Welcome, Jodie.

Thank you. Thanks so much for having me, Henry, and amazing to hear just what we've heard from Laura there. It's amazing to hear all the work that she's doing. What a powerhouse. Right? Yeah. She's genuinely amazing. Like, the first time I met her, it's like what you're doing is extraordinary.

And I'm obviously unfortunately privileged to know some of the stuff she's working on and it's potentially ground changing stuff. And much of it in terms of providing information for change and and putting in the infrastructure of change, I think would be game changing. I'm so I'm so excited. Right. I need to hand over to you. Thank The very first year, thought it was a little bit of easing. The the ADHD Conference didn't quite run on time. And then I hit people's hard deadlines and it was not funny at all. So over to you.

Your slides will come out shortly. Perfect. Thank you. Well, whilst the slides are coming up, I'm just gonna make a do a little introduction. So to give you context, I'm gonna be talking about psychosocial hazards, and you're probably thinking, what the hell is Sean about? Well, I'm gonna give you a bit of a story about my background first and how I got to this point. So I'm a solicitor. I, launched Thrive eight years ago almost. The year before that, I had a mental breakdown, and I left my job and quite frankly didn't know what to do, but only really knew how to be a solicitor. So I decided to change the environment and change the way that we worked and worked self employed part time for a number of different firms. And.

Quite quickly, I realized that actually I was a good solicitor, but my mental health was exacerbated by the poor working conditions. And I was also at that point undiagnosed ADHD and dyslexic. So imagine having, a d ADHD, dyslexia, PTSD, and anxiety, not knowing about the neurodivergence and being in a real environment that's really not conducive to positive mental health. It's fair to say it was catastrophic, and I was quite fortunate that I still had my profession in the sense of that gave me a lot of fulfillment when I got the right environment. So I decided to set up my own law firm, which is obviously what you do after you've had a mental breakdown. But, actually, what I wanted to do was create a firm where neurodivergent.

Mental health, and ED and I was at the core of everything that we do. So as an employment law specialist, I'm an expert in the law, but I also have my own business and the lived experience. I wanted to blend all of that in one place, but, obviously, setting up a law firm wasn't enough. So I also started to petition the government to change the law because I felt as though, yes, I could create my workplace, and I could advise other organizations. But, actually, what I felt was that there was a huge gap in the law. So today, I'm just gonna briefly talk to you about what we're planning. And for the past seven years, I've been campaigning.

And literally two weeks ago, we've reissued our petition because, as you know, there's been a lot of change in governments with previous MPs we were working with have now gone. So effectively, what we're now looking for, which actually aligns with the labor manifesto, is parity when it when it comes to mental and physical health in the workplace. And what I mean by that is when we think about physical health and safety now I'm not a health and safety lawyer, by the way, but this is this is the area that I think needs to change, and I'm gonna explain why in a second. But, essentially, when we think about.

How we look after our physical health at work, there's lots of, you know, desk assessments, fire risk assessments, cost hazard risk assessments, all these secondary pieces of legislation that support how we look after our physical health. But there's nothing for mental health. And when I did this review for parliament a few, I think it was last summer, and I I presented to a roundtable about what the legal gaps were, I myself was actually quite shocked because we've been campaigning for the change. But because this wasn't my area of law, I hadn't fully appreciated how lacking the legislation was in terms of support. And the legislation was brought in in 1974. So if we go back to 1974, what was the workplace like?

Well, we didn't have the laptops working from home, the emails on our phones. It was very much a physical workplace. And so the legislations also doesn't fit the workplaces that we now all know really well. So I'm on a mission to change the law, and I want to just talk to you about the business case for that today and how you can get involved. So next slide, please, Henry. If anyone does want to get involved as well, we've created a landing page. The petition is is going live. However, I didn't realize it takes ages to be, approved by the parliamentary committee. What So we've done is created a landing page with information on this that you can write to your MP.

And start talking about this online. You can also sign up to a newsletter. So once the, petition link is live, I can send that to you. It's kind of indefinitely not live at the moment because I've submitted it on the parliament website, but they've said it's being reviewed. So I I thought it might have been, released by the time we came today because it's been several weeks. But if you want to get involved, please do contact me or scan the QR code, and just let me know if there's any way that you want to to support. Next slide, please, Henry. So when we think about why is change needed, we've got all these statistics on the slides, which I think most of us are aware of. But but the other thing I wanted to to raise around.

