Wednesday 16th September

8.15 – 9.00 – Registration and welcome coffee

9.00 – 9.15 – Welcome remarks from International Employment Lawyer 

9.15 – 10.30 – Plenary Session 1: Restructuring by algorithm: Legal risks in the AI era

With AI tools become better at assessing performance and automating increasingly complex tasks, European employers should beware the legal boundaries of automated decision-making in reduction-in-force exercises. Following the recent passage of the EU’s AI Act and existing provisions of the GDPR, this session will explore the growing legal risks associated with AI-assisted layoffs and restructuring exercises, examine what employers can and cannot lawfully automate, consider the level of human oversight needed to defend using this new technology, and discuss how the use of generative AI in employment law advice may jeopardize confidentiality and legal privilege protections.

10.30 – 11.00 – Coffee break 

11.00 – 12.00 – Breakout Session 1: Union power in 2026: What Employers Need to Know

The political and regulatory landscape around trade union rights is shifting rapidly. In the UK, the new Employment Rights Act strengthens trade union access, expand protections for collective activity, and make workplace organising easier across a range of sectors. This panel will examine how employers should prepare for a potentially more union-active environment in the UK, including the practical implications of expanded union access rights, recognition processes, information rights, and protections against anti-union conduct. Panellists will also explore how unions across Europe are evolving their organising strategies in response to economic pressure, digitalisation, AI, ESG expectations, and changing workforce models, providing advice on how to prepare for a more organised, coordinated, and strategically sophisticated labour movement.

11.00 – 12.00 – Breakout Session 2: The pay transparency patchwork: Managing risk across Europe

The EU Pay Transparency Directive was designed to bring greater consistency, accountability, and enforcement to equal pay across Europe. Yet implementation has been far from uniform. Many member states have missed the transposition deadline, while those that have acted are taking markedly different approaches. This panel will examine the emerging divergences in pay reporting obligations, salary transparency requirements in recruitment, employee rights to information, joint pay assessments, comparator standards, enforcement mechanisms, and the respective roles of works councils and labour inspectorates.

12:00 – 13.30 – Networking lunch 

13:30 – 14.30 – Breakout Session 3: Disability rewritten: How courts are expanding protections for invisible conditions

Disability discrimination law is undergoing a significant evolution, with courts and regulators increasingly interpreting “disability” broadly to include a wider range of physical, mental, cognitive, and long-term health conditions. This panel will explore how HR policies, medical assessments, return-to-work practices, and workplace flexibility frameworks are being tested by this evolving legal standard, as well as how employers can adapt their policies and decision-making to manage the risk of discriminating against “invisible conditions” while also supporting an increasingly diverse workforce.

13:30 – 14.30 – Breakout Session 4: Beyond the hotline: Whistleblowing culture across European workplaces

While the EU Whistleblowing Directive established a common baseline for reporting channels and protections, its implementation across member states has been uneven, meaning a fragmented landscape remains. This panel will explore current whistleblowing trends across Europe, including rising reporting volumes, shifting employee expectations, and increased regulatory focus on retaliation, investigation quality, and remediation outcomes. It will also examine how whistleblowing frameworks are operating in practice, beyond formal legal requirements, and how cultural differences 

14:30 – 15.00 – Coffee break

15.00 – 16.15 – Plenary Session 2: Work reimagined: How the platform directive is reshaping modern workforce models

The EU Platform Work Directive was framed as legislation targeting digital labour platforms and the gig economy. But its implications reach far beyond app-based workforces. For multinational employers, staffing intermediaries, logistics providers, franchise systems, and businesses with complex supply chains, the Directive signals a broader shift toward increased scrutiny of worker classification, algorithmic management, labour intermediation, and accountability across commercial ecosystems. This panel will explore how the directive may reshape workforce strategies for traditional companies as much as gig economy giants.

16.15 – 17.30 – Plenary Session 3: Avoiding the tribunal: The future of dispute resolution in Europe

From mediation and conciliation services to arbitration, ADR is becoming an increasingly central feature of employment dispute strategy to counter lengthy court delays and rising litigation costs. This panel will explore the latest trends shaping ADR across Europe, including jurisdictional differences in mediation culture, the growing role of labour inspectorates and pre-action conciliation bodies, its strategic use in complex claims and collective disputes, and the role of the modern lawyer in early settlement negotiations.

17.30 – 17.45 – Closing remarks from International Employment Lawyer

17:45 onwards – Close and networking drinks reception