Laurie Anstis, director with Boyes Turner LLP and updating author at XpertHR, focusses on how employers can avoid unfair dismissals when going through a redundancy exercise. Laurie covers when to seek volunteers, how to go about the consultation process, identifying and applying selection criteria, scoring those at risk of redundancy, avoiding redundancy problems and dealing with appeals against dismissal. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Laurie Anstis.

Employers have awarded only modest pay rises over recent years, but what do they have in store for 2019? XpertHR managing editor for pay and HR practice Sheila Attwood joins us to discuss what organisations are planning on the pay front in 2019, including the likely level of pay awards and the factors that are putting pressure on organisations to make higher or lower increases. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Sheila Attwood. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

XpertHR reward consultant Penne Cecil-Hutton joins us to share her insight into the steps employers are taking to address or improve the gender pay gap within their organisations, and the most common queries that employers have with preparing or interpreting gender pay gap figures.

We also round up what employers need to do to prepare for the next date of publication of gender pay gap reports in 2019.

In the recent decision of Talon Engineering Ltd v Smith, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld an earlier tribunal finding that an employer's refusal to postpone a disciplinary hearing because of the unavailability of the employee's companion led to the employee being unfairly dismissed. Consultant editor, Darren Newman, explains the background to the case and its legal implications. We go on to discuss what employers can take from this decision and how they should be handling postponement requests as a result. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Darren Newman.

Senior HR practice editor Noelle Murphy discusses the trends in key HR metrics gathered by XpertHR for over a decade. We cover movements in sickness absence rates, labour turnover - including rates among employees with less than 12 months' service - and changes in the ratio of HR practitioners to employees, and consider what these changes mean for HR and the wider business.

Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Noelle Murphy. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant

Embedding an effective mental health first-aid structure in your organisation is a key step to ensuring the mental wellbeing of your workforce. Mental health first-aid instructor and management trainer, Peter Larkum, takes you through what you need to know about mental health first aid at work.

Louise Haycock, a senior manager at Fragomen and updating author at XpertHR, outlines where all things Brexit stand as of now for employers, what the end of free movement will mean for current and future employees from the European Economic Area and the implications of a "no deal" Brexit. Louise also covers what steps HR can take to reassure any employees who may be directly affected by the end of free movement between the UK and the EU and key dates around the process. Presenter Noelle Murphy is joined by Louise Haycock. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.

The right to know who holds data about you and how it is being processed has long been a fundamental part of data protection law. The GDPR has brought in a renewed focus on transparency, and employers need to be prepared to respond quickly, should an employee or job applicant make a data subject access request. We discuss the main changes in the procedure for responding to a subject access request under the GDPR regime and the practicalities of providing access to what could potentially be a large amount of data. We highight the resources on XpertHR that can help employers comply with their obligations.

The headlines are being dominated by "gig economy" employment status cases, but there are plenty of other important employment law cases coming up. We discuss the potential implications for employers of forthcoming rulings on whistleblowing, data protection, restrictive covenants, covert CCTV and violence at work-related social events.

In the recent decision in Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police and another, the Employment Appeal Tribunal opened up the question of whether or not an employer's policy of giving a period of full pay to mothers on maternity leave, but paying only statutory shared parental pay to partners, is indirectly discriminatory.

Douglas Leach, who represents Mr Hextall in the case and is a barrister at Guildhall chambers, outlines the case and explains the potential implications of the decision for employers.

Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Douglas Leach. Edited and produced by Chris Bryant.