The need is actually the link to neurodivergent. So we know that neurodivergent individuals struggle more with their mental health than neurotypical people. And particularly people with ADHD and autism are are much higher propensity to suicidal ideation and mental health. So we know that this law change will have a ripple effect for those with disabilities and those with neurodivergence. And we know that at the moment, it's one of the biggest issues in the workplace. So I helped to coauthor the guidance on neurodiversity for, ACAS in The UK. And they also helped them with their reasonable adjustments, guidance for mental health the year before. And what we've realized through the research that we've done with ACAS is that actually.

Employers have three key things that they're really worried about at the moment, equally split pretty much. The first is, the employment rights bill and all the changes, like what will that mean to them. The second was how we deal with conflict, and the third was mental health. And they all had around an equal percentage, and then there was a couple of smaller smaller things that came up. But mental health is a is such a huge part of an organization when it comes to thinking about how we manage our people, how we how we prevent mental ill health, and also how we support those people who are struggling with reasonable adjustments.

So the the business case is strong, and, you know, we we're seeing, suicide going up and up and up, and we've seen the suicide prevention white paper come out, which this, will all align with. But actually, what we need to do is focus much more much earlier than at the point where someone is suicidal. What I'm trying to look at is where we have when we think about mental health, everybody has mental health. And so how can we support everybody, not just those with a disability or not just those who, meet the definition within the Equality Act for reasonable adjustments? So it's a much wider piece of, legislation on the basis that we want to support everybody and create workplaces that are psychologically safe. Next slide, please.

So we know that, well, there's there's a there's a numb there's a number of different reasons for the case of parity, but one of the biggest reasons for me is actually that we see so many people go off. And, obviously, I left my job because the workplace, it was caused by the, the the culture that I was working in. And quite frankly, I nearly left, my profession, and I nearly took my own life. And that was all because of how the workplace, managed me and the and the and the the environment that I was in. So if we can create workplaces not, that that are that are psychologically safe and.

We have this this awareness at a much more preventative stage rather than a reactive stage of how we support people with their mental health and how we create those inclusive environments that are psychologically safe. We'll also see people.

Obviously, not going off a long term sick, not leaving their jobs, but also seeing an increase in the return on investment in those in on those individuals. So for those people who don't care about mental health, because I'm I'm not being funny, but there are employers out there that unfortunately fall in that category, It's a business case. You know, there is a financial return on investment to investing in your people's mental health. But for those employers who are the nice ones who actually care about their, about their staff, they'll actually they'll actually really support that individual in their personal life and beyond if they've got full a fulfilled psychologically safe place to work. So we know that there'll be a huge positive correlation.

Both economically, systemically, and within the workplace as well as in people's personal lives. So it's a bit of a no brainer. Right? But for some reason, it's still not happened. So this is why we're really pushing for the change, hopefully, within the next few years. Next slide, please. So I mentioned about the legal gap being, related to the Health and Safety Act. So that's the HSWA there. Now what we have, what we have within that within the act is it mentions specifically that you have to, look after people's well-being, but it doesn't say anything about mental health. And then there's no secondary legislation.

Telling us how to do that. So all we've got is some guidance from HSE around management standards, and we've got a bit of a rubbish risk assessment. And the reality is it it doesn't mandate employers to do anything. Therefore, it doesn't give the same level of importance to physical health. So what we have here is almost like a two tiered approach. It's like we have to look after mental health, but it's if you want to do the mental health bit, then you can if you want to. That's what we want to change. We want to make it as important. But also what's really important for me is creating proper guidance that helps people to understand exactly how they do that. So as an organization.

Most people actually do care about mental health, but they don't really know where to start. They maybe don't have the resources to pay a consultant to come in. They can't pay for legal advice. So what can we do to create some really, really helpful guidance and frameworks that organizations can use for free as part of this legal change? So for me, I don't wanna just change the law and make it more complicated for people. I want to change the law by creating a really strong framework and guidance for employers to know exactly what data they need to be looking at at what stage, and then understanding what the outcomes are of those risk assessments. So that's what I'm looking, to do is to to bring in some secondary legislation that will help.

