THE East of England director of ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) will be the opening speaker at a major regional seminar on employment issues, being held in Essex next month.

David Price will be joined on the panel of speakers by representatives for a number of local law firms, including Ashton Graham, Birketts, Nigel French, Gotelee and Quantrills, addressing current employment law issues facing human resource professionals and business owners.

The day-long event, at the Marks Tey Best Western Hotel, near Colchester, on Thursday, April 7, is being stages by the Colchester and Ipswich arm of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development CIPD).

CIPD committee member Hannah Breen, of Your Potential, said that the instititute recognised that change was happening fast within employment law and that many businesses, already coping with a tough economic climate, were struggling with the workload.

“This seminar is all about helping business owners and HR professionals to get up to speed in one action-filled day, and at a reasonable cost. The watchword for the future appears to be ‘simplification’ and that has to be welcomed. But in the meantime, there is a lot to get to grips with and become familiar with,” she said.

“At this event we will be discussing planned changes to legislation, such as the abolition of the default retirement age, changes to agency worker regulations, the corporate bribery laws, and TUPE (the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations), which will become a big issue with the divestment of local authority services.

“But perhaps the biggest change is going to be the increased use of mediation in the workplace,” she added. “As ACAS is at the heart of proposed changes to resolving workplace disputes, David Prince is the ideal candidate to open our event.”

Mr Prince said: “The world of employment law is constantly changing. ACAS welcomes the opportunity to be opening speaker, to meet HR practitioners and discuss the implications of the forthcoming changes and the challenges they pose.”

The seminar will have a very practical hands-on approach, so that delegates should go away with strategies to help them cope with the changes as well as receiving a general case law update.

Places at the seminar, which runs from 9am to 4pm, cost �80 plus VAT, including all freshments.

Details are available from: hannah.breen@your-potential.co.uk and bookings can be made at www.colchesterandipswichemploymentlawseminar@eventbrite.com