Issue 5 - Sept/Oct2007 - South London Business

Facing the future with Acas
The roles of the Acas Senior Adviser
are many and varied. Be they
conciliating on large scale disputes between
management and Trade Unions, advising
on workplace policies and procedures
or delivering training on joint working
practices they are rarely in the limelight.
As a public body Acas is tasked with
improving organisations and working
life through better employment relations
and to maintain our independence and
impartiality, vital to this role, it is key that
these individuals work quietly behind the
scenes. Recently Acas London appointed
three new senior advisers and we wanted
to take this opportunity to introduce them
to you and to say a little bit about the work
that they do.
The new Senior Advisers are Kevin Breach
and Henicka Uddin who will be covering
Boroughs in South London and Simon
Long who will be covering boroughs in
North London. Kevin took up post in
April and now has main responsibility for
the boroughs of Kingston and Merton in
the south-west of London and Havering,
Newham, Barking and Dagenham and
Redbridge boroughs in the north-east.
Talking about the new challenges for
him, Kevin said: “I get a great deal of
satisfaction from working with employers
and their employees to tackle work-place
challenges and manage change. Helping
them identify potential problem areas in the
workplace and the solutions to them, whether
by giving advice, facilitating working groups
or knowledge and skills training, reduces the
potential for conflict. Resolving actual disputes
between employers and trade unions is an
increasingly important part of my job.
I look forward to working with new
organisations and developing my knowledge
of the employers in my new “patch” and
maintaining contact with those companies I
have worked with so well in the past”.
Kevin covers Barking, Dagenham and
Redbridge, Havering, Kingston, Merton
Henicka Uddin and Simon Long who cover
boroughs in both North and South London.
Kevin is a CIPD qualified trainer whose
main role for the past 4 years has been
designing and delivering a wide range of
work-place training for organisations across
the whole of the Greater London area.
and Newham and can be contacted on
0207 396 5135 or by emailing him on
kbreach@acas.org.uk
Henicka continues: “I look forward to
working with employers and helping them to
meet the challenges London companies are
facing in the workplace. By providing practical
training and advice, I hope to help London
businesses come up with better ways of
working. In today’s climate, employers need
to be fully-equipped to deal with a whole host
of issues which underpin the effectiveness
of any organisation. One key aspect of
my role will be to work with employers
on priority areas ranging from managing
stress, to how to deal with bullying and
harassment effectively and have those difficult
conversations.
Henicka covers postcodes EC1 and EC2 and
the boroughs of Lambeth,Croydon, Sutton
and Merton. Call 020 7396 6642 if you would
like to speak to me or you can email me at
huddin@acas.org.uk.”
Simon has worked in Acas for just over 10
years,covering a wide range of roles including
conciliating on individual employment tribunal
claims, mediating in workplace disputes and
more recently advising employers on equality
and diversity.He will be covering the boroughs
of Enfield, Waltham Forest, Islington, Hackney
and Haringey.
Speaking of his new role as an Acas senior
adviser, Simon said: “As well as getting
involved in resolving collective disputes, I am
looking forward to working with employers
and employees to help improve their working
relationships before problems actually arise.
Employment legislation is ever-changing and
in April the Information and Consultation of
Kevin Breach, New Acas Senior Adviser
for the boroughs of Barking, Dagenham
and Redbridge, Havering, Kingston,
Merton and Newham
Employees Regulations extended to cover
organisations with 100 staff or more.
Already I am visiting employers to explain
their obligations and the implications of this
important change, as well as advising on the
vast range of unique products and services
that Acas can offer to employers in London.”
For further information, you can contact
Simon by calling 020 7396 5114 or emailing
slong@acas.org.uk.
We hope this has given you a brief
insight into the work that an Acas senior
adviser undertakes. Their experience in
employment relations and in particular
training employers in best practice ideally
places them to help your company sort
out it’s people issues. Do give us a call to
find out how we can help you.
If you would like to know more about
Acas and employment relations please
visit www.acas.org.uk where you can
also find an up to date list of our training
events or if you have an employment law
question why not contact our telephone
helpline on 08457 474747 for impartial,
confidential advice.