Members of the country’s agriculture community are being invited to take part in Farmers Weekly’s inaugural Business Clinic webinar, a broadcast version of the publication’s hugely successful Q&A feature where industry experts offer readers guidance on legal, finance, tax, insurance, farm management and land issues.
The theme of the webinar – which is free to join and takes place at 7pm on Monday 12 June - will be harvest, traditionally one of the busiest and most labour intensive periods in the agricultural calendar.
The panel of experts will include Natalie Ward, an associate solicitor in Thrings’ Employment team, who acts for farmers and estate owners on matters including the Agricultural Wages Order, agricultural/national minimum wage claims, agricultural accommodation issues, and employment contracts and procedures and defending claims.
During her presentation Natalie will highlight a number of issues that farmers need to consider in the run up to and during harvest, including workers’ employment status, the importance of carrying out ‘right to work’ checks and legal obligations in the context of Working Time Regulations.
Combining expert advice with case studies, Natalie will also discuss farmers’ requirements when employing overseas staff, the legal position around workers’ rest breaks and holiday pay, and offer practical advice about how farmers can organise their employees’ working patterns during harvest in order to minimise their overtime bill.
Joining Natalie on the panel will be Tom Brunt, agribusiness consultant and director at property agents Savills, Lisa Oliver, senior manager at Hazlewoods accountants, and Suzie Horne, business editor at Farmers Weekly, who will chair the discussion.
Viewers will be able to submit questions to the panel during the course of the webinar.
To join the webinar, which will air on Farmers Weekly’s website, please click here. Updates from the discussion will also be available via Thrings' dedicated @ThringsAgri and @ThringsLaw Twitter feeds.
Thrings has been an official ‘Business Clinic’ expert partner since 2015, with partners Duncan Sigournay, Russell Reeves and Derek Walsh, and associate solicitor Becky Smyth among those who have written articles over the past year.