With that, with some guidance as well. And we know that I mean, I'm a I'm an employment solicitor. I specialize in the Equality Act. So the Equality Act does provide a level of support, but only for people who meet the definition of disability and only in respect of what's reasonable in terms of reasonable adjustments. So what I'm looking at is beyond adjusting the role, it's actually looking at what are the other psychosocial hazards within the workplace that we can, that we can monitor and that we can discuss with the individual. So when I when I talk about that, what I mean is, you know, do how is if conflict arises, how is that dealt with? Does the person know what their job actually is? Is it clearly defined?

If there's discrimination that happens, how is that done? So looking at the whole landscape of that employment relationship rather than just that person's role, which is what the reasonable adjustments look at. So I do feel that there's a huge legal gap, and, I I actually don't think it would fit within employment law. It's likely to fit more in the health and safety space, but then potentially link into employment law so that we're linking health and safety, HR, and EDNI altogether, and it's not dealt within silos. Next slide, please.

So, yeah, I think I've already mentioned the I'll always jump ahead on this because I'm so passionate about, this this topic. But, essentially, this in summary, this is the the the proposed legal reform. So amending the, the act, or creating secondary legislation that sits underneath it to include mental health provisions. Then thinking about how we enforce that, so whether that will be, HSE investigating, whether it might be insurers or even tribunals that could enforce, through through the employment tribunal perhaps. We don't know yet. We're not we're at the very early stages. But if anyone wants to read more in terms of the research.

And the reasons why we've we've thought about these different, mechanisms for change, there is a report on the QR code that you can download with all of the research and lots more detail into how we got to this space, and why we think this, particular route is is the best option. Next slide, please. So, I know that there's some people on from Australia. So, this is actually following the the the changes that have already happened in Australia. So these countries that you can see on the slides have already moved to a similar model. We are aligning it with the international standard for psychosocial hazards as well. So I know that Australia already moved there. I think it was, 2024.

Canada have recently created something that's similar, and then we know that Brazil are also moving towards that. So we're seeing a global shift towards this more preventative approach. We can see from the Australian model that it is working, and the research does show that it has a tangible benefit to mental health, in the workplace. So bravo to Australia for us doing it first, and it's really great to see that other organ sorry, other other, countries are leading the way and making that change. So I don't want The UK to fall behind because historically, we've been really good.

With mental health. And I do feel like we've dropped in terms of our credibility in this space. So I think to in order for us not to fall behind, we really need to think about, implementing this new legislation sooner rather than later. Next slide, please. So yeah. So for me, benefits of action, we absolutely need more clarity for employers. I I, as an employment lawyer, do a lot of advice in this area. So even though it's not law yet, it's still best practice. And what I find time and time again is is employers just don't know where to start. They don't know what to do.

They feel they can't say things or do things because it's unclear as to what their obligations are. And that's really because the the the law isn't very clear, and there's no guidance, on it that's that's clear enough for them to see what they are actually supposed to do. There's guidance in terms of, you know, here's areas that you should look at, but then it's the actions that they often struggle with. So we want to really support, organizations. And in turn, it should have a positive benefit on the impact that we're seeing on the NHS and organizations. We know that there's huge waiting list for mental health and ADHD support within The UK.

So if we can support people in the workplace, keep them in meaningful employment, then we're much less likely to need as much resource from the NHS. Next slide, please. So, there's quite a few there's quite a few issues that we think we're gonna face. Well, first of all, my petition link's not live, so that's one. But we do think that there is likely to be some delays in the reform. It take it can take years, you know, three to five years, and that's if someone runs with it. So our plan is to, get the petition live, get some MPs involved.

I'm going to parliament in a few weeks to speak at a round table, and, hopefully, I can get some MPs on board. If there's any MPs on here that would like to help, let me know. But the reality is we just want as many people as possible to start talking about this change. When I petitioned a few years ago for a similar change, it it picked up a lot of traction online, and that helped us to get a debate in parliament. So I think the important thing is is if if you can help, then please do reach out to me.

We do think that the delays will be be be quite evident from I mean, we've seen this this government quite a lot of things from the employment rights bill, for example, and there's huge delays there. And I'm involved in those consultations. So I think that's gonna be one of the the biggest challenges, but it doesn't mean that we can't start making some of these changes internally in our organizations. So if you wanna know more about how to do that, then you just contact me. I think the the challenge that a lot of, when we've consulted on this, a lot of people have been saying is actually, will there be lots of, like, lots of claims as a result, and is that gonna make it harder for employers?

