.
Kevin and Tom discuss the Irish voluntarist approach to labour relations and ‘social partnership. Also, could Ireland might move to a legal system of union recognition?
Recorded on 17 July, 2020
BEERG Bytes #7 - HR Policy hosted a one-hour discussion on Brexit
BEERG Bytes #7 is a Brexit discussion on hosted by HR Policy and moderated by Henry Eickelberg. It features: Tom Hayes, Exec Dir of BEERG and Vince Toman, from Lewis Silkin LLP, looking at Brexit from 3 perspectives, based on 3 BEERG papers from June 2020
- European Works Councils
- EU/UK data transfers
- EU/UK freedom of movement
Recorded on July 9th 2020
BEERG Bytes #6 - Pt 2 of our two-part conversation with Rick Warters
BEERG Bytes #6 is Part 2 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Rick Warters.
Rick retired as VP Employee & Labor Relations at UTC in 2019 and reflects on life in US Labor Relations and talks about the lessons learned and the skills required by today’s LR/IR leaders. This talk was planned as our June 2020 BEERG meeting opening session.
BEERG Bytes #5 - Pt 1 of a two-part conversation with Rick Warters
BEERG Bytes #5 is Part 1 of a two-part discussion between Tom Hayes and Rick Warters.
Rick retired as VP Employee & Labor Relations at UTC last year, in this BEERG Bytes he reflects on life in US Labor Relations.
Recorded on Jun 2nd 2020
BEERG Bytes #4 - a conversation with global fair labour advocate Auret van Heerden
Here Tom Hayes discusses how Covid-19 has exposed fragilities in global supply chains and the impact for labour markets with Auret Van Heerden. Auret founded the Swiss consulting company Equiception.
Auret was President and CEO of the Fair Labor Association in Washington DC, 2001-2013. From 1996 to 2001 he was responsible for the Special Action Programme on Social and Labour Issues in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) at the ILO in Geneva.
Recorded on May 19 2020
BEERG Bytes Episode #3 - A Perfect Storm? Brexit, Covid-19 and data transfers?
This episode looks at the “perfect storm” nexus of 3 already complex issues: Brexit, Covid-19 and Data Transfers. Joining Tom Hayes are:
Rhona Murphy, a consultant with Irish law firm ByrneWallace and
Dr Anna Jerzewska, an independent customs and trade consultant and associate felow of the UKTPO.
Recorded on May 13th 2020
BEERG Bytes Episode #2 - Safely back to Work? Covid-19
This episode discusses how can companies best resume work safely. With Tom Hayes are: Sonja van Lieshout, public affairs manager at Randstad representing the Safely Back to Work Alliance a joint initiative from Randstad, The Adecco Group and ManpowerGroup on finding a safe and healthy way of returning to work and Vince Toman from Lewis Silkin LLP, a good friend of BEERG on EWC issues
Recorded on May 6th, 2020
BEERG Bytes Episode #1 - Using teleconferencing platforms in EWCs?
In this first episode of BEERG Bytes Tom Hayes discusses the use of teleconferencing platforms in EWCs with Lisa Salas, Andre Declerck and Ulrike Fuehrer
Recorded on April 27th, 2020
Credits: BEERG Theme Music by Philip Ryckman aka Obscure Wave Music Facebook Production by: Derek Mooney Comms