In the final part of her conversation with Nic Elliott, Director and Head of Employment Law at Actons Solicitors, Anna moves into some of the most sensitive and fast-moving areas of employment law that managers are navigating right now.

Nic breaks down the current legal position on sexual harassment, including the duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent it, and the incoming third-party harassment provisions that will extend liability to the behaviour of customers, clients, and contractors. He explains why a risk assessment is the foundation of any credible approach, and shares how his own organisation went about identifying where the risks actually sit.

The conversation turns to menopause, where Nic draws on personal experience to bring the legal picture to life. He is clear on what managers should and should not do, and why the answer to the question of how a male manager raises menopause with a female colleague is simply: you do not. What you do instead is ask if they are okay, whether there is anything you can do to help, and create the conditions where someone feels safe enough to tell you what is going on.

Anna and Nic also cover the new Fair Work Agency, which came into force in April 2026 combining several existing government bodies, and what employers need to know about its powers around holiday pay, sick pay, and national minimum wage compliance.

The episode closes on the Employment Rights Act more broadly, and why Nic's advice to managers is straightforward: seek out training, ask for it if it is not being offered, and do not wait for the detail to be handed to you.

Find out more about Nic's work at actons.co.uk

Connect with Anna:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr

Instagram: instagram.com/practicalmanager

TikTok: tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager

The People Expert: https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk

Most managers have heard of mediation. Far fewer understand what it actually is or how to use it. In part two of her conversation with Pete Colby, founder of Pragmatism, Anna gets into the heart of it: what mediation really means, why it is fundamentally different from a grievance process, and how managers can use the same principles informally before conflict has a chance to escalate.Pete draws a clear distinction between mediation and grievance. A grievance looks backwards, trying to prove what happened and who was at fault. Mediation looks forward, helping people understand each other and agree on how things could be different. As Pete puts it, the question is never who said what two weeks ago. It is how do we want this to work going forward.Anna and Pete explore what it takes for a manager to stay genuinely neutral when they know both parties involved, and why that is one of the hardest skills to develop. Pete shares a remarkable story from his own mediation experience involving a doctor, a dress, and a disciplinary process that could have been avoided entirely if someone had simply asked the right question earlier. The lesson is the same one that runs through every episode: honest, curious conversations prevent most of the situations that end up becoming formal.They also get into the growing phenomenon of AI-generated grievances, some running to hundreds of pages, and why Pete's advice is not to panic about the document but to focus on the conversation underneath it.This is part two of a three-part conversation with Pete. Part three looks at how managers can spot escalating conflict earlier and what organisations can do to build a healthier culture around disagreement.Find out more about Pete's work at https://pragmatism-uk.co.ukConnect with AnnaGot a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you. Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr⁠

Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/practicalmanager⁠

TikTok: ⁠tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager⁠

The People Expert: ⁠https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk⁠

Most managers have heard of mediation. Far fewer understand what it actually is or how to use it. In part two of her conversation with Pete Colby, founder of Pragmatism, Anna gets into the heart of it: what mediation really means, why it is fundamentally different from a grievance process, and how managers can use the same principles informally before conflict has a chance to escalate.

Pete draws a clear distinction between mediation and grievance. A grievance looks backwards, trying to prove what happened and who was at fault. Mediation looks forward, helping people understand each other and agree on how things could be different. As Pete puts it, the question is never who said what two weeks ago. It is how do we want this to work going forward.

Anna and Pete explore what it takes for a manager to stay genuinely neutral when they know both parties involved, and why that is one of the hardest skills to develop. Pete shares a remarkable story from his own mediation experience involving a doctor, a dress, and a disciplinary process that could have been avoided entirely if someone had simply asked the right question earlier. The lesson is the same one that runs through every episode: honest, curious conversations prevent most of the situations that end up becoming formal.

They also get into the growing phenomenon of AI-generated grievances, some running to hundreds of pages, and why Pete's advice is not to panic about the document but to focus on the conversation underneath it.

This is part two of a three-part conversation with Pete. Part three looks at how managers can spot escalating conflict earlier and what organisations can do to build a healthier culture around disagreement.

Find out more about Pete's work at https://pragmatism-uk.co.uk

Connect with Anna

Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you.

Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/in/annathomas-hr⁠ Instagram: ⁠instagram.com/practicalmanager⁠ TikTok: ⁠tiktok.com/@practicalpeoplemanager⁠ The People Expert: ⁠https://www.thepeopleexpert.co.uk⁠