So we want to make sure that it's not just a tick box and loads of claims will then just happen because that's not really the purpose of it. So that's something that we'll be addressing as part of the enforcement changes, which obviously helps us with make sure that we're really transparent about that right from the outset. And we want to make sure that we have a really strong framework.

So one of the things that often is challenged is when you bring new law in and then it's kind of the the the the and what? It's like, what are we supposed to now do? Because often it's not very clear. So that's something that we're gonna have to spend quite a lot of time on with with some experts to help us make sure that we've got the right preventative framework in place. Next slide, please. So there's a plan. Know I've only got a minute or so left, but, essentially, the plan is get that petition live. We want to, if anyone, is able to support with that, get in touch. We've got our cross sector coalition. We've got loads of organizations already signed up to support us, so we'll be doing an open letter to parliament.

We've done a draft of the legislation already, so we need to get, that in front of the roundtables that we want to set up. And then, obviously, when we get to that next stage, we'll be looking at what the codes of practice and the guidance should be as well. Next slide, please. So that's me. Oh, look at that just on time. So if anyone would like to support, please scan the QR code, get in touch with me. I'm on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok. It's I am Jodie Hill on on those. I'd love to hear from you, and thank you so much, Henry, for giving me this platform to share. This is the first time I've shared it publicly as well. So it's an exclusive. So thank you so much, and, have an amazing rest of the conference.

You're amazing, Jodie. I think it's I think it's a huge deal. And when you introduced it to me, I thought it was I thought it was very, very important. And when we talk about psychosocial, the idea that we don't look at the mental health risks around a job that we do by routine for the physical risks. And you do see in some industries, as we talked about, that this is a part of normal process. For example, the one that immediately came to mind when we talked about it was the tube drivers. Occasionally people will well, they'll take their own life and they do it by sitting in front of a train and it's an awful thing and it's an awful thing for the driver and it's an awful thing for everyone involved. And for the driver there is a process.

They stop driving immediately. They're given time off. They're given counselling. Their mental health is supported immediately. And that process is in place and it's not in place for or even or often properly considered for any other profession. I'm in London, there's been a huge we've made a huge sewer. We're excited about it. It's called the Thames Tideway, and it's absolutely massive and it captures storm water and waste as it hits the Thames. And my understanding is that there was only one significant accident and it involved a wall collapsing, an old Victorian wall collapsing that they were joining to. Two people or three people involved or two people involved.

And actually, the damage has been to their mental health. They now have trauma from it and are struggling. And there would have been I can only imagine how long the health and safety and the risk assessment was for that entire huge multi billion project. Mental health not considered, probably. We don't know, can't see it, but we and yet that's the most, you know, it's a testament that they've had no physical issues, but they do have left people with serious mental issues and may well have not considered that, and certainly it's not done routinely, which is what you're looking for. And so I just thought there was evidence of it in Yes. There's two stories show evidence in a workplace where it's being.

There's a a path in a plan and another way that isn't and we've seen damage. I think it's wonderful what you're doing. I think it's really, really interesting. What do you considering the current government, what do you think? I'd.

Like to get it through in this current government because I'm I'm a bit worried about what's next, to be honest. And I do I do hope that there is a a want and need to make a positive change before the end of their term. I think they probably could could do with that. So let's let's see, if it's if it's taken up by one of the MPs. I mean, it's a premade ready made plan for someone to make their name if they wanna take it so they could have it and run with it because we've done all the work. We just need someone to to really own it in parliament now. And I'm sure in a in in the Labour Party, there must be someone who cares enough about mental health to want this change.

No. I'd like obviously, hope so. It it like, if it feels heavy weather, like, only for ADHD, like, where it feels I've just had a meeting with people across the globe and the changing ADHD situation, all of those countries, there's progress. And for us, we feel very much like we're playing a defensive game that people are trying to make it harder not to support. Right. I need to let you go. Thank You're amazing. Thank you very much, and thank you for this initiative. I think it's I think it's extraordinary. So thank you. Thank you. Bye.