From smart drugs to ketamine, substance use is no longer just a concern for safety-critical industries. In this episode of our Employment Essentials podcast, Partners Jonathan Chamberlain and Anna Fletcher explore the growing presence of drugs in white-collar workplaces and share practical advice for employers.

Drawing on recent research, including a 2025 Bupa survey revealing that over one-third of employees have engaged in or witnessed substance abuse or addictive behaviours during working hours, Jonathan and Anna unpack the legal, cultural, and operational implications of this trend.

The episode covers:

·       The surprising prevalence of drug use in professional settings

·       The blurred lines between recreational use and workplace impairment

·       Legal risks of enforcing zero-tolerance policies

·       The role of workplace culture and stress in fuelling addiction

·       Disability protections under the Equality Act and how they apply to addiction

Whether you're considering implementing a drug policy or supporting employees through addiction, this episode offers practical guidance for employers navigating this complex issue.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/46P68o1 

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

How does terminating employment contracts vary between different jurisdictions?

Our global employment lawyers discuss the key issues and differences in termination in China, Germany and the UK in the next episode of our 'Employment law in China' podcast series.

Lawyers Le Rong (China), Annette Knoth (Germany) and Jonathan Chamberlain (UK) explore terminating contracts in detail including the different types of employment contracts, severance payments, probationary periods and more.

Listen to the episode now.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3YtZBJk 

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

Who owns IP rights in an employee relationship? And how do these rights differ between employment law in China, Germany and North America?

Andrew Bratt, Head of the National Labour Employment Law Practice in Gowling WLG Canada, hosts the next episode of our 'Employment law in China' series, and is joined by guests Annette Knoth, Head of Labour and Employment in our Frankfurt office, and Elliot Papageorgiou, Head of IP Strategy and Enforcement in China.

They discuss the complex landscape of IP rights in employment, delving into key issues that may affect your business, including:

• Employees' rights to remuneration for an invention created
• How to avoid disputes over remuneration policies
• How to affectively compensate employees for their inventions, whether it be a patent or trade secret.
• How companies can protect their trade secrets

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3AsW3Pr 

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r 

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41 

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq 

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

What does employment law in China really look like and what do you need to know before starting an employment relationship in China?

We explore these key points in our new podcast series 'Employment law in China'.  In this episode, Jonathan Chamberlain is joined by Annette Knoth who heads our German Labour and Employment practice in Frankfurt, and Vivian Desmonts, Co-Managing Partner of our Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing offices.

They discuss the particularities of Chinese employment law and employing people in China, exploring key issues including:

• Oversees companies with operations in China
• Taxation considerations when sending employees to China
• Employing consultants and freelancers
• Employee rights

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3X2hW0F

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r 

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41 

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq 

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

Labour's New Deal for Working People has brought a whole host of legislative changes to employment law, some of the most radical in decades, to tackle exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.

For businesses and employers, this means a myriad of changes and policies to come to terms with, and fairly quickly, with the Employment Rights Bill expected to be introduced within 100 days of the new Parliament.

Our Head of UK Employment, Labour and Equalities team Jonathan Chamberlain, sits down with Partner Anna Fletcher to discuss the two new bills: the Employment Rights Bill and the Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and what the new governmental policies and legislations mean for businesses, employers, and employees.

We also discuss the recent employment law changes in more detail in this article: https://gowlg.co/3WutY1z

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3LiEmoQ 

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r 

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41 

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq 

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

Employment partner Jonathan Chamberlain is joined by Bernardine Adkins, head of our EU, Trade and Competition team, to discuss the CMA's new guidance to support employers in compliance with competition law and reduce the potential for anti-competitive practices in labour markets.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3LiEmoQ 

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r 

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41 

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq 

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

After employment contracts, settlement agreements are one of the most common contracts that employers deal with but are you meeting the legal requirements? Are you protecting the business properly with due consideration? Spoiler alert: Consideration is one of the issues not to miss! Join us in this session for an update on the most common pitfalls when preparing settlement agreements.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: gowlg.co/3jUrXfG

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

Monitoring staff at work is a legal minefield. Navigating it in compliance with data protection principles has been made all the more difficult with ICO guidance being buried in the depths of an out-of-date employment practices code. Luckily, the ICO has been busy updating many of its online resources; one such release is the "Employment practices: monitoring at work draft guidance" intended to help employers understand their data protection obligations. But what exactly are those obligations? Has anything changed since the last guidance was issued? Tune into this session to find out.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: gowlg.co/3IaSWfb

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been touted as the Next Big Thing in HR. Indeed, it's already here. Or is it, really? And what does it mean for employment law and the employment relationship in any event? When you look beyond the hype, it is clear there are still profound questions that need answering and pitfalls to avoid. After all, to err is human: but to really foul up requires a computer…

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3HTIyt5

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Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.

You can find this episode and the accompanying transcript on our website: https://gowlg.co/3Fu3Fkt 

...

Gowling WLG is an international full-service law firm working across a range of industry sectors including real estate, government, financial services, life sciences and technology. We operate across the world with offices in the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

We regularly talk about a broad range of topics that may be of interest to you. Subscribe to receive our latest articles, podcasts and webinars straight to your inbox: https://gowlg.co/35efH2r 

For the final instalment of this TUPE Tuesday podcast series, Siobhan Bishop, PSL principal associate in our Employment, Labour & Equalities team, explores the Retained EU law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022-2023 and what it might mean for TUPE.

We'll also be looking ahead to potential developments and changes on the horizon to prepare you for the new year.

Alternatively, you can view our full selection of insights and resources here: https://gowlg.co/3IwEr41 

Want to get to know us? Follow us on:

LinkedIn: https://gowlg.co/3hqmatB  Twitter: https://gowlg.co/35Do0nY  Facebook: https://gowlg.co/3th2w8N  Instagram: https://gowlg.co/3tEf2iq 

This podcast may contain information of general interest about current legal issues, but does not give legal